1. real estate

Volume 2, Issue 4
In God We Trust
In This Issue:
Armed Forces First ..................... 3
Property Tax News ..................... 4
What’s Been Happening............. 6
A Look Back ............................. 9
KAB ........................................... 11
Contact Information and
Map of Locations ....................... 24
Ron Wright
The Wright Stuff
YOU SAID WHAT?
Dates to Remember:
Value Notices mailed by TAD
On residential properties ............. 1
VIT Due ...................................... 10
Income Tax Due (IRS) ................ 15
Earth Day .................................... 22
Exemption Applications
due at TAD .................................. 30
Spring is in full bloom, and the
tax office has finished one of the
most intense months of the year.
We are always up to the challenge.
Challenge, of course, is a very
good thing, but as our mothers
warned us, too much of a good
thing can cause a hangover.
We don’t know yet whether to
call it a drama, a mystery, or just
another
adventure,
but
the
compelling saga of the Tarrant
April 1, 2015
Appraisal
District’s
new
Aumentum software program
continues to entertain and cause
heart palpitations in the Property
Tax Division. The one thing on
which everybody involved agrees
is the romance in the story died
long ago. The only things missing
now are werewolves and a vampire
or two, and we might have a
bestseller on our hands.
Meanwhile, the Motor Vehicle
Division just completed the first
month of the state’s new Two Step,
One Sticker program, also known
as the two-steps-and-it-sticks-toyour-boots program. The Texas
Department of Motor Vehicles has
taken a great deal of flak over the
single sticker program. I remind
people that this was not DMV’s
idea; it was the brainchild of
members of the Texas Legislature
who passed it while reciting lines
from Macbeth. This reaffirms the
old adage that the legislature is like
a bunch of cockroaches; it’s not
what they find and steal away, but
what they fall into and mess up.
It also required the cooperative
efforts of three state agencies:
DPS, TCEQ, and DMV to fully
implement.
They wanted to
Continued on Page 2
Volume 2, Issue 4
Taxing News
April 1, 2015
The Wright Stuff, Continued
include a federal agency and the
local credit union, but they ran
out of acronyms.
The challenges of the last
month have resulted in a great
many animated discussions with
tax payers, testing the selfdiscipline of every clerk and
manager in the office. I found
that I, too, was not immune to
the temptation to be other than
completely professional. One
can imagine the conversations
some of our clerks could have
had, but their professionalism
and dedication to excellent
customer service overrode what
would have been a perfectly
human, but regrettable response.
From
the
taxpayer’s
perspective, walking into a tax
office lobby overflowing with
customers waiting to be served
ranks up there with root canals
and colonoscopies. The impact
the single sticker program has
had on transaction times which
results in much longer wait
times is mere frosting on the
cake. Only a masochist would
relish the experience.
Still,
nobody has more control over
that situation than the customer.
Everybody has the right to
Standing room only at the Arlington branch location on March 2
wait until January 31st to pay
their taxes, but if they wait until
January 31, they can expect a
lobby full of people who also
waited until January 31.
Everybody also has the right to
wait until the last day of the
month to renew their vehicle
registration, but if they wait until
the last day, they should expect a
lobby full of people. The same
is true of customers who come
on the first day of the month
after their registrations have
expired. They, too, will find a
lobby full of people.
Renewing
a
vehicle
registration has never been
easier. It can be done online, by
mail, at any one of our 41
contractor grocery stores, or at
one of eight county tax offices.
Unfortunately, it is hard to
change the behavior patterns of
people who visit the tax office
only once or twice a year. Until
that can be done, we will
continue to greet with a smile
whoever comes through our
door.
I want to take this
opportunity to thank the staff of
the best tax office in Texas for
your dedication to exemplary
customer service, no matter the
circumstances,
and
your
unfailing professionalism in very
challenging situations.
Next
month and every month on the
busiest day at the end of the
month when the pressures of a
lobby full of customers never
seems to end, please know that
your efforts are noticed and are
very much appreciated.
Ron Wright
The branch location on Miller Ave. in Fort Worth experienced a packed house on March 2.
