Jackson County Commissioners gave their approval Tuesday morning to switching the County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office software to a different provider for the county property tax bills.
Jackson County Tax Assessor-Collector Monica Foster had asked the court to consider switching to a hosting service agreement with Appraisal and Collection Technologies, L.L.C., or ACT. The county tax office has been using the same software provider and the same server as the Jackson Central Appraisal District, Plano-based Tyler Technologies, to generate its tax bills.
“I think, in the long run, it will actually be less money than the company that we are currently with,” County Judge Jill Sklar said during discussion of the agenda item.
The county tax office will continue to maintain the Tyler software for several months, Sklar said.
“We need to make sure everything gets converted over and everything runs smoothly before we cut off our data with Tyler,” Sklar said.
Foster said Friday that the switch will allow the tax office to work separately from the Jackson Central Appraisal District. Under Tyler Technologies, the two share a server.
“It’s just so that they can process their stuff timely, we can process our stuff timely and will allow both of our offices to operate without waiting on the other,” Foster said.
In addition, looking up tax bills for people will be easier under the search system used by ACT, she said.
“If taxpayers come in to pay their bill without a statement and they have multiple properties with different names on the deeds, the current system may not bring up all of your properties,” Foster said. “Then, we have to ask them to fill out a form listing the names and addresses so that a bill is not missed and becomes delinquent unknowingly.
“It’s going to benefit us all in the long run.”
The goal is to have the data conversion completed in time for the 2025 tax bills, but there’s no guarantee the switch will be completed by then, she said.
Commissioners also agreed to allow the Larry Horton Memorial Foundation, Inc. BBQ Cookoff to use the fairgrounds for its annual fundraising event, which is scheduled for Aug. 13-18.
The event, which began in 2019, has presented $60,000 in scholarships to date, according to Jackson County Treasurer Mary Horton.
In addition, commissioners also approved the use of the courthouse lawn for a live Nativity scene to be put on by the Jackson County Ministerial Alliance in December.
Commissioner Wayne Bubela asked that the court be kept abreast of details as the alliance firms up its plans and sets the dates for the live scene.
In other business, commissioners: Approved the minutes of a recent meeting; Approved the solicitation of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for a bank depository service contract. The current contract expires on May 31, 2025; Approved the proposal for BLS to serve as General Contractor for the Service Building Remodel Project; Approved a procurement card for new Maintenance Supervisor Matt Webberding; Passed on the application and resolution for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, which includes a 20 percent required match, through the Office of the Governor, until more information can be obtained; Received the unaudited financial statements as of and for the three months ending Dec. 31, 2024; Approved a request to extend an employee’s vacation hours to April 30; Received the Jackson County Transfer Station and Recycling Center’s annual review and Texas Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) annual report for the year ended Aug. 31, 2024; Received and accepted the revised Tax Collector bond payable to the Texas Governor for state motor vehicle tax and registration collections; Approved the Treasurer’s Report for the month of December; Approved payment of county and precinct bills; Approved payroll changes; Approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for operation of the Crossroads Task Force; and Heard county reports.