Gregg County Appraisal District in Texas approved a $2.6 million budget for the 2017 calendar year, while accepting the retirement announcement of its chief appraiser.
Chief Appraiser Tom Hays will be retiring in his 45th year in the public appraisal business, the past three decades at Gregg County Appraisal District. He has been chief appraiser since 2001.
The 2017 budget, unanimously approved, is the same size as this year's spending plan. Hays kept salaries on par with this year’s budget, at almost $1.3 million, and spending on specialty appraisals that are contracted out rose somewhat, from $290,000 to $326,400.
Hays said that increase arose mostly from rising legal costs. The district, which sets the values on properties for taxation, also is switching specialty appraisal firms, from Pritchard & Abbott to Capitol Appraisal Group.
“This overall contract went down (in cost) from Pritchard & Abbott,” Hays told the Longview-News Journal.