Tensions Rise
Citizens filled the meeting room of the Montgomery County Government Annex on Monday morning, August 25, as commissioners voted to deny the Montgomery County Tax Assessor Board’s request to subcontract a countywide comprehensive reevaluation.
On August 19, the Montgomery County Tax Assessor Board held their regular monthly meeting, during which they discussed subcontracting Norris Appraisal Group to complete a comprehensive reevaluation of the County for $202,800 total. This proposed subcontracting was approved on a 3-1 vote, as Board Member Matt Waller opposed the contract and Board Chairman Chad Harrison was not required to vote because the majority had already passed the motion.
After being approved by the Tax Assessor Board, the contract was then sent for approval for funding from the Board of Commissioners, who met to discuss the matter in a called meeting on August 25.
County Manager Heather Scott gave the commissioners a synopsis of the contract at the opening of the meeting, as she explained that the contract would cover the reevaluation of all properties – residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural. “Every three years, by law, we have to do a reappraisal of the county. Some counties [either] do one-third [of properties] each year; some will do them all at once one year. All this is here is stating what the fees are going to be for reappraisal of the county over the next few years. That is all that is on the contract,” she added.
Commissioner Leland Adams was the first to speak on the matter, commenting, “We’ve got to get that appraisal – we are already behind. We are three years out of sync now. The sales ratio is at 20%, which means you can only collect 20% of the taxes due from continued from page
utilities. We are losing that money. The dollars or expenses for that has to be made up by someone else, which is usually in property taxes.”
Commissioner Amie Vassey asked Scott how much money was being lost through this sales ratio. Scott said that the normal sales ratio is at 40%; thus, around $30,000-$60,000 is being lost per year.
“[That is] very minor compared to a $5 million budget,” Vassey remarked. “Typically, one-third of the county is reevaluated every year, and over three years, you would have the entire county complete. So, what is the push? What sparked the Tax Assessor Board to push a comprehensive reevaluation right now? This packet that was sent over looks like it wants the entire county to be reevaluated right now at an expense of $200,000 to the taxpayers. Why can’t we just let [Montgomery County Tax Assessor] La-Donna [Simon] do the one-third [of properties] like her position and salary is paid to do, and move forward with that path. Why is it necessary? Why are we being requested and asked to complete a comprehensive re-evaluation in such an urgent manner? And why couldn’t this wait to our regularly scheduled work session in September? Why is this so urgent that we had to be here today?”
Scott shared that there had not been a reevaluation completed in the county since 2023, because the Tax Assessor Board made the decision not to accept the reevaluations that year. “By law, you have to do it every three years or the state gets involved,” she explained.
Vassey asked what the penalties would be if the county refused to complete a comprehensive reevaluation at this time, and Scott shared that the penalty was typically $5-$15 per parcel.
“[That] is also incredible minimal. I’m sure the citizens would rather pay a $5 penalty fee on their bill rather than a 25% increase,” Vassey emphasized.
Scott continued, as she stated that another potential penalty would be the state Department of Revenue taking over the situation. County Attorney Ron Daniels clarified this, as he said that the timeline of that takeover was unknown, as it was up to the state department’s discretion. Daniels said if this occurred, he believed the state would complete a comprehensive reevaluation of the properties, but was unsure because he did not know of another instance where this had occurred.
Vassey suggested that Tax Assessor Simon work to complete the reevaluation in the typical 3-year span, as the commissioners work closely with State Representative Leesa Hagan and State Senator Blake Tillery to gain some leeway on the situation, as they could explain that they were doing what was right for their citizens.
Vassey added, “One thing that we have to remember is that the county stayed in House Bill 581, but the school board did not. So, if we do a comprehensive reevaluation, the county taxes for citizens are going to remain relatively unchanged, but the school taxes are going to shoot up unless the school board rolls their mill rate back, which they say they will. But at this point, the school board has done nothing to instill trust in the public. The public have lost their ability to trust our school board, so even though they say they will, that’s a big risk to take for our citizens.”
“We can make the choice that is right for the citizens or the choice that is right for the school board, and I was elected to represent the citizens,” she stressed.
Adams replied to these remarks, saying, “This has nothing to do with increasing taxes. This is appraising the value of your property. If the values go up, the millage rate goes down.”
