County hears plan to reduce Tax Assessor-Collector backlog under HB 718; dealers warn of surge in January

Human resources updated the Commissioners Court Nov. 17 on ongoing operations and staffing in the Tax Assessor‑Collector’s office amid HB 718 implementation. Valeria Fernandez (HR) told the court the office currently has six vacancies: two positions will be filled externally in January and the remainder are being addressed with internal promotions and background checks.

Fernandez said $20,000 in overtime had been budgeted for the tax office and nearly $11,000 of that had been used. She also reported a web‑dealer backlog of 2,161 transactions as of Nov. 14, a recent increase of 282 transactions from the prior report.

Luis Fierro, speaking for local dealers, thanked the court for Saturday processing sessions that have reduced processing time from roughly 19–22 days down to about 4–5 days in the recent period. Fierro cautioned that transactional volume historically spikes in January (he cited year‑to‑date monthly sales rising sharply in early months) and that the current staffing plan might not be sufficient to prevent a renewed backlog if vacancies are not filled before the peak season.

Commissioners raised concerns about recent and intermittent closures at some tax office locations and asked HR to provide further updates; HR said limited information would be available while the tax assessor‑collector is out of the office for two weeks but pledged continued monitoring and a fuller update next week.

No formal action was taken; the court accepted the report and tasked HR and the tax office with continued monitoring and updates to the court.