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Washington County approves legal retainer, supports hotel‑occupancy tax exemption, appoints interim emergency coordinator and passes payables
Summary
The commissioners authorized a retainer for outside counsel on a pending lawsuit, adopted a resolution backing county exemption from the state hotel‑occupancy tax, appointed Kevin Ramirez as interim emergency management coordinator (no extra pay), renewed reserve deputy bonds, tabled a website-hosting purchase and approved $1,267,418.01 in accounts payable.
At its Jan. 6 meeting, the Washington County Commissioners Court approved several administrative, legal and financial items, including hiring outside counsel, backing state legislation, a personnel appointment and approval of accounts payable totaling $1,267,418.01.
Legal retainer: Staff explained that a pending lawsuit (case no. 38761 in the 330th Judicial District Court) does not request monetary damages and therefore is not covered by county insurance, requiring retention of outside counsel. The court authorized a retainer agreement with the recommended firm referenced on the agenda (recorded in the minutes as Allison Bass and McGee LLP; staff also referred to attorney Allison McGee) and authorized the county judge to sign the agreement.
Hotel-occupancy tax resolution: The court considered and approved a resolution supporting legislation to exempt Texas counties from the state hotel‑occupancy tax. Supporters said counties currently pay the tax when traveling on county business and that the change would prevent the county from incurring what they described as an avoidable state-level tax expense.
Interim emergency coordinator appointment: The court appointed Kevin Ramirez as interim emergency management coordinator following the prior coordinator’s retirement. Ramirez agreed to take the role without additional compensation; commissioners noted prior arrangements with a neighboring city that split salary costs when the city contracted with the county.
Other business: The court tabled the item to purchase website hosting because an updated invoice with the correct amount had not been provided. The court renewed reserve deputy bonds for Ruben Fuentes, William Scott Atwood and Justin W. Kinnefield to allow continued service with the sheriff’s office. The county auditor presented accounts payable totaling $1,267,418.01, which included a $212,000 payment for the ATS Building, roughly $48,500 in taxes to Tom Green County, $85,000 for volunteer fire department vehicle/medical insurance and $328,000 in VFD incentives; the court approved payment.
All motions passed by voice vote with no recorded dissent.