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Armed Forces First
In keeping with the Armed Forces First Initiative where the Commissioners have
asked that all Tarrant County offices allow uniformed service members to move to
the front of any line, we’ve spotted a few servicemen and women in our offices.
Thank you for your service!
Sgt. Ranesha Robinson, U.S. Army
Transferred a title on March 13
Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Rios, U.S.
Navy, processed new resident paperwork
on March 17
Dealer 101: Nobody Told Me That
There were approximately 35 attendees at the March 24th Texas Independent Automobile Dealer Association session in Fort Worth. Fetina Green, Manager from Dallas County Tax office, was on hand to assist Tarrant County Motor Vehicle Director, Dorothy Starr, with the presentation. Starr has become a requested presenter of this information numerous times in the past and it is always a well attended session. In fact, this
course has been offered for the past three years. It is offered quarterly on a rotating schedule in Harris, Bexar,
Travis and Tarrant /Dallas counties.
The "Dealer 101: Nobody Told Me That" is designed
for those dealers new to the business, those considering
opening their own dealership, or anyone else needing a
refresher on the basics. Tarrant County dealer clerks
from our Arlington, Downtown, Northwest and Southlake offices attended the March session. Some of their
comments are below.
Whitley Nino: I thought
overall it was a great
experience to learn more
about how dealer/
dealerships work.
Pictured above, left: Dorothy Starr and right: Fetina Green.
Mission Statement
We will serve the citizens of Tarrant County with pride,
courtesy, respect, and determination.
We will achieve excellence in what we do by providing
accurate, efficient, and timely service consistent with the
laws of the State of Texas and the highest ethical
standard.
Ann Driskoll: The seminar did an excellent
job of covering a lot of information in such
a short amount of time, including the basics
of start-up and the various permits and
rules which I think most individuals don’t
even realize are in place when they decide
they want to be a dealer.
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Volume 2, Issue 4
Taxing News
April 1, 2015
Property Tax News
Omitted Property
By Jeff Hodges,
Assessment Manager
Omitted property is not
something that touches a great
deal of people in the tax office.
Processing is usually confined to
the Assessment Department.
What is omitted property? In
short, it is property, real or personal, that was erroneously left
off of the roll. Section 25.21 of
the Property Tax Code addresses
the issue of omitted property
stating that the chief appraiser
will appraise property as of January 1 for the year in which the
property was erroneously left
from the roll, for that year. He/
she is allowed to go back 5 years
for real property and 2 years for
personal.
Where the tax office gets
involved is when the appraisal
district sends the omitted property to our office. The omitted
designation carries an interest
with it equal to 1% per month
from the time the tax would
have gone delinquent. This is
found in Section 26.09D of the
Property Tax Code. TaxClient
adds the omitted designation
from the appraisal district and
adds the appropriate amount of
penalty. You can quickly see
that if the appraisal district were
to go back 5 years, the interest
an owner is required to pay is
60% of the levy! That can be a
substantial amount of money.
However, a property owner
can avoid paying omitted interest on an improvement to real
property if three criteria are met.
The three criteria are:
 The land on which the improvement is located was taxed
in the year in which the improvement escaped taxation.
 The appraisal district had
actual or constructive notice that
the improvement was present in
the year in which it escaped taxation, and,
 The property owner pays
all the back taxes due on the improvement within 120 days after
the bill for the back taxes is sent.
If the omitted property does
not meet the three criteria above,
section 31.04(a)(1) directs us to
allow the owner until the next
February 1st to pay, that gives
them at least 180 days to pay
before the tax goes delinquent.
This date is August 4th. For example, if the appraisal district
sends an omitted property to us
on the June 2015 supplemental
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roll, the back taxes and interest
created are past due as of February 1, 2016. If they send that
same account to us on the September 2015 roll, the back taxes
and interest are past due on February 1, 2017.
A Vicious But
Consistent Cycle
By Danny Nichols,
Collections Manager
Well it’s that time of year
again that we’ve just completed
a very busy and productive tax
year (2014) and it’s already time
to start to prepare for the 2015
tax season.
It starts with the Tarrant
Appraisal District (TAD) as
they are feverishly preparing to
send out “value notices” to
property owners in Tarrant
County to advise them of value
changes, especially increases.
