CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — The Nueces County Appraisal District (NCAD) is facing controversy following allegations that its procurement process for a new Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) software system was designed with predetermined bias.
During a February NCAD regular meeting, Information System Manager Neil Lindeen raised serious concerns about the selection process.
"This process has been essentially run backwards," Lindeen told board members while discussing the potential selection of a CAMA system, which is used for maintaining property data, valuing property, notifying owners, and ensuring tax equity.
Lindeen alleged that NCAD structured its procurement process to favor True Prodigy Tech Solutions, a developer of appraisal analysis tools.
According to Lindeen, the district used a Request for Proposal (RFP) template from another appraisal district that had already selected True Prodigy, suggesting the process was tailored to match True Prodigy's offerings.
When board member John M. Cudd sought clarification, asking if someone had "designed what Nueces County would need, according to [True Prodigy's] product," Lindeen confirmed this was his concern.
"The assistant chief appraiser (Leticia Roberts) obtained an RFP (Request for Proposal) template from another appraisal district that had already selected True Prodigy, and planned to use that template for NCAD solicitation." Lindeen continued, "You can kind of see where my concern is coming for this whole process."
Lindeen also referenced concerns previously raised by former Director of Administration Elias Sissamis, noting that Sissamis had expressed frustration about being ignored before announcing his resignation six days later.
The NCAD attorney disputed Lindeen's characterization, stating, "That's not correct. I believe the only changes we made from the RFP at Tarrant County was the names."
Board Chairman Kevin Kieschnick told 6 Investigates the appraisal district received a letter that substantiated allegations made by Lindeen from a company competing for the contract.
Kieschnick said that while he is prohibited from discussing details in that letter, the board will meet this week and will discuss starting the RFP process over, this time with a company hired to oversee the process.
"The allegations that were made in the public meeting on February 12th, we had a staff member raise concerns about the RFP process for the computer-aided mass appraisal system that was being proposed to the appraisal district," Kieschnick said. "There was some discussion about those items in that meeting, but then we got some more communication that was sent to me that raised my eyebrows. So, we had that special meeting the following week to address those specific issues and concerns. That's why you saw the items we put on that agenda at that time—to possibly seek outside counsel and even have an outside firm look at doing the RFP just for transparency reasons."
The board also learned during the meeting that True Prodigy is currently involved in a federal lawsuit. Harris Local Government Solutions has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets related to True Prodigy's product development.
That case revolves around True Prodigy's CAMA software used by county appraisal districts. Plaintiffs allege the defendants misappropriated their source code to create competing software.
A True Prodigy representative attended the board meeting but declined to comment on the lawsuit at the recommendation of the company's legal counsel.
Kieschnick said that the allegations are serious and will be investigated.
"As you know the membership of our board has changed significantly — our members are engaged, and it is not the rubber stamp board of years past," he said. "We are committed to investigating this situation and taking all the necessary actions to remedy, correct, and prevent these actions now and in the future. This will be evident in our posted agenda items and related discussions."
Editor's note: KRIS 6 News holds itself to the highest standards of transparency. It is our policy to disclose when an employee has a relationship with someone connected to a story we report. The General Manager of KRIS 6 has a personal relationship with a member of the NCAD board. However, none of the information 6 Investigates acquired was provided by them and our General Manager is not involved in our newsgathering process.
