The Commissioners Court heard some good news Tuesday on a reduction of the delinquent taxes in the county. Steve Bird with the law firm that handles the collection of delinquent taxes for Orange County and other entities in the county addressed the Commissioners.
Bird informed the Court that there were about $3.8 million in delinquent taxes during the summer. That figure has been reduced to $3.2 million. Bird also shared that there had been over ten thousand delinquent accounts in the county at that time. Now there are just under nine thousand accounts that still owe their back taxes. He commented that Tropical Storm Harvey slowed his firm’s momentum in collecting delinquent taxes, but still in the first quarter of the current fiscal year they have collected about a half-million dollars in delinquent taxes.
The Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday supporting the historic preservation of the Orange County Courthouse. This is another step the county is required to provide for the Texas Historical Commission if the county is to be eligible for grant moneys to repair the courthouse.
John Dineen with the firm HDR which helped prepare the Master Plan for the courthouse renovations outlined four specific items required that must be submitted by February 5. One of the items is letters of support from civic organizations and citizens supporting the preservation of local historic landmarks like the courthouse.
The Texas Historical Commission will award the grants on April 26 and 27. Commissioner Barry Burton has worked with HDR to prepare the Master Plan, and he believes Orange County could save close to a half-million dollars to repair the courthouse with grant money.
Emergency Management Coordinator Ralph Valenciano was attending training, so Special Projects Coordinator Michelle Tubbleville presented the weekly update on recovery programs from Harvey. She provided a handout with statistics on several factors in the aftermath of the storm. One of the items that stood out is that there are still 472 Orange County households that are staying in FEMA funded hotels. Housing and other disaster related expenses exceeds $117 million in the county.
The next meeting of the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Group will be Thursday, February 1, at the Lumberton Performing Arts Center adjacent to the Lumberton High School on Highway 69. Tubbleville said that this will be a joint meeting of representatives from all three counties, Orange, Jefferson, and Hardin, involved in the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Group. The group is still seeking volunteers to serve during the recovery efforts. The meeting will start at 6:00 PM and be about two hours in duration.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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