They send them out in April,
with an April 1st mailing
deadline
for
residential
properties of each year and
taxpayers have until the end of
May, or 30 days beyond which
the notices were mailed, to
protest their values.
These
Continued on Page 5
Property Tax News, Continued
protests are then mostly dealt
with and heard by the Appraisal
Review Board (ARB) to resolve
the protest one way or another.
These protests are targeted to be
resolved by July 20th of each
year as the Chief Appraiser must
certify the Tax Roll to each
taxing entity (at least 95%) by
July 25th of each year.
The tax office then receives
the Certified Tax Roll from
TAD and our process begins.
We deal with and assist all the
taxing entities we collect for
while they determine their tax
rate. Then we enter their tax
rates into our tax office
collections software in order to
generate tax statements to be
mailed around October 1st of
each year. It’s then that the
collection process starts again
and another cycle begins.
Texas is a fairly large
property tax intensive state.
However, according to Dan
Patrick, the newly elected Lt.
Governor, in order to fulfill his
and the Governor’s campaign
promises, the state budget will
begin to migrate from a heavy
property tax state to a greater
reliance on sales taxes.
In the meantime, if you live
in Tarrant County your tax rate
is pretty much in the middle of
all Texas counties. The average
rate in Texas is 1.81% of a
property’s assessed fair market
value. Tarrant County’s average
property tax is $3,193 while the
highest average in the state is
King County ($5,066). The
lowest average is Terrell County
($285).
Installment Agreements
By Morris Booth,
Special Collections Manager
Recent Legislation now allows owners of a residence homestead
time to pay their 2014 property taxes by an installment agreement
with reduced penalties if entered into prior to July 1, 2015. For
example, an account with a balance due of $1,692.70 in April 2015
may enter into a residence homestead installment agreement for a
period of 12 months. Monthly payments would be approximately
$148.00 each.
Normally penalty continues to accrue each new month that a balance remains due, but if it is your residence
homestead, and you activate a payment agreement with our office before July 1, 2015, new penalty stops
including collections fees that attach after July 1. Interest continues to accrue at one percent each month.
In order to qualify you must not have had an installment agreement with this office in the preceding 24
months and the account must be your residence homestead. Other conditions may apply by law.
If you need time to pay taxes on a non-homestead account you may also contact us about an installment
agreement. Penalty and interest will continue to accrue and it will not stop collection fees that attach on July 1.
Other conditions may apply by law.
To find out more about either payment option, please call and talk to one of our experts at
817-884-1051.
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Volume 2, Issue 4
Taxing News
April 1, 2015
What’s Been Happening….
Arlington Location Celebrates the
Chinese New Year
Employees at the Arlington branch location enjoy lunch with authentic
food prepared by our own May Ann Owens.
Pictured here left to right are Gena Cliff, Manager; Tiffany Windsor, Supervisor; Motor
Vehicle Specialists May Ann Owens and Wei Xu; and Jana Jenkins, Supervisor.
Cash Balancing Tool
Birthday Celebration for Arlington
Manager: Gena Cliff, pictured above,
enjoys several surprises from her staff on
March 20.
Amy Goldman and Judy Lee from the
Accounting Department presented training on the
new Cash Balancing Tool at the regular motor
vehicle managers meeting on March 18. This
Amy Goldman and Judy Lee
new tool has now been rolled out to all branch locations and specifies the
documents that need to be scanned on a daily basis. It also identifies all daily
balancing procedures down to the way employees sign the financial records.
This tool will help maintain consistency in
our processes so that we become more
efficient, saving us valuable time and
Motor Vehicle Managers
resources.
Aumentum Training by TAD Staff
The Southwest
branch location had
this surprise visitor on
March 17.
Pictured at left
and below:
Tarrant County
staff in training
D.J. Whitehead,
Director,
Property tax and Quality
Information
Assurance staff were provided
Services,
Tarrant
additional training by Tarrant
Appraisal District
Appraisal staff on the new
Aumentum system on March 17. The new system has been in place
since October 2014, and it is quite different than the old 20 year old
system. We look forward to more training in the future!
