MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: D. Bryant Smith
Director of Operations
McCreary, Veselka Bragg & Allen P.C. Attorneys at Law
Office: (512) 323-3200
Direct Line: (512) 323-3245
Fax: (512) 323-3205
E-mail: Bryant.Smith@mvbalaw.com

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLIC RELEASE:

FIRM ADDS “TOP TRUTH-IN-TAXATION” EXPERT TO TEAM

McCreary, Veselka Bragg & Allen P.C. Attorneys at Law expand staff to include Connie Rose who has 40 years of Texas Property Tax experience

ROUND ROCK, Texas (February 1, 2016) – McCreary, Veselka Bragg & Allen P.C. Attorneys at Law (mvba) is pleased to announce the addition of Connie Rose to its staff.

Rose has four decades of work experience in the field of property taxes. Her tax career began with the City of Palestine in 1975. Throughout the past 40 years, Rose became elected county tax assessor-collector for two terms in Anderson County before moving to Austin to work for the Comptroller’s Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD) in 1999. For 15 years, Rose worked within PTAD as the Team Lead over the Arbitration and Information Service Section, responding to questions from taxpayers, appraisal districts, taxing units and others that contact the Comptroller’s office for assistance statewide.

mvba hired Rose for her extensive knowledge of the Texas Property Tax Code, her expertise on Truth-in-Taxation – the property owner’s right to know about increases in their properties’ appraised value and to be notified of the estimated taxes that could result from the new value – and her abilities in both appraisal review board training and binding arbitration.

“We are very excited to have one of Texas’ premier Truth-In-Taxation experts join our team,” mvba Shareholder Matthew Tepper said. “As a former tax collector and Comptroller employee, Connie’s expertise will be a valuable addition to the services mvba offers its clients.”

Rose has obtained certification as a Registered Texas Collector, a Registered Texas Assessor-Collector and is currently a Registered Professional Appraiser. She has two children, two grandchildren, and in her spare time, she enjoys gardening, working on crafts, reading and drawing.

Read more about Truth in Taxation here.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Craig Morgan
Attorney
McCreary, Veselka Bragg & Allen P.C. Attorneys at Law
Office: (512) 323-3200
Direct Line: (512) 323-3251
Fax: (512) 323-3205
E-mail: craig.morgan@mvbalaw.com

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLIC RELEASE:

FIRM HELPS AMASS MORE THAN A HALF-MILLION DOLLARS FOR CITY OF PORT ARTHUR

McCreary, Veselka Bragg & Allen P.C. Attorneys at Law in coordination with the court resolves monies owed to the City of Port Arthur, Texas

ROUND ROCK, Texas (March 21, 2016) – The City of Port Arthur and McCreary, Veselka Bragg & Allen P.C. Attorneys at Law (mvba) resolve $847,937.98 of municipal court fines and fees in the first six months of a new partnership.

mvba entered into a contract with the city September 2015 and has made considerable strides in the first six months with $508,152.74 paid in full to the city. The firm specializes in collection services for delinquent tax and non-tax related programs and the City of Port Arthur is one of many clients who have entrusted mvba to collect outstanding court fines and fees from people having outstanding citations. mvba’s innovative approach has proven effective and beneficial for the city in recovering those hundreds of thousands previously unpaid and is continuing the same efforts towards the remaining amount outstanding.

“mvba’s efforts have been enhanced by the cooperation we have received from the municipal court staff and the partnership that has been created between the law firm and the City of Port Arthur,” Craig Morgan, Partner at mvba, said. “We continue to examine ways to help the city in its efforts to collect these outstanding balances.”

The Port Arthur area has more than 57,750 residents. The funds recovered by mvba on behalf of the City of Port Arthur will greatly benefit the city.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Matthew Tepper
Attorney
McCreary, Veselka Bragg & Allen P.C. Attorneys at Law
Office:(512) 323-3200
Direct Line: (512) 323-3251
Fax: (512) 323-3205
E-mail: mtepper@mvbalaw.com

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLIC RELEASE:

SCHOOL DISTRICT SUES COMPTROLLER FOR OUTLANDISH LAND VALUES

Frost Independent School District Challenges Property Value Study Conducted by the Comptroller

HILL COUNTY, Texas (August 18, 2016) – McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, P.C. (mvba) filed a lawsuit August 15, 2016 on behalf of the Frost Independent School District (Frost ISD) appealing Comptroller Glen Hegar’s findings in the 2015 Property Value Study of the Frost ISD located within Hill County. Hegar determined agricultural property values were too low and needed to be raised. The Property Value Study used by the Comptroller is considered “outdated and unreliable” by the Hill County Appraisal District (HCAD) and does not justify raising the agricultural values. On 61 counts, the lawsuit requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an order vacating and remanding the final determinations made by Hegar.

If Hegar’s findings are sustained in court, HCAD will be forced to raise agricultural valuations or risk the Hill County school districts losing out on some of their state aid dollars. The changing values in the Frost ISD will ripple throughout all school districts within Hill County.

Chief Appraiser Mike McKibben is one of many who disagree with Hegar’s pronouncement. “Our agricultural values are based on information we receive from local farmers. It is the best information available. The information used by the Comptroller’s appraiser in Austin [the 2015 Property Value Study] was outdated and unreliable. We are confident our values are more accurate and we want the values to be as accurate as possible so the school children in Hill County do not suffer from their schools losing state aid.”

McKibben also speculates Hegar is not impartial when it comes to Hill County. “For some reason it seems the Comptroller’s Office has been picking on or discriminating against Hill County for several years now,” McKibben said. “I’d like to see it stop, because ultimately it’s the taxpayers who lose.”

The law firm handling the suit is optimistic the court will rule in Frost ISD’s favor. “We at mvba are confident that the Appraisal Districts lower values are correct,” Matthew Tepper, mvba Attorney for the Plaintiff said. “We will do everything we can to insure that land owners in Hill County have their land appraised at the correct values.”

mvba has worked with ISDs, counties and municipalities throughout the state for the past fifty years. They are headquartered in Round Rock, TX.

Read more about our school district and property value appeals here.