2023-060 DCAD Board Nominations September 1,2023 Report No. 2023-060
INFORMAL STAFF REPORT
TO MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT:
Seeking Nominations for DCAD Board of Directors
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Denton Central Appraisal District(DCAD)has notified the City that the term for members on
the current DCAD Board of Directors expires on December 31,2023. Therefore,DCAD is seeking
nominations from the 61 taxing jurisdictions in the district. The City Council can make up to five
nominations for the Board of Directors. The City Council is scheduled to vote on nominations on
September 26, 2023. The purpose of this informal staff report is to notify you of the process and
seek nominations in advance so that you can give adequate consideration before the Council vote.
Once nominations from all taxing jurisdictions are received by DCAD, a ballot will be sent to the
City. The City Council will then cast their vote to elect Board members at the December 5, 2023
City Council meeting.
During the second special session of the 88th Legislature, the passing of Senate Bill 2 changed the
terms and composition of the board. The DCAD Board of Directors will increase from a 5-member
board to a 9-member board. The new board composition will include 5 members appointed by the
taxing jurisdictions, the Tax Assessor/Collector now serving as a voting member, and 3 publicly
elected members. There were no changes made to the nomination and appointment process for
taxing jurisdictions.Board members will now serve staggered 4-year terms,instead of 2-year terms
for all.
The selection process for the Board of Directors is set forth in Section 6.03 of the Property Tax
Code. This process is not an"election"governed by the Texas Election Code. It is an independent
procedure unique to the property tax system. An appraisal district director must reside in the
appraisal district for at least two(2)years immediately preceding the date the member takes office.
Most residents are eligible to serve as a director. An individual who is serving on the governing
body of a city, county, or school district is eligible to serve as an appraisal district's director. An
employee of a taxing unit served by the appraisal district is not eligible to serve as a director.
However,if the employee is an elected official,he or she is eligible to serve. Additionally,a person
may not serve as a board member if closely related to anyone in the appraisal district if related to
anyone who represents owners in the district, or if the person has an interest in a business that
contracts with the district or taxing jurisdiction.
The number of votes a taxing unit has is determined by their proportional share of the total levy in
the district from the prior tax year. There is a total of 5,000 votes throughout the district. The five
candidates who receive the largest cumulative vote totals are appointed to the board. On October
September 1,2023 Report No. 2023-060
12, 2021, the City Council voted to nominate Howard Martin and Bryan Webb. However, after
receiving a nomination Bryan Webb indicated he did not want to be reappointed to the board. In
December 2021, the City of Denton cast 85 votes for Howard Martin and 85 votes for Ann
Pomykal to serve on the board. The current Board of Directors is as follows:
Name Title
Roy Atwood Chairman
Charles Stafford Vice Chairman
Ann Pomykal Secretary
David Terre Member
Alex Buck Member
Michelle French Ex Officio Member*
*Position changing to a voting member in 2024
DISCUSSION:
To date, the City has not received the number of votes allocated for the year. Last year the City
was allocated 170 votes, DISD had 654 votes and Denton County had 567 votes of the 5,000 total
votes for the district. City Council may elect to cast all of Denton's votes for one candidate or
votes among multiple candidates.
The following is a summarization of DCAD's nomination & approval process.
Prior to October 1st - DCAD notifies taxing entities of the number of votes they are entitled to
cast for appointing board members.
Prior to October 15th - Nominations are submitted to DCAD by each jurisdiction. Each
jurisdiction can nominate up to five candidates.
Prior to October 30th - DCAD compiles a comprehensive list of the nominees and forwards to
each taxing unit in the form of a ballot.
Prior to December 15th - The taxing jurisdictions choose by written resolution the candidate (s)
of their choice. The jurisdiction then submits the name (s) and the votes cast to DCAD.
Prior to December 31st - DCAD tabulates the votes and forwards the results back to the
jurisdictions. The five candidates that receive the most votes become the Board of Directors as of
January 1 st.
Please send nominations to the City Secretary's Office by Friday, September 15, 2023.
Nominations will be compiled and prepared for City Council discussion and vote on Tuesday,
September 26, 2023.
September 1,2023 Report No. 2023-060
ATTACHMENTS:
1. DCAD email
2. Application
STAFF CONTACT:
Cassey Ogden, Assistant City Manager/CFO
(940) 349-7195
Cassandra.Ogden(kcityofdenton.com
REQUESTOR:
Staff Initiated
PARTICIPATING DEPARTMENTS:
Finance
STAFF TIME TO COMPLETE REPORT:
The estimated amount of cumulative staff time to complete the report is 1 hour.
Benavides, Monica
From: Misty Baptiste <misty.baptiste@dentoncad.com>
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2023 9:15 AM
Subject: Appointment and Election of the Board of Directors for the Denton Central Appraisal District
This message has originated from an External Source. Please be cautious regarding links and attachments.
Taxing Entities of Denton County:
This communication is to inform you on the timeline for the Appointment and Election of the
Board of Directors for the Denton Central Appraisal District (DCAD). The Texas Property
Tax Code outlines this process in section 6.03.