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Our Vision:
We are a professional team of positive and
dedicated individuals who serve with
integrity, tenacity, and compassion in an
innovative and inclusive environment.
What’s Been Happening….
Prize Winner!!
Carlotta Ramirez was the lucky winner of a $100 gift card for her
support in the United Way fundraiser recently. Her name was
drawn from employees who contributed $25 or more.
Congratulations, Carlotta.
Leadership Development Series is launched
Ann, SL
Directors and Managers from all areas of the tax office participate in “Authentic Leadership” course.
Poly staff
Left to right: Jeanette Johnson,
Organizational Development Officer;
Ron Wright, Tax Assessor-Collector;
and James Bird Guess, Author/
Motivational Speaker/Trainer.
Jeanette Johnson and James Bird Guess
Motor Vehicle and Property Tax Managers and Directors attended “Authentic
Leadership” by James Bird Guess on March 18. Mr. Guess is the author of
Lead Like Water: Many Can Manage Few Can Lead. This was the first of 6
leadership training sessions scheduled throughout the upcoming year for
managers and directors in the tax office. The course provided in-depth
information and education on leadership, and offered an interactive experience
for participants. Tarrant County’s Organizational Development Officer assisted
with scheduling and was on hand to help facilitate the instruction. We are
excited about the personal growth of our managers and directors, the positive
impact on our employees, as well as the overall benefit to the tax office and the
citizens we serve.
Property tax managers Danny Nichols and Jeff Hodges prepare for
training, with Jeanette Johnson and James Bird Guess in the background.
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MV Managers Joanna Fisk, Elvira
Simpson, Juana Garnett and QA
Director Sue Caldwell on their
way to the meeting room.
Taxing News
Volume 2, Issue 4
April 1, 2015
What’s Been Happening….
Farewell, Jim Pritchard
Jim Pritchard, Property Tax Director, retired on March 13 after 7 1/2 years with the tax office. Among the
many plans he has during retirement, he seems most excited to be able to spend more time with grandson,
Jack. Congratulations! We will miss you.
G.K. Maenius, County Administrator, stops
by on Jim’s last day to wish him the best.
Cake and food...appropriate for a
retirement celebration!
Ron Wright presents the watch….
...And the final handshake.
...And the plaque while staff looks on...
Mark and Elizabeth W., MV
Regional Tax
Assessor-Collectors
Quarterly Meeting
Pictured left to right: Ron Wright, TAC (Tarrant); Dorothy Starr, MV Director (Tarrant); Rachel Kelley,
Karla, MV
Motor Vehicle Manager (Denton); Michelle French, TAC (Denton); John Ames, TAC (Dallas); and Jason
Downing, MV Director (Dallas).
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Regional
Tax
AssessorCollectors met on March 17 at
Olive Garden inJudyLewisville for
their regular quarterly meeting.
This
month’s
discussions
revolved around the new Two
Steps, One Sticker Program so
Tarrant County and Dallas
County Motor Vehicle Directors
and Denton County’s Motor
Vehicle Manager joined John
Ames, Michelle French, and Ron
Wright.
A Look Back ……..by Ron Wright
How Commerce Street Got Its Name
In 1910 the city council of
Fort Worth made the simple, but
painful decision to rename a
street. The decision came after
much soul-searching and public
deliberation. It was painful because the street no longer celebrated the memory of a great
man, city leaders believed, but
was known as a primary artery
into the wild, bawdy, and deadly
section of town known throughout the West as Hell’s Half
Acre. Honor, the council reasoned, had become dishonor,
and rather than continue to dishonor the memory of a Texas
hero, Rusk Street became Commerce Street.
Fort Worth began growing
the moment the U.S. Army
abandoned the fort in 1853, and
settlers took over the fort buildings and made a small town.
Initial growth emanated south
from the fort. Once Fort Worth
became the county seat following the much-maligned and
much-disputed election of 1856,
a log courthouse was built on
land donated for that purpose by
Col. Middleton Tate Johnson
immediately east of the fort
buildings where the Tarrant
County Courthouse stands today. Growth then emanated
south and east from the courthouse square.
