San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Its sense of mission, good communication lift appraisal district
Just after Michael Amezquita became chief appraiser at the Bexar Appraisal District in 2003, an external review found the organization had 82 “material defects” — problems ranging from management practices to employee compensation.
“All the things that can make an organization dysfunctional,” Amezquita said.
Now, 17 years later, the Bexar Appraisal District was voted the Top Workplace among midsize employers in San Antonio, even as the pandemic has kept most of the organization’s employees out of the office for the past six months.
The Bexar Appraisal District finished as the best workplace among 21 midsize employers on the list. Last year, the district finished 12th on the list of top workplaces in its category.
“We want to repeat, we want to sustain, but one of things that’s really coolwas last year was our first year to win, we were in the top 12. … We didn’t want to just win an award. We took feedback and started making changes,” Amezquita said. “It kind of gives you an introspective look at yourself as a manager and the management team.”
This year, the appraisal district was followed on the Top Workplaces list by JBGoodwin REALTORS. The local real estate firm won the top spot in 2019.
Jon Wayne Service Co. finished third on the list year after placing second last year.
The city of Fair Oaks Ranchwas the only government employer aside from the appraisal district to place on the list of Top Workplaces of any size in the past two years.
Amezquita attributes the Bexar Appraisal District’s ascent to the top ranks of local employers to
improvements that followed that 2003 review at the start of his tenure.
He also lauds the district’s fleet-footed approach to working with Bexar County taxpayers.
“We used that (review) as our very first tool to teach ourselves how to remake ourselves,” Amezquita said. “One of the things that makes us so successful is we have down-up communication, so everybody from maintenance staff to my first assistant, they’re all welcome into my office.”
The Bexar Appraisal District employs 157 people. The organization determines the fair market value at which property is taxed.
Typically, after the appraisal district sets a property’s value, property owners can contest the value to lower their tax liability.
The organization was preparing to send notices to property owners when the pandemic hit in March.
But after revamping the agency’s online system, Amezquita said the property value protest process has been as smooth as ever.
“These last six months, taxpayers have really responded very favorably, as have my staff. We more than doubled our online appeals usage,” Amezquita said.
He said the district expanded from being able to handle 40 incoming calls to as many as 150, and it expanded its Zoom and Webex online systems.
The district received 127,000 property value protests, which was more than last year. More than 90 percent of residents’ protests have been resolved, the same rate as last year.