As I am sure you are aware, during the 2nd special session of the 88th Legislature, SB2
passed and was signed by Governor Abbott. In this bill, there were a few changes to the
composition of the board and the term limits established for each member of the board. The
DCAD Board of Directors is increasing from a 5 member board with the Tax
Assessor/Collector as an ex officio member to a 9 member board, which will be made up of
the 5 members appointed by the taxing entities, the Tax Assessor/Collector, and 3 publicly
elected members. It is our interpretation of the new law that the Tax Assessor/Collector will
now be a voting member of our board in order to avoid a tie in votes.
There are no changes to the nomination and appointment process for the taxing entities;
however, all board members will now serve staggered 4-year terms, instead of 2-year terms
for all.
This year, you will all appoint 5 members to serve a term of 1 year ending on December 31 ,
2024. Next fall, we will have another round of nominations and appointments for all 5
members to begin a new term on January 1 , 2025. For that term, 2 directors will be appointed
to serve a 1-year term and 3 directors will be appointed to serve 3-year terms. This will be
done by random draw. Thereafter, all elected directors will serve 4-year terms. I will assign
each member a "place" on the board of 1 through 8 so that moving forward staggering places
will be easily identified and tied to a specific seat. This will be done at random draw as well.
The 3 members that are publicly elected in the May 2024 election, will take office on July 1 ,
2024 and serve a term that expires on December 31 , 2026. That said, there will be a new
election for those 3 places on the board in the November 2026 election and those elected will
take office January 1 , 2027. These three elected members will draw as well to determine
which director will serve a 2- year term and the other 2 directors will serve a 4-year term.
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These provisions take effect only if the constitutional amendment proposed by H.J.R 2 is
approved by the voters this November. I think we are all fairly confident this bill will pass,
considering it also contains property tax relief by increasing the ISD homestead exemption
and providing a 20% cap limitation on appraised value of non-residential homestead real
property.
Please see the timeline below for the nomination, voting and appointment process.
ACTION BY CHIEF APPRAISER:
Allocation of votes is to be done before October 1st. We will calculate the number of votes
for each entity and send out that allocation by email to the county, cities and school
districts. Tax Code 6.03 (e) There are 5,000 total votes to be distributed based on tax levy,
and each taxing entity's vote allocation is based on their tax levy compared to the grand total
levy for all taxing entities for the previous year. Example: If a taxing entity's tax levy is
calculated to be 5% of the grand total levy for all taxing entities, the taxing entity would be
allocated 250 votes.
ACTION BY ENTITY:
Nomination of candidates is to be done before October 15th. Since October 14th is a
Saturday, the deadline will shift to the next business day, October 16th. This must be done by
submitting a nominating resolution to us no later than the end of the business day on the
16th. Each entity that is entitled to vote may nominate up to one candidate for each position to
be filled on the Board of Directors. All five of the board positions are included in this
appointment, therefore each taxing entity can nominate a maximum of five candidates. Tax
Code 6.03 (g) The Resolution must include the name and address of each candidate
nominated. To be eligible to serve on the board, an individual must be a resident of the
district (Denton County) and must have resided in the district for at least two years
immediately preceding the date they take office. Remember that this is the nominations
part of the process and the written resolution associated with this phase of the election
should only include nominations of candidates.
ACTION BY CHIEF APPRAISER:
Delivery of ballots is to be done before October 30th. Since October 29th is a Sunday, the
deadline will shift to the next business day, October 30th. I will do my best to prepare and
deliver a ballot listing the candidates whose names were timely submitted to each entity as
soon as possible (my goal will be the week of October 23rd). The ballot will list each
candidate, alphabetically sorted by surname. Tax Code 6.03 (j)
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ACTION BY ENTITY:
Entities cast their votes before December 15th. To be clear, the deadline is for voting
resolutions to be received by the chief appraiser by the end-of-day December 14th. This must
be done by resolution. If a ballot is returned marked, it must be accompanied by a resolution
adopted in a public meeting.
Tax Code 6.03 (g), 6.03 (k and k-1 effective 1-1-2022)
Please remember that taxing entities with 5% or more of the total votes MUST
determine its votes by resolution adopted at the FIRST or SECOND OPEN meeting of
the governing body held after the chief appraiser delivers the ballot, and the resolution
must be submitted to the chief appraiser no later than the THIRD day following the date
the resolution was adopted. This applies to taxing entities with 250 or more votes.
ACTION BY CHIEF APPRAISER:
Director appointment results will be sent out before December 31 st. We will count the votes
and declare the five candidates who received the largest cumulative vote totals to begin
serving a new term beginning January 1 , 2024. Tax Code 6.03 (k)
Thank you all so much for your continued support! If you have any
questions let me know.
Best Regards,
Don Spencer, RPA
Chief Appraiser
Denton Central Appraisal District
don.spencer@dentoncad.com
(940)349-3978
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Nominee Information
Denton Central Appraisal District Board of Directors
Name
Address
City Zip
Daytime Phone
Evening Phone
1. Are you a resident of Denton County and have you resided in Denton County for at least two
years immediately preceding January 1, 2022? Yes No
2. Are you an employee of a taxing unit that participates in the Denton Appraisal District? Yes No
List below work or personal experiences that would be applicable to proposed service on the DCAD
Board of Directors. Feel free to attach additional information if needed.
All information submitted will be subject to the Open Records Act.