Four candidates compete for places on HCAD

For the second time in the last two months, Harris County voters are voting to determine who will fill newly elected positions on the Harris County Central Appraisal District Board of Trustees.

By approving Proposition 4 – a constitutional amendment that accompanied the Texas Legislature’s property tax reduction package – Texas voters living in counties with populations greater than 75,000 can now elect three board members of their local assessment district.

Harris County voters elected Kathy Blueford-Daniels to one of three available positions in the May 4 election. Blueford-Daniels, who previously served as an appointed board member, received 50.4 percent of the vote and will take first place.

Neither Kyle Scott and Melissa Noriega nor Ericka McCrutcheon and Pelumi Adeleke were able to garner a majority of votes in their respective races for Place 2 and Place 3, forcing both positions to go to a runoff on Saturday, June 15.

Elected members will not be involved in the property assessment or appeal process. However, they will be responsible for hiring and firing the chief appraisers. Roland Altinger has served as Chief Appraiser at the Harris County Appraisal District since 2016.

“They really have no authority other than to choose the chief evaluator,” said Bob Stein, a political science professor at Rice University. “They will probably question him, during this choice, about the criteria and the basis for valuing the property, but a lot of that information is already written into the law.”

“The idea that they can bring out other criteria that are not elaborated in the state statute is not admissible,” Stein noted. “So where is the discretion here for an elected official to represent the public?

Those elected to the board will help set the agency’s budget, and two of the three will be able to veto the appointment of people involved in the property assessment appeals process. However, Stein said their roles retain limited authority overall.

“We wonder what this elective mandate is for. It costs us hundreds of thousands, if not a million dollars in Harris County, to run the election,” he added. “For what, 35,000 people out of 2.6 million? This doesn’t make much sense. That is not what representative government is about.

In a written statement to Houston PressSen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) wrote:

“They have more ‘authority’ than other board members to appoint members of the assessment review committee, and their vote is just as good as any other board member’s.” administration during budget votes, it is therefore a real citizen contribution!

Voter turnout in the May 4 elections did not exceed 2 percent of the approximately 2.6 million registered voters. Stein predicts that Saturday’s runoff could break the record for low voter turnout in recent years.

According to the Harris County Clerk’s Office Elections Department, 29,091 residents chose to vote during the early voting period. Stein said he couldn’t see more than 10,000 voters going to the polls on Election Day.

He added that the type of voter participating in this runoff is likely 70 years old, white, predominantly partisan — whether Democratic or Republican — and a homeowner who has lived in their home for decades.

“You’re dealing with an extremely unrepresentative population of voters,” Stein said.

These positions are not partisan. However, local political groups have supported candidates to increase voter turnout. The Harris County Democratic Party chose to support Blueford-Daniels, Noriega and Adeleke.

The Harris County Republican Party selected Scott and McCrutcheon. Blueford-Daniels, Noriega and Adeleke received additional support from the left-leaning Gulf Coast Area Federation of Labor. Scott and McCrutcheon also gained support from the right-wing C-Club.

Scott was one of 21 GOP candidates who filed election applications to challenge the results of his race for Harris County treasurer in November 2022. His legal challenge was unsuccessful.

He is vying for second place against Noriega, who served two positions as a former Houston City Council member and former state representative, temporarily succeeding her husband, a former state representative. Rick Noriega, while serving in the military.

Scott and Noriega said they would prioritize increasing the district’s budget for public education funding. What Democratic voters worry about is at stake if GOP-backed candidates are elected to these positions.

In a separate interview with the PressBettencourt took issue with a political map sent by the Harris County Democratic Party and the Gulf Coast Area Federation of Labor that was full of what he called “political hyperbole.”

The card read: “Republican control of HCAD would defund our public schools, expand tax breaks for the wealthy, raise taxes on working families, and cut county services. »

“That’s over four strikeouts,” Bettencourt said. “That would reset any political fact counter to zero.”

Noriega also wants to focus on educating low-income residents who may qualify for additional exemptions but don’t know it. Adeleke, a chartered accountant and business owner, has similar priorities to Noriega.

Adeleke also expressed her desire to increase the accessibility of the assessment process, saying she sometimes finds it difficult to understand despite her financial background.

Scott and McCrutcheon — a business owner and pastor — said they will conduct audits on properties receiving tax exemptions to ensure they all meet the eligibility criteria.

The last opportunity for voters to vote will be on Election Day at one of Harris County’s Election Day voting centers. To find the nearest location, visit HarrisVotes.com.