Financial Transparency

Over the last 36 years, Harris Central Appraisal District has been awarded the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellent in Financing Reporting. It’s the highest form of recognition in government accounting and financial reporting.

In May 2017, Harris Central Appraisal District received the Transparency Star in Traditional Finances for going above and beyond in its transparency efforts. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts recognizes government entities that accomplish in providing clear and meaningful financial information not only by posting financial documents, but also through summaries, visualizations, downloadable data and other relevant information.

HCAD is funded by the taxing units it serves. As provided in Section 6.06(d), Tax Code, “Each taxing unit participating in the district is allocated a portion of the budget equal to the proportion that the total dollar amount of property taxes imposed in the district by the unit for the tax year in which the budget proposal is prepared bears to the sum of the total dollar amount of property taxes imposed in the district by each participating unit for that year.”

Appraisal Districts are not authorized to levy ad valorem taxes or issue bonded indebtedness or other debt instruments. HCAD has entered into a capital lease obligation to finance the acquisition of a building to house its operations. See Section III, Paragraph D., Leases in the Notes to the Financial Statements in the 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for a discussion of this capital lease.