The Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) won the IDC Smart Cities North America Award presented by International Data Corporation.
The appraisal district won the award in 2020 in the local IT innovation category, but the pandemic delayed the awards presentation until this year.
HCAD won the award for its homestead exemption audit project. The project reviewed and updated all the exemption records using a new technology that examined exemption filings combined with public records data, identity analytics and advanced linking technology to help staff identify exemptions that needed further investigation.
HCAD also won a Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction award from the International Association of Assessing officers in September for its creation and development of the remote hearings option in 2020 to allow property owners to have an Appraisal Review Board hearing without coming into the district office.
“These two awards continue to show HCAD’s innovative use of new technology to help the jurisdictions and property owners of Harris County,” said Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger.