Vassey told Adams that the millage rate could only be expected to be lowered if citizens were able to trust their governments, such as the Board of Commissioners and Board of Education.
“You don’t have a choice,” Adams responded. “The school board is set by some laws – they have different rules. This [board’s millage rate] is based on the dollar amounts that it takes to operate the county from year-to-year, and that’s the dollars we get. We set the millage rate to get those dollars. You don’t reevaluate, the millage rate has to go up to get those dollars. If the evaluations go up, the millage rate comes down.”
Vassey emphasized that any decision made during the meeting would not come from the threat of looming consequences. “We’ve heard from a legal expert that there is no immediate danger from the state to force our hand on this. So, any votes that are taken today are going to be of our own will,” she stated.
Adams continued, as he said it was imperative that county property values be corrected. “When you have properties appraised for $82,000 and it sells for $499,000, then you’re out of sync, and you have to get that corrected,” he told the Board.
Vassey then asked County Manager Scott why the appraisals were being subcontracted out, as the county had a hired appraiser, who was supplied a vehicle to complete the job. She advised that County Appraiser Simon could spend at least 3 days working to appraise properties while Montgomery County Appraiser Assistant Michael Moore handled the clerical duties of the office. Adams stated that he did not believe that Simon could appraise the entire county by herself, and Vassey stated that many counties, including Harris County, had a single appraiser completing the job.
Vassey also asked why Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Ronda Hightower had met with County Manager Scott about tax issues and the commissioners had not been notified. Scott stated that she and Hightower had discussed the sales tax ratio decrease in the recent week, but it was only because the school was estimated to lose around $1.1 million in state funding because of the issue.
Vassey questioned why the commissioners had not discussed the matter at the August work session, and Scott said that the issue of the sales ratio had not come until after that meeting, as Montgomery County has the lowest sales ratio in the state. She also clarified that the called meeting had come quickly because of the subcontractor’s need to start immediately on the appraisals to complete them.
Commissioner Jimmy “Pedro” Sharpe then spoke up on the matter. “My biggest discussion is that we are about to write a check for $200,000 to do this, and once we start this, if we get over 30% in appeals – which you are if you do residential – I’m sitting over there where [the public] is sitting. We are basically signing a blank check to go to superior court with it. The whole time this thing is in progress, we can’t draw a dime. What my main thing is that you have people living on a fixed income in the county that can’t pay what they’re paying now. It’s hard enough as it is. If we do anything at all, we need to send it back to the Tax Assessor Board and see if we can do agricultural, commercial, and industrial, and allow the person that we pay to do it to do residential,” he emphasized.
Sharpe continued, “Where’s the data she’s done this year? If she did 10%, we should be at onethird about now [for residential]. We should be in legal range if she did anything.”
Commissioner Adams asked Chief Appraiser Simon, who was in attendance at the meeting, if she could complete the re-evaluations herself. She explained that the scenario was the “perfect storm” because of the Tax Assessor Board throwing out the values in 2023, and the housing market soaring afterward. She also clarified that the reappraisals must be completed in sections based on what kind of property it is – meaning, all residences must be reappraised at the same time.
When asked again by Commissioner Vassey if it was possible to complete the job – reappraising 2,300 acres per year, which breaks down to 44 acres per week – Simon agreed it could be done.
Commissioner Adams made a motion to accept the contract, which was seconded by Commissioner Clarence Thomas. Commissioners Vassey and Sharpe opposed the motion, leaving Chairwoman Ginger Morris as the deciding vote.
“I absolutely believe that our job is to take care of you, the taxpayers. I do know a reevaluation will come, and I know everyone sitting out there knows that at some point, the reevaluation will come. But for the residential homeowner who has been beaten and battered by Helene, and to think that we are going add that extra burden – I actually like the idea that Amie and [Pedro] came up with, which was let’s look at residential, agricultural, and commercial – because those are out of whack – and we will ask, and I will demand from the Tax Assessor Board with the backing of the commissioners, that LaDonna get that completed in time. That is her job. That is what she is paid for. But my feeling is to pay $200,000, and to pay her what she’s made to do a job she hasn’t done shouldn’t be on the back of [the taxpayers],” she concluded.
The meeting was then adjourned.