The town was laid out with
streets running in a north/south
and east/west grid that formed
city blocks. East/west streets
were numbered, and north/south
streets were named to honor
great men, most of whom were
considered Texas heroes. They
included the three presidents of
the Republic of Texas: Houston,
Lamar, and Jones.
The north/south streets that
formed the east and west borders
of the courthouse square were
named for two heroes of the
Texas Revolution, two leaders of
the young republic that followed, and the first two U.S.
senators from Texas after Texas
became a state: Sam Houston
and Thomas Rusk. Both men
had been generals, had fought at
San Jacinto, and had served the
republic, Houston as a president
and Rusk as a secretary of war.
It was the legislature’s choice of
Rusk over former President Anson Jones to be one of Texas’
first U.S. senators that began
Jones’ mental and emotional decline that culminated years later
in his suicide in a Houston hotel
room.
Born in South Carolina in
1803, Thomas Jefferson Rusk
taught himself the law and was
admitted to the Bar in 1825. He
was practicing law in Georgia
and had invested heavily in gold
mines there. In 1834 the manag9
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
ers of the company in which he
had invested embezzled the
money and fled to Texas, then
part of Mexico. Rusk pursued
them as far as Nacogdoches, but
never recovered the money. He
did, however, fall in love with
Texas and decided to stay. He
applied for a land grant and sent
for his family to join him. The
following year Rusk got involved with the growing revolution movement.
A friend of interim President
David G. Burnet, Rusk participated in the Convention of 1836
and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Appointed secretary of war, Rusk joined
Houston in the bayou country
and urged him to take a stand
against Mexican General Santa
Anna. Houston heeded Rusk’s
advice and made his stand at San
Jacinto, which won the war for
independence. When Houston
Continued on Page 10
Taxing News
Volume 2, Issue 4
April 1, 2015
A Look Back, continued ….
travelled to New Orleans to seek
medical treatment for the
wounds he suffered in the battle,
Rusk became commander-inchief of the Texas Army and followed the Mexican troops to the
Rio Grande to make sure all of
them left Texas.
After serving as Houston’s
first Secretary of War in the new
republic, Rusk served in the congress of the Republic. In 1838,
he was elected Chief Justice of
the republic’s Supreme Court.
In 1843 Rusk again assumed
military leadership as Major
General of the Republic of Texas militia.
square in Fort Worth.
The trouble with the street
began with the great cattle drives
from Texas to Kansas and Missouri. The drives began in 1867
and lasted two decades. Great
trails were blazed, including the
famous Chisholm Trail, which
came through Fort Worth. The
frontier town became a major
supply depot for the trip north
and an oasis of fun for cowboys
on the way back.
Rusk supported annexation
to the United States, served as
president of the 1845 convention that accepted the terms of
annexation, and with Houston
19th Century bordello and houses on Rusk Street, Fort Worth
was appointed a U.S. senator
the following year by the state
Saloons, bordellos and gamlegislature. He served with disbling houses sprang up in town
tinction in the senate until his
along with all the undesirable
death in 1857. His wife, Mary,
elements those places usually
had succumbed to tuberculosis
attracted in the 19th century.
in 1856. Increasingly despondAlthough called Hell’s Half
ent over the loss of his wife and
Acre, or simply the Acre, it
suffering from a tumor at the
eventually encompassed much
base of his neck, he ended his
of the southeast quadrant of
own life with a gun shot on July
what is now downtown Fort
29, 1857 at the age of 53. At the
Worth. Businesses there were
time of his death, Thomas Rusk
patronized by the likes of Butch
was one of the most popular figCassidy and his Hole in the Wall
ures in Texas politics, eclipsed
Gang and other outlaws who
only by his friend, the great Sam
sought escape in the Acre. VioHouston. It was only natural
lence was rampant and deaths
that a street named in his honor
common, although most of the
would help frame the courthouse
deaths that occurred there were
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down-on-their-luck prostitutes
who committed suicide, ladies
that newspapers of the day euphemistically referred to as
“fallen angels”. The Acre also
produced the peculiar dichotomy
known as the bookends of 11th
Street, a notorious house of ill
repute on one end of the street
facing St. Patrick Catholic
Church on the other end. In this
war for souls, it appears the
church won. The bordello is
gone, but St. Patrick’s is still
there.
