Tuesday’s meeting of the Beeville Independent School District board of trustees demonstrated progress in the ongoing tax collection tussle with Bee County.

The BISD board voted unanimously to propose a formula to set its current rate and calculate it going forward. The county, of course, will have to weigh the proposal, but it would appear both sides are intent on avoiding a protracted legal battle.

In putting forth the proposal, BISD trustees said it wasn’t the $7,000 increase that drives their actions, but what has become an annual clash with the county over tax collections. Trustee Matt Huie pointed out that the district had been forced to retain attorneys just for that purpose.

Part of the county’s dilemma is that it collects taxes for more entities besides the BISD and any pricing concession will likely be sought by others. There could be some phase-in over two to three years to give the county several budgets in which to adjust. That might be just one area of compromise that could help meet the needs of both sides in the matter.

The county also may wish to tweak the formula, but settling on a formula would appear to be critical to resolving this issue for the future. The law which allows counties to collect taxes for school districts at the county’s cost plus a “reasonable” adjustment for maintaining operations was created to save taxpayers money on duplicated services. The intent is clear that this should remove the need for school districts to go about setting up their own collection operations.

It is now up to both sides to continue to work together for the common good of the taxpayer. The issue, however, took a positive turn Tuesday with the BISD’s extending an “olive branch.”