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County
Assessor/Collector
by
Monty Rainey, Junto Society
The
county tax assessor/collector values real and certain types of
personal property for "ad valorem" taxation purposes.
Because of the wide range of responsibilities performed by the
assessor-collector, most citizens deal with this county official
more frequently than any other office.
The
major tax duty of the assessor-collector, who collects property
taxes, is the assessment (calculation) of taxes on each property
in the county and collection of that tax as may be established by
the Constitution and the State Property Tax Code. In addition, as
an agent of the State’s Department of Transportation, the
assessor-collector is responsible for the registration and
licensing of motor vehicles owned by residents of the county.
Another
duty of the county tax assessor-collector is that of voter
registrar. In most counties, a person would register to vote
through the office of county tax assessor-collector. In some
counties, the Commissioner’s Court has designated the County
Clerk or an elections administrator to provide this function. The
county tax office voter registration responsibilities include
accepting applications for voter registration, issuing voter
certificates, maintaining voter registration lists, verifying
petitions for local option elections and submitting required
reports to the Secretary of State's Office.
The
county tax assessor-collector may also be responsible for the
collections of special fees imposed by the county and state on
coin-operated vending machines, alcoholic beverage permits and
registration, snow mobiles, jet skis, boats, etc.
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