posted June 25 -

In order to avoid a possible lawsuit, Bee County commissioners met behind closed doors Monday to again discuss the cost of tax collection services.

Commissioners met in executive session with County Attorney Mike Knight to discuss a possible negotiation with Beeville Independent School District regarding tax collection service charges, and options the county has if negotiations fail.

And commissioners also were scheduled to discuss what the county would do if BISD sued over the matter.

The commissioners took no action upon returning to open session.

County Judge David Silva told commissioners earlier this month that the school district has obtained an attorney to represent it in court unless the county significantly lowers the cost of the service.

However, BISD Trustee Tom Beasley adamantly denies the school district has obtained an attorney or threatened to sue the county over the tax collection service costs.

He said the school district is simply discussing the matter with the attorney it keeps on retainer.

“There is no pending lawsuit,” he explained to the Bee-Picayune last Thursday. “There is no threat of a lawsuit. A lawsuit cannot even be called pending unless it has been filed with the court.”

However, BISD Superintendent Dr. John Hardwick Jr. assured commissioners at their Monday, June 16, meeting that the litigation would end if commissioners agreed to lower the cost of tax collection service to BISD.

“If we can reach an agreement, Dr. Hardwick, is it your understanding that litigation would stop at that point?” Silva asked.

“That’s correct,” Hardwick replied.

Commissioners, fearing a lawsuit and public reaction if they didn’t play nice with BISD taxpayers, agreed to the school district’s demands and lowered the cost from an estimated $4 to $5 per parcel of property to $1.50 per parcel of property the county collects taxes on for the school district.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Carlos Salazar Jr. said the lower charge shows the county wants to do right by BISD taxpayers, all of whom also pay taxes to the county.

The school district wants to pay no more than $1 per parcel, which would cost BISD an estimated $13,000 annually.

The $1.50 per parcel would cost the school district about $19,000.

The original cost of $4-$5 would have cost BISD around $37,000. That rate is based on a percentage formula drawn up by the state comptroller’s office.

The county tax assessor-collector’s office collects taxes for all the other local taxing entities, including the city of Beeville, the tax increment finance zone, Coastal Bend College, Bee Groundwater Conservation District, Beeville Water Supply District, the fire prevention districts in each region of the county and school districts in Pawnee, Skidmore-Tynan, Pettus and Beeville.

Hardwick said the school district could collect its own taxes at a cost of between $1.25 and $1.50 per parcel.

But the BISD would need time to set up an office and hire personnel and he doubted it could be done in time for the start of the new budget year.

Hardwick said the school district was forced to discuss the issue with its attorney after the county notified it in May that the county tax assessor-collector would not be able to collect taxes for the school districts unless she collected the rate set by the commissioners court.

Bee County Tax Assessor-Collector Andrea Gibbud told commissioners this spring that the school districts could contract with her office directly for tax collection services if they didn’t like the rate set by the county.

She said the school districts can set their own rates and she would have to collect that amount, not the amount set by the commissioners court.

The commissioners asked Knight if that was the case and Knight informed them in May that the commissioners were solely responsible for setting the rate for tax collection services. If the other taxing entities didn’t like the rate set by the commissioners they could either negotiate for a lower amount or collect their own taxes, he said.

Gibbud agreed commissionioners have the authority to set the rate as long as it is based on “actual costs” of collecting the taxes.

She said the county only spends an additional $3,000 or so collecting taxes for the other taxing entities.