Although numerous attempts
had been made to reform the
Acre, it was not until a fiery
Baptist preacher, J. Frank Norris, formed an unlikely alliance
with the U. S. Army that the lid
on the Acre’s coffin was nailed
shut. Norris had made closing
down the Acre a mission of his
First Baptist Church of Fort
Worth, and the commander of
the World War I training camp,
Camp Bowie, sought to protect
the virtue of his young recruits.
He threatened to move the camp
away from Fort Worth if city
leaders didn’t do something
about the Acre.
By 1918, Hell’s Half Acre
was all but dead. Its final remnants were demolished to make
way for the new convention center in the mid 1960s. By then,
Commerce Street had been the
name for more than 50 years and
Rusk Street was all but forgotten.
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
– Albert Einstein
Letty, VIT Downtown: “...great customer service and helps out with any questions and issues
customers have…”
Customer
service is not
a department,
it’s everyone’s job.
Brandy, MV Downtown: “We were very impressed with Brandy’s friendliness, kind attitude
and helpfulness! Much better experience than we expected in a government office.”
Denise, SW: “She was very helpful and kind.”
Judy, SL: “Friendly, warm team members. Went out of their way to assist.”
Jayne, NW: “...fast, quick, efficient and friendly.”
Britney, Poly: “...positive attitude. Britney is awesome.”
Carmen, Mansfield: “...efficient and friendly making for a pleasant experience.”
Congratulations to these employees who will be recognized in Commissioners Court in April:
5 Years:
Richard Devaney
Alicia Whiteley
10 Years: Charlotte Lotspeich-Larson
20 Years: Donna Martin
Chris Neal.................................. 4
Britney Miller ............................ 20
Linda Finley .............................. 6
Donna Foxe ............................... 22
Ron Wright ................................ 8
Cierra Hernandez ....................... 22
Anthony Campbell .................... 12
Patricia Medley ......................... 23
Christi Bellamy ......................... 14
May Ann Owens ........................ 24
Mark Butler ............................... 14
Karla Garces .............................. 25
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Ingrid Lira ................................. 27
Taxing News
Volume 2, Issue 4
Tarrant County
Tax Office Locations
Hours: Monday—Friday
8:00 am—5:00 pm
April 1, 2015
CONTACT US
Main Office Building
100 East Weatherford St.
Fort Worth, TX 76196
Phone: 817-884-1100
Northwest
6713 Telephone Rd. Rm. 101
Lake Worth, TX 76135
Phone: 817-238-4435
Arlington
700 E. Abram St.
Arlington, TX 76010
Phone: 817-548-3935
Poly
3212 Miller Ave.
Fort Worth, TX 76105
Phone: 817-531-5635
Mansfield
1100 E. Broad St.
Mansfield, TX 76063
Phone: 817-473-5127
Southlake
1400 Main St. Suite 110
Southlake TX 76092
Phone: 817-481-8141
Northeast
645 E. Grapevine Highway
Hurst, TX 76054
Phone: 817-581-3635
Southwest
6551 Granbury Rd
Fort Worth, TX 76133
Phone: 817-370-4535
817-884-1100
Email Property Tax Department
at:
taxoffice@tarrantcounty.com
Email Motor Vehicle
Department at:
mvt@tarrantcounty.com
Questions about the newsletter may
be directed to
Vickie Doane at
Tax-SDC@tarrantcounty.com
Visit our website at:
www.tarrantcounty.com
Registration renewals may be
purchased at your local Carnival, Fiesta,
Kroger, and Tom Thumb stores in Bedford,
Hurst, Keller, Mansfield, Southlake,
Arlington, Grapevine, and Fort Worth.
Check our website for a list of locations
at www.tarrantcounty.com.
Be sure to bring your renewal notice,
proof of insurance and an acceptable form
of ID such as a Texas Driver’s License or
ID card.
Email Tax-SDC@tarrantcounty.com to subscribe to our monthly newsletter distribution list.
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