Montgomery County Monitor (Montgomery County, TX) – For an unknown period of time the Montgomery Central Appraisal District (MCAD) has been overcharging for certain types of public information. The overcharges were discovered by a resident asking for tax appraisal information on a commercial property. In general, Texas law allows public entities such as the MCAD to charge $0.10/page for public information. Up until recently, in some cases, the MCAD was charging taxpayers for public information related to their property’s appraised value at a rate of nearly 3000% above the rate allowed by law.

In the past when citizens contacted MCAD and requested appraisal information about a piece of property, the citizens were told they had three options for obtaining the information: (see MCAD’s Public Information Request Form)

(1) Visit the Taxpayer Assistance Area and use the available reference material as well as inspect the records for no charge. Copies of the records are available at a nominal fee ($0.10/page).

(2) Visit MCAD and have an informal hearing with a staff Appraiser.

(3) Instruct staff to prepare the documents for a flat fee of $15.00 for residential properties and $25.00 for commercial properties.

The problem occurred when citizens chose option 3. In most cases, if the requested information is less than 50 pages, state law allows a charge of only $0.10/page.

Mike Donnelly, a Montgomery County resident who recently paid the $15.00 fee for five pages of material, sent an overcharge complaint to the Texas Attorney General.

Ms. Hadassah Schloss, Cost Rules Administrator for the Open Records Division of the Office of the Texas Attorney General sent correspondence to Mr. Mark Castleshouldt, MCAD Chief Appraiser, in regards to the overcharge complaint. In her letter Ms. Schloss asks, “[h]ow did the district determine it is allowed to charge $15.00 per property, regardless of the number of pages, for copies of information before a hearing pursuant to section 41.461 of the Tax Code?” She went on to also ask, “[h]ow many pages did you provide to the requestor?”

Additionally, Ms. Schloss pointed out the $15.00 charge for residential properties and the $25.00 charge for commercial properties district personnel quoted from section 41.461(b)(1) and (2) of the Tax Code, were merely a “ceiling” or cap amount beyond which no requestor can be charged. Ms. Schloss emphasized section 41.461 specifically points to the portion of the Texas Public Information Act which states, except for extenuating circumstances, the maximum charge shall be $0.10/page for public information.

In his letter Mr. Compton goes on to say, “we have put into motion procedures to identify the individuals that were charged more than allowed under Section 552.261 of the Government Code. The procedures include refunding $14.50 for each residential property request and $24.00 for each commercial request…[i]ncluded with the refund check will be a short note of apology from me.”

When contacted by phone, Mr. Compton stated he believed their office had only been overcharging for certain public information requests since the beginning of 2007. However, due to the workload inherent this time of year with tax appraisal protests and hearings, he said there had not been adequate time to research this issue to determine if the overcharges had indeed been ongoing prior to 2007.

Residents of Montgomery County who have not yet received a refund, but believe they are due a refund for 2007 or any previous year should contact the Montgomery Central Appraisal District at 281-353-2186 or 409-756-3354.

More to come…
Related Information
Public Information Overcharge Follow-up(Blog)
Follow-up Public Information Request – MCAD Overcharges
Complaint Regarding Public Information Overcharges – Donnelly
MCAD Letter and Refund Check
MCAD Response to the Attorney General – Overcharges
MCAD Request for Public Information Form
Attorney General’s Letter to MCAD – Overcharges

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