Houston County Commissioners Question Appraisal District Budget
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
Above – Houston County Commissioners present the Houston County Historical Commission the Distinguished Service Award for 2022 as they celebrate the work of the group shortly after the 168th anniversary of the establishment of Houston County in 1837.
HOUSTON COUNTY – The Houston County commissioners court met Tuesday, June 13 to recognize the work of the Houston County Historical Commission and debate the new budget set for approval from the Houston County Appraisal District.
The commissioners presented the Houston County Historical Commission with a Distinguished Service Award for 2022, thanking the group for their dedication to preserving and promoting the history of Houston County which celebrated its 186th birthday Monday. Wanda Jordan and Al Kreger from the historical commission were on hand to accept the award.
The budget for fiscal year 2024 for the Houston County Appraisal District (HCAD) was on the agenda to be accepted, but the commissioners made clear their disapproval of the budget, noting the salaries and other expenses seem to be out of place with other salaries in the county. Houston County Judge Jim Lovell told the court and said he had hoped HCAD Chief Appraiser Carey Minter would be present to discuss their concerns.
Commissioner Willie Kitchen told the court Houston County contributes over 26% of the HCAD budget with other local tax entities contributing, too. Kitchen said every year HCAD has higher than normal salary increases and other expenses he couldn’t understand. Kitchen said it is hard to explain to other county employees a smaller increase in pay when HCAD’s increases were much higher.
“I want to ask them (HCAD), what makes your people so much more valuable than ours? And we pay a big portion of their budget,” Kitchen said.
Minter did join the court via video conference and explained HCAD had made a study of other districts and was in line with their salaries. Kitchen asked if HCAD had used an outside group and Minter answered they did not have the funds for that and did an in-house report. Kitchen asked for a copy of that report and Minter agreed to send it.
The commissioners voted to accept the HCAD budget as information, but agreed to revisit the issue with HCAD before the budget must be approved in August.
HCAD had also sent notice that the county was in line to receive $8,568.07 from the appraisal district which the district had not used. HCAD is asking all local tax entities to donate any unused funds back to HCAD in order for them to purchase their own facility, as Minter told the court they have been renting for many years.
The commissioners, now not in much of a mood to donate back unused funds that could be used for county business, did not answer when Lovell asked for a motion to approve the donation. Lovell told Minter the county would take the money owed them from HCAD and that the measure failed for lack of a motion.
In other business:
- The court received a grant for $37,437.50 from the General Land Office for a Local Hazard Mitigation Planning Program
- Approved a renewal contract with Texas HHS System Date to provide information from the county to people living in other areas such as birth, marriage and death certificates
- Approved an application to renew the county’s insurance plans with the Texas Association of Counties’ Risk Management Pool
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
