El Paso Central Appraisal District director’s travel questioned

June 15--The head of the El Paso Central Appraisal District spent more than $11,000 in 15 trips to assessor meetings, conferences and training in a little more than a year, according to documents obtained by the El Paso Times.

Dinah Kilgore, the district's executive director and chief appraiser, said many of the trips are not only required to keep her certification but are also part of her contract that encourages professional growth.

"(The board) has not brought that to my attention and I'm not aware of any issues with that," Kilgore said.

Kilgore serves as vice president of the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts and secretary of the Metropolitan Council of Appraisal Districts. She also is a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers.

"That's in my contract, I'm supposed to be involved in state and national organizations," said Kilgore, who was appointed to the position with the El Paso agency in October 2009.

According to records obtained by the El Paso Times under the Open Records Act, Kilgore attended 15 meetings and conferences of those associations from January 2013 to March 2014. That amounted to $11,200 in airfare, hotel, car rental and per diems over the same period, the records show.

Among them were seven days in Grand Rapids, Mich., for the annual conference of the international association and five days in Dallas for the state association's annual conference on appraisal administration.

Kilgore's contract includes a professional growth clause that encourages her participation in education seminars and professional meetings. It also states the district will pay or reimburse her for registration, travel, meals and lodging, as well as membership fees.

The agency that appraises properties countywide allotted about $12,000 for education and dues for its chief appraiser in its nearly $12.7 million budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year. It also allotted $32,000 for administrative workshops and educational seminars required for its appraisers.

Known as the CAD, the agency is supported by the nearly 40 taxing governments and agencies in the county that pay into its budget through taxpayer dollars.

The nine-member board of directors -- appointed by the city, county, school districts and other incorporated towns countywide -- hires the chief appraiser and approves the budget for the district.

The district and Kilgore recently came under fire by the board of directors who asked that they tighten their belt when setting the 2014-15 fiscal year budget. The board questioned the district's employees salaries, benefits and spending, as well as other expenses.

Board chairman Rey Sepulveda didn't return calls for comment, but one trustee said the board has encouraged more use of technology for training to help cut expenses.

"Those concerns arose when we started working on the budget and wanted to keep a flat budget," said city Rep. Cortney Niland, a member of the district's board of directors. "We were looking for areas to tighten the budget and that was one that raised concerns."

Niland said the 15 trips in 15 months sounds "rather excessive" even if they were for professional development, but added that she needed to more closely examine Kilgore's and the entire staff's travel history.

"I just don't know if it was all necessary," Niland said. "I think we would like to see more use of Webinars, video conferencing and other technologies to reduce those costs."

Kilgore said the district is already taking advantage of Webinars and other technology for some training and meetings. She said the CAD is also training its managers to become instructors themselves, but points out that receiving that instructor certification also requires travel for courses and testing.

El Paso resident Mike Rooney, who has long tracked school districts, local government and other public agencies in the area, said he thought the meetings Kilgore attended could be beneficial if they help improve the district's function.

"It looks like seven of those meetings in some way had to do with legislative issues -- an item that likely might or will have an impact locally," said Rooney, who frequently attends CAD meetings.

According to her latest contract, Kilgore is paid a base salary of about $141,000 a year, plus an annual contribution of about $2,800 toward her pension with the Texas County and District Retirement System, a $120,000 life insurance policy, and a cell phone for personal and professional use, among other benefits, she's paid a car allowance of $6,000 a year and an annual $2,400 expense account.

Kilgore's contract allows for one-year renewals following an evaluation each September. She said the board had failed to meet or approve a contract last fall and instead in March approved a six-month extension through September. She had been working under her old contract in the meantime.

Cindy Ramirez may be reached at 546-6151.

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