Grimes County tax assessor seeks to reinstate local TABC permit fee; motion fails for lack of second

Mary Ann Waters, Grimes County tax assessor-collector, asked the Grimes County Commissioners Court on Aug. 13, 2025, to reinstate a local fee authorized by Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code section 11.38 that would allow the county to collect a 0.5 portion of the state fee for each Alcoholic Beverage Commission permit issued within the county. Waters said the county had previously collected the fee but the court voted in late 2024 to stop collecting it; she recalled the change as occurring in November or December 2024 but was not certain of the exact month.

Waters told the court she had contacted neighboring counties and found they all collect the fee, and she presented recent collection figures and projections. "We did not collect $29,905 worth of fees that could have been collected," she said, and added that about $1,535 was collected around the time the court was reconsidering the policy. She estimated that $3,560 remained to be collected in the current fiscal year and projected up to $10,765 in fees for fiscal 2026 if the county resumes collection. Waters said the county holds approximately 125 TABC licenses across businesses and locations and explained that staggered permit renewals and a multi-stage fee schedule for mixed beverage licenses cause year-to-year variability in totals.

A commissioner asked whether projected receipts would go to the state or county; Waters confirmed the local fee proceeds would go to the Grimes County general fund and are not dedicated to a separate account. The Chair noted the county bears costs tied to alcohol-related arrests and jail bookings and framed the fee as a form of user charge while saying, "I'm not a fan of taxes on anybody especially the way governments have a tendency to spend it, but I think Grimes County does a very responsible job in spending our tax dollars." The discussion included procedural history: Waters said she searched court records and could not find an explicit recorded order authorizing collection dating back to 1977 even though the fee had been collected in practice for many years.

When the court moved to take action, the Chair made a motion to reinstate collection of the TABC local fee, but no commissioner seconded the motion and it failed. The court took no action to reinstate the fee at the special meeting and moved on to other business before adjourning. The statute referenced during the discussion was Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code section 11.38, which authorizes counties to levy and collect a local permit fee equal to a portion of the state fee.