Cass County Appraisal District
Appraisal Standards Review Follow-Up Report
March 25, 2009
Mr. Max Bain, Board Chairman
Ms. Paula Hammett, Interim Chief Appraiser
Cass Central Appraisal District
502 N. Main St.
Linden, Texas 75563-5218
Dear Chairman Bain and Interim Chief Appraiser Hammett:
This letter constitutes the Comptroller’s follow-up review of the Appraisal Standards Review (ASR) of the Cass Central Appraisal District (Cass CAD) originally released in March 2008. We commend the cooperation of Cass CAD’s board, chief appraiser and staff in conducting this follow-up review.
CADs play an integral part in setting property values because they have the statutory responsibility for determining local property values, which in turn affect funding to public schools — a critical part of the state’s tax and education policies.
The ASR made five mandatory recommendations and four optional recommendations to help Cass CAD achieve accurate local value in the annual Property Value Study and improve operations. The Comptroller acknowledges the work Cass CAD has performed over the last year. The CAD has completed the mandatory recommendation 1 and two of the four optional recommendations. These completed recommendations have assisted the CAD in improving its staffing, management and appraisal practices.
We also reviewed the implementation of the remaining mandatory recommendations. While work is in progress, Cass CAD has not fully implemented recommendations 1, 2, 3 and 5. Enclosed is more detail on what the CAD still needs to do.
This letter is available on our Window on State Government Web site at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/cadreports/asr/cass01/.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
Sincerely,
Susan Combs
Enclosure
cc: Superintendent and Board of Trustees, Atlanta Independent School District; Avinger
Independent School District; Hughes Springs Independent School District; Linden-Kildare
Consolidated Independent School District; McLeod Independent School District; Queen City
Independent School District; Marietta Independent School District; Bloomberg Independent
School District; and Pewitt Independent School District
Cass CAD Board of Directors
Cass Central Appraisal District
Appraisal Standards Review Follow-Up Report
What Remains to Be Done
The Comptroller’s office will continue to monitor Cass CAD’s progress toward meeting the state’s legal requirements. The following outlines steps Cass CAD still needs to take.
RECOMMENDATION 1:
Inspect all business personal property accounts annually and develop an independent valuation method.
Cass CAD developed Cass Central Appraisal District Operations Manual in September 2008. A one-page section of this manual describes personal property procedures. The chief appraiser stated in an implementation status matrix that this recommendation is not complete, but that the CAD plans to implement it in 2009.
To complete this recommendation, the CAD should complete a timeline to inspect personal property or highlight in the reappraisal plan or appraisal manual when and where personal property is scheduled to be inspected and submit a copy of the plan or manual to the Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD) by the end of June 2009.
RECOMMENDATION 2:
Develop appraisal procedures manuals that provide current cost/market data, property class descriptions and local procedures for each property type the staff appraises.
Cass CAD developed the Cass Central Appraisal District Operations Manual that includes sections on: appraisal methods and procedures; special appraisals; abatements; exemptions; renditions; appraisal review board record processed; preliminary appraisal roll; tax agents; records general functions; department general functions; computer; board of directors; and miscellaneous functions. This manual is largely a recitation of pertinent portions of the Property Tax Code and does not give explanation or instruction on performing appraisals on each category of property the CAD appraises. It does not contain property classifications, photographs, cost data, depreciation tables or land schedules. Cass CAD provided a set of schedules separate from the manual, but includes no instruction for use.
To complete this recommendation, Cass CAD should develop an appraisal manual that describes in detail how to appraise each type of property in the CAD together with all supporting documentation such as photographs and schedules and forward a copy of it to PTAD by the end of June 2009.
RECOMMENDATION 3:
Establish and implement reasonably and flexibly written guidelines for on-site evaluations of agricultural use and timberland applications, develop local qualification standards for eligibility and revise agricultural use and timber schedules as needed.
Cass CAD provided the Cass Central Appraisal District Operations Manual in response to this recommendation. While the applicable Tax Code sections for agricultural use and timberland are referenced in the special appraisals section of this manual, there are no procedures for on-site evaluations of applications and no local qualification standards for eligibility. Cass CAD separately provided 2008 Cass Central Appraisal District Schedules that includes a page for land schedules and a page for agricultural appraisals, but includes no instruction for use.
To complete this recommendation, the CAD should develop agricultural use and timberland appraisal procedures that include guidelines for on-site evaluations of applications, local qualification standards for eligibility and all applicable schedules and forward a copy of the procedures to PTAD no later than the end of June 2009.
RECOMMENDATION 5:
Establish and implement written procedures for gathering and analyzing sales.
The interim chief appraiser stated in the implementation status matrix that Cass CAD subscribes to a MLS service and sends sales letters with deed changes. The CAD pointed to page 7 of the Cass Central Appraisal District Operations Manual for guidelines. Page 7 of the manual has limited a discussion of gathering and validating sales for use in undeveloped land schedules. There are no written procedures that explain how to gather sales, how to verify them or what to do with the information when complete.
To complete this recommendation, the CAD should develop written procedures for gathering and analyzing sales and forward a copy of them to PTAD by the end of June 2009.