Coryell County needs new space for tax office in Copperas Cove
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Coryell County commissioners held their regular meeting on Tuesday morning, followed by a facilities workshop in the afternoon.
County officials determined the top priority for facilities is a property in Copperas Cove for a tax office.
Both the tax office and early voting center are currently located in Cove Terrace Shopping Center, in separate leased space.
However, the snag is that the lease for the Copperas Cove tax office expires on Dec. 31 of this year, and not farther down the road. The county has occupied the space for about 10 years.
Coryell County Judge Roger Miller said that going into budget season, he did not anticipate that the lease agreements wouldn’t be extended.
The clock is now ticking, and if the county doesn’t find a facility soon, Copperas Cove area residents may need to drive to the tax office in Gatesville to pay taxes and register their vehicles and obtain plates, etc.
County officials are looking for a space in Copperas Cove to purchase, that will be large enough to accommodate both the tax office and early voting, with enough parking.
Discussions on Tuesday afternoon surrounded funding the purchase of property in Copperas Cove, with a rough estimate at this time of around $600,000.
Also, Judge Miller distributed a list of funding sources identified within the county’s budget, a list that he prepared with the assistance of the County Auditor. This amount adds up to about $480,000. Miller anticipates that with the sale of more county properties, it could potentially make up the difference.
However, there could be the potential of the county taking out a short-term loan, such as 12 months, to fund the gap to pay for the Copperas Cove facility.
Miller said that the sale of county property could be held in an escrow account, and any financing would not affect the rate for taxpayers, when asked about if any of the facilities cost might be passed on to the county taxpayers.
The county recently sold property located at 804 E. Leon St. for $100,000. Then, after a closed session on Tuesday morning, the commissioners emerged to take a vote to authorize the county attorney to execute necessary documents to sell county-owned property located at 201 North Lutterloh in Gatesville. It was not disclosed at that time what the sale price of this property will be when it is offered for sale.
Other facilities discussed on Tuesday included renovations at the old tax office in Gatesville, so the District Attorney’s office can move its additional staff into that location.
Likewise, the juvenile court and sheriff’s criminal investigation offices will need their space, which they will move into after the 440th District Court moves from its current offices into the justice center, now nearing completion.
Judge Miller likened the shifting of offices on the north side of the county to getting “dominoes” lined up in a row.
Where those facilities are concerned, the county will get in touch with RBDR Architect to get a proposed design layout for the former tax office space and work with the district attorney’s office to determine their space needs. Officials will also take a walk through the available spaces with the district attorney, juvenile probation, and criminal investigation division to assess the needs and layout. The spaces will be assessed along with estimated costs for the necessary renovations.