Williamson Central Appraisal District

Board of Directors Meeting

Minutes of March 12, 2020

Charles Chadwell, Chairman, called the regular meeting of the Williamson Central Appraisal District Board of Directors to order Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 8:34 AM Board members present Charles Chadwell, Harry Gibbs, Donald Hisle, Rufus Honeycutt, Jon Lux, and Larry Gaddes. Quorum declared.

Pledges of Allegiance

Receipt of Public Comments

Alvin mentioned Harry being named Board Member of the Year at TAAD. The Board congratulated Harry. Harry thanked staff and Lankford. There were no other public comments.

Board Member Photos

The Board photos had already been taken.

Board Training Retreat

Debbie Wheeler, the Client Liaison at the Perdue Brandon law firm, was present to provide training for the Board members. Was at TAAD Conference … her and Robert Mott.

Comptroller’s board manual is a good resource.

Wheeler reviewed the top 10 duties for the board. If a property owner wants to write it down you can hand transmit to CA with no comment. Would be best to send it directly to the Chief Appraiser. Or you can print it out and hand to CA with no comment. Complaint about things at cad is different these can be discussed.

Surplus – last meeting of year if have surplus. Surplus = not obligated. Money we aren’t going to spend. Money getting from taxing units. If however, you know you have something you will need this money for, and you commit to those certain expenditures is not considered a surplus. Money from open records sales stays with the CAD…didn’t come from taxing units. Has to be obligated or credited back to TU or spent. We sometimes buy down the budget with the excess monies. We actually discuss this when do proposed budget manual, we discuss with TUs. We try to maintain a consistent level of increase.

1-time 2-year extension on depository. No changes are made on BOD properties at informal. They are sent to the ARB. We have the same policy for our district staff.

Must wait 3 years before being a cad director if were a tax agent (paid to represent owners).

Can get copy of Debbie’s presentation? (check with Debbie) When step out of official scope of duties, is when you could get into trouble. Immunity does not apply at that point.

Conflict of interest – if all members have same conflict, still file paperwork but can vote on that item. Now disaster will be considered a temporary exemption. Get exemption based on percentage of FEMA damage to property…they get this until they replace the property. If happens early in year. If happens late in year, the taxing units decide the timing. Methods and Performance Review (MAP). The sales disclosure issue in Travis was discussed. Travis did reappraise…came back with same numbers as last year when put the few sales they received into the model.

If not English speaking must give them twice the length of time in order to translate. Can the person sign up to address EVERY agenda item? There is an AG opinion request.

Ag 2020 open meetings handbook is out. As long as you have the certificate you are good. You may want to take it again.

Will need new public info officer (since Pam is leaving)

Be aware that Board emails can be requested for open records. Also includes text messages. Categorize or delete old items. There is a record retention. Make sure is easy to find. Be careful what you are saying in these. We offer up gmail accounts. Does Jon want one or will just place in a folder?

If county pays for data plan, makes everything on phone available for open records, per Larry. Data plan vs. paying for phone. If you purchased own phone, the District’s HR attorney addressed per Alvin. There is a way to keep it separate, can give all business-related items only. Only text m related to that topic. Who determines when can delete from phone? We do our business text messages through Teams thru Microsoft Office 365.

Open Meetings Training – lost certificate – would a sworn statement be OK or need to retake? Should take the class again, per Debbie. Emergency management / disaster recovery – where to keep records off-line, virus, ransom. Should have plan in place. Applies to elected officials and govt ee’s. appointed members are encouraged if getting into the cad system but is not required for our board. Our Board members are Public officials on appointed board. 2021 = next MAP Review.

The Board recessed the meeting at 10:36 AM and reconvened at 10:45 AM.

Taxpayer Liaison Officer’s Report

Report on Property Owner Contacts

Rouse reported on the status of his contact with property owners. Had one call frustrated called on holiday and the computers were down. We were doing a change over on servers at co location. We track the time down we are up over 99% of the time.

Review and Compensation of Taxpayer Liaison Officer

Executive Session began at 10:47 AM and ended at 10:55 AM.

Consideration and possible action on items discussed in Executive Session

Review and Compensation of Taxpayer Liaison Officer

Hisle made a motion to increase the Taxpayer Liaison Officer’s pay by $100 per month. Honeycutt seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Consider approval of minutes of the Board of Directors for the regular meeting – February 13, 2020.

Scaping s.b scraping

Hisle moved for approval of the minutes with the correction listed. Lux seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Consideration of Monthly Financials

The January 2020 financials and expenditures were reviewed and filed for audit.

TAAD Conference Follow-Up

Lankford announced that basically the TAAD follow-up occurred today with Debbie Wheeler. Reiterated and elaborated on today. Changes because of what was said today as well as items from the recent TAAD Conference will be presented to the Board in April, if Colleen has time or will move to May. Harry’s award was mentioned again.

No motion was made.

Town Hall Meeting Follow-Up

Lankford – Rufus was great- great questions/ answers. Went over well. Pretty well attended for the time frame. How did we advertise. Bucy’s office put out, on WCAD website, on WCTO website as well per Larry. Connie put on next door to do county wide. Re-worded to say property tax town hall. On Facebook. Chad would like to see more emphasis coming from both offices (WCAD / WCTO) for advertising. Would like to see in other areas. There was a press release just wasn’t picked up by many.

Connie shared comment from RRock resident – to have in RRock. Sarah Goff will convert Facebook live video into you tube video so we can link on our website. Would like to have on both websites. Larry & Alvin to meet about after action items. Maybe less detail on how to appraise, etc. Alvin indicated that we are unable to get access to Next Door posting, they won’t give them out anymore unless is for public safety.

No motion was made.

Chief Appraiser’s Report

Notice of Appraised Value

Lankford displayed the latest notice of appraised value. Not many changes to Nav. Added statement re: estimate tax grid being removed for 2021 notice per SB2. In future years this information will be available at: (he gave website info).

Notices will be mailed March 30^th

2020 Entity Meeting Reminder

Lankford happening on March 31^st. this year will be an overview of the tax rate website. Cameo by Larry Gaddes. Alvin asked if anyone wanted to RSVP to let us know ASAP.

Lawsuit, Arbitration and SOAH Reports

Lankford reviewed the lawsuit and arbitration reports. There were no State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) on which to report.

Board Agenda Additions for Future Meeting

The Board discussed including the following items for future discussion:

• Corona virus will be addressed with staff. An email will be sent today basic hygiene. Will push for more online usage from property owners. Will provide, when we can locate, hand sanitizer at every station. Will provide Clorox wipes to keep areas clean. We have a statutory requirement to certify the roll. Might incentivize more to use online. Larry – has conference call with Health and human service each week. Have shared info with all ISD’s and Larry will pass along to us. If school shuts down, Judge Gravell will more than likely shutdown the county offices as well. Larry’s office pushed all sanitizer to the front counters … don’t’ put out for customers, this is for employees. Wipes at counter. Cleaning of chairs in lobby? Larry felt was pretty useless since the first person to touch them then places their germs on the chairs.

• Chad – Thank you for inviting the super bowl. Ought to open up to all including outsiders. Fundraiser for community care. Disburse $1,000 each of usually around three organizations at the end of the year.

Board Announcements

There were no Board announcements.

The Board set their next meeting as follows:

Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 9:00 AM.

The meeting adjourned at 11:25 AM.

Respectfully,

Charles Chadwell, Chairman                                   Donald L. Hisle, Secretary