Commish to move Tax Office to former chiropractic building

Freestone County Commissioners spent a large part of their Feb. 14 meeting discussing whether or not to move the Tax Office to the former chiropractic building, an option the court has been discussing for weeks.

Two court members, Precinct 2 Commissioner Will McSwane and Precinct 4 Commissioner Clyde Ridge Jr., expressed their support for keeping the Tax Office where it is, in the Federal Building, which would cost $140,000 less than moving it, including buying a new generator and making modifications at both the Federal Building and the former chiropractic building.

McSwane said he had many people asking him about the extra expense and that was $140,000 the court didn’t have to spend.

Ridge said he has been getting calls from taxpayers, who are confused about what is happening. Also, he said he did not know who would benefit from the move. He also noted that people are used to paying their taxes at the current Tax Office.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Lloyd Lane and Precinct 1 Commissioner Andy Bonner both thought the money was worth spending because they thought the move would be better for the public.

“The main thing is,” Lane said, “you give people a lot easier access to get inside and outside of a building, to pay their taxes or register their vehicles, and not having to go up steps, and not having to park way down there, and go up a big, long ramp; it’s safer on elderly people. And like we talked about before, if next year we could budget putting a drive-through window up there, we could make it even better.”

Bonner said he agreed with Lane.

Lane said between the cost of the generator and remodeling changes at both locations and the parking area of the former chiropractic building, the county would still be within its original budget for changes.

He also noted that when the deputies move out of their current location, County Clerk René Reynolds will gain 1,500 square feet that she will need to store her records.

Additionally, Lane said, the fact that five county offices would gain backup power from the new generator at the Federal Building would partially offset the $140,000. Eventually, he said, if the county tries to get backup power for every county office, that will be five additional offices that already have backup power. Currently, if there is a power failure, the county offices close and employees simply go home.

“That’s worth something right there,” Lane said. “Right now, where our deputies are, they don’t have backup power. That generator is not tied into that building, so I think it’s a big plus for them to be in a building with backup power.”

GENERATOR CHOICE DEPENDS ON OFFICE MOVE

In a related matter, the court received two bids on a new generator for the Dispatch Office, both from H3 Outdoors:

• $143,313 for a Cummins 200 KW generator that would be delivered and installed around the end of May; or

• $144,709 for a Kohler 200 KW generator that would be delivered around the end of October or the beginning of November.

Both generators have a two-year warranty, but the county could purchase an extension to a five-year warranty on either one.

As for deciding on which bid for a generator to accept for the Dispatch Office, County Judge Linda Grant broke the tie by siding with the move, so the bid on the Cummins generator was accepted, and the decision to move the Tax Office to the former chiropractic building was finalized.

The Federal Building already contains the Probation Department and after the moves, will also have the Dispatchers, Emergency Management and the Deputies.

The former chiropractic building will contain the Tax Office and the Elections Administrator/Voter Registration.

Grant mentioned during deliberations that each court member was trying to decide what is best for the taxpayers. She noted that there are benefits to both proposals.

“It is a difficult decision,” she said, “and there are not any of us taking it lightly.”

STATE GRANTS FUNDS FOR HOME DELIVERED MEALS

In other business, the court accepted $1,664 as the first installment from the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Home Delivered Meals Grant funds.