Government
BY JESSICA SHORTEN
Q&A: Sherry Hunter, Montgomery County chief appraiser, discusses property taxes Sherry Hunter, chief appraiser with Montgomery Central Appraisal District, sat down for an interview with Community Impact on April 10 to talk about her role and what challenges are being faced by the appraisal district as the property value protest process has been underway since April 1. What brought you to the world of property appraisals? It started out in 1998. ... It was the Harris County Appraisal District, and I was there for 12 years, and then I left for a little bit so that I could go ahead and finish my degree, because I always wanted to be a counselor. I was actually working at an alternative school, doing counseling and ... I was released from there because they ended up losing their contract, and my ex-supervisor from Harris County ... reached out to me. I came here and started back because I was in management at Harris County, but I ended up coming back into the business as an appraiser. What were the big changes you made upon becoming chief appraiser? One of the first things that I did was I met with the team ... and I shared with them that we’re in this together. We’re going to work as a group, and we’re going to rebuild the integrity of our data. ... For tax year 2025, our budget is now for 107 employees, but it is because for a long time we were limited as far as our appraisal staff as well as
technology. But the county has grown substantially. It’s a little daunting to do this, but ... with the new software that we have, they do have a mobile appli- cation. So that delay that we had in the past with our appraisers going out to the field, measuring on paper and pen, and then coming back into the office and keying it into the system, that delay is going to stop now. What are some of the big misconceptions that you see year over year when it comes to property taxes? That we are politically motivated when we are actually a neutral party. We are tasked with having an accurate listing of all properties within the boundaries of the county and valuing them at 100% of market value each year as of Jan. 1. To do this, we utilize prior year sales information. Why can residents see a year-to-year increase in their appraisal value, even if local taxing entities do not raise their tax rate? Our values are set first, and so we have to value as of Jan. 1. Because we have to value as of Jan. 1, we’re looking at all of the prior year sales. So for tax year 2025 or appraisal year 2025, we’re looking at all the sales that took place in 2024 in order to deter- mine what a property owner could actually sell their home for as of Jan. 1. So that can change every year, and it’s just depending on what the market is saying there. I’ve been in the business 25 years now. So there are times when we have an increase in the market, but then there are times when we have a decrease in the market. It is those sales that indicate what our valuations will be. So it’s going to change every year. Is there anything else you would like residents to know about your office, you and your staff? I want them to understand that we are here to educate the community. We’re here to help them
COURTESY SHERRY HUNTER/MONTGOMERY CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT
throughout this process, because we understand that it is a very confusing process, and it can change every two years whenever the Legislature meets. With us, it’s never an ‘us against them’ type of mentality. It’s ‘Okay, how can we help you? What do we need to do to help you better understand this process?’
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com .
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