Possible loss of county revenue from “dealer bill”

Grimes County Commissioners Court held a Regular Meeting Wednesday, Feb. 16, and heard from Tax Assessor-Collector Mary Ann Waters about Senate Bill 876 and its impact on county revenue from the registration of purchased vehicles.

Currently vehicle purchases can be processed in the county in which the purchaser or seller resides or the lien holder is located. The buyer selects where it will be processed and the county in which it’s processed receives the funds.

Waters said, “As of March 1, the purchaser will no longer have a say where the paperwork will be processed. It will be set by the dealer. If you buy your car in Harris County, they’re going to process it in Harris County and they’ll get all the fees from it.”

The county tax assessor can choose to be a “willing” or “unwilling” county when it comes to accepting applications from other counties. Citing the possibility of processing some sketchy title services for only $7.30, Waters has chosen to be an “unwilling” county.

Waters said, “With Harris County being closed for titles that you have to have an appointment to go there, those people are going to be flocking to areas like this to get this done. This will cause me to have to hire more help if we get this big influx.”

She will, however, continue to process vehicles purchased here in Grimes County as is done now.

She continued, “We have the potential to get more tax money in, and we have the potential of losing tax money because some of the big dealerships, Car-Max, AutoNation, when they sell a car to a Grimes County resident, they send the paperwork to us and we process it. I look for all that to stop. It’s not going to happen anymore. I don’t know how this is going to play out. I wanted to make you aware we may be losing sales tax money because of this.”

Court changed March meeting dates

With the first regularly scheduled court date of Wednesday, March 2, being Texas Independence Day and a county holiday, commissioners approved holding commissioners court March 9 and March 23. The regular first and third Wednesday schedule will resume in April.

Other court action:

•Approved Consent Agenda items which included the Treasurer’s List of Claims and Bills, payroll, October 2021 Monthly Report, Budget Amendments and Line-Item Transfers.

•Approved restructuring the GCSO Command Staff creating a second Lieutenant position on the Salary Structure.

•Approved restructuring IT department to prepare for growth, placing a PC Tech II on the Salary Structure.

•Approved restructuring office personnel of the Pct. 1 justice of the peace to allow cross-trained staff to legally handle cash transactions.

•Approved a Resolution for the Grimes County district attorney’s office to apply for continuation of Victim Services Grant for YE 2023.

•Took no action on a request from IT Director Gregg Cannon to install a dedicated dark fiber connection to replace the BVCOG fiber connection currently in place which allows connectivity to the Navasota Annex offices.

•Approved temporary positions and related expenses for the district clerk’s scanning project not to exceed $15,000 and authorized the auditor’s office to enter the necessary line-item transfer.

•Took no action on county clerk’s request to add Grimes County Animal Rescue to the jury donation form. The request died for lack of a motion based on County Attorney’s interpretation of the statute that GCAR did not qualify.

•After a public hearing, approved the replat of West Magnolia Forest, Section 5, Lot 65 contingent upon receipt of developer’s signature.

•After a public hearing, approved the replat of The Oaks Subdivision, Lot 9.

•Denied approval of the Hernandez Subdivision plat and variance.

•Approved the plat and variance requests for South Fork Lane.

•Rejected both sealed bids for CR 112 bridge replacement.

•Received the Road & Bridge report.

•No action taken on Courthouse Security and Courtroom Protocol agenda item. Rescheduled for March 9.

•Approved a Corrective Action Plan to be written by Auditor Jessi Murphy for submission to ARPA administrator GrantWorks, related to purchase of a generator for the Justice and Business Center, explaining it was purchased in accordance with local statutes.

Commissioners court may be viewed in its entirety at www.facebook.com/ GrimesCountyCourtHouse.

Burn Ban: The burn ban remains lifted