Tax assessor-collector, Montgomery County

J.R. Moore Jr., the tax assessor-collector in Montgomery County, is a name that many people probably recognize. For the past 26 years, county residents have been writing his name down on checks when they send in tax payments.

Before taking the position as Montgomery County's tax assessor-collector, Moore worked as the manager for a Houston area Safeway store at the age of 21 and later spent some time running his own hardware store. He has served as the mayor of Shenandoah and spent 10 months filling in as County Justice of the Peace in 1986.

Today, Moore runs five office locations and 22 substations throughout the county. The Montgomery County Tax Office collects taxes from 84 jurisdictions throughout the county, including school districts, cities and special districts. It also processes all vehicle and trailer registrations and is one of the largest county offices in the state that consolidates both motor vehicle and tax departments.

What does the county tax assessor-collector do?

The Montgomery Central Appraisal District goes through and appraises property based on its value on Jan. 1. Between July 25 and Sept. 30 the assessor takes the appraised value and reduces it to an assessed value by using mandatory and special use exemptions. As assessor, I take optional exemptions—homestead, tax abatements, frozen exemptions for people over 65—and apply them to get a taxable value. That value, divided into the budget for the unit, determines the tax rate to fund that budget. After the tax role is approved my collection duty begins.

What does your daily job entail?

I start each day off by recapping what issues were solved the day before and what still needs to be taken care of. Then, I'll return and make phone calls with people who want to talk to me. I attend a lot of meetings that I'm not required to—rotary clubs, cities, school [board]—and I make myself available to be approached. I find people appreciate the chance to talk to me in person about what rights and remedies they have to solve their problems. I like showing them what remedies are available, because if they don't exercise certain remedies, they don't have a right any more. My whole thing is about educating the public.

What are some things that you've set into action since taking this job?

I get involved in a lot of things, especially in economic development, that no other county tax assessor-collector does—the resale of 7,900 pieces of tax trust property that nobody wanted to sell, as well as monitoring tax abatements when no one was looking after them before. I made it company policy to open five minutes early and close five minutes later than posted hours. You'd be amazed at how much of a difference that makes for people. Consolidating tax collections on one tax bill is currently saving approximately $1.7 million each year.

What are you most proud of accomplishing as tax assessor-collector?

We had around $12.5 million in delinquent taxes when I took over in 1987. In nine months, I had that down to $1.5 million. They ran out of banks where they could put the money because of limits on how much you could deposit at one time. I had to start using banks at Harris County at the time. When I came on board, I had 16 jurisdictions. I cover 84 now. I was processing about 360,000 transactions a year. I do around two million now. The fees the office collects are more than sufficient to pay for the budget. My outstanding staff is what allows this all to happen.