County voters to decide on ½ cent county sales tax
Groveton News - September 2007

GROVETON – Rural Trinity County merchants will soon be collecting an additional 0.5 percent sales tax if voters give their approval this coming November.
During a special meeting Friday, Aug. 31, Trinity County commissioners voted to schedule a sales tax vote for Nov. 6 and to place the measure on the ballot with the proposed state constitutional amendments.
Under a law approved by the Texas Legislature earlier this year, Trinity County can now create a county assistance district which includes all rural areas outside the current incorporated areas of Trinity and Groveton.
With voter approval, a 0.5 percent sales tax would be put into place and merchants operating within the new district would be required to collect the tax.
County Judge Mark Evans stressed during Friday’s meeting merchants located inside the Trinity and Groveton would not collect the proposed county tax.
Because the proposed tax would not be imposed inside the two cities, residents of Trinity and Groveton also will not take part in the sales tax referendum.
“Only those who will reside inside the proposed County Assistance District would be eligible to vote on this particular issue,” Evans said.
County Clerk Diane McCrory, who is responsible for conducting the Nov. 6 election, said the voters will be asked to vote “for” or “against” the sales tax. Wording that will appear on the ballot is as follows:

 “Authorizing the creation of the Trinity County Assistance District and the imposition of a sales and use tax of one-half of one percent for the purpose of financing the operations of the district.”
Evans noted the commis-sioners court would also act as the governing body for the Trinity County Assistance District.
 “I’ve been putting a pencil to this and I believe the county would be able to collect between $70,000 and $80,000 a year in sales taxes from the unincorporated areas,” Evans told the commissioners.
During 2006, the cities’ 2 percent sales tax generated $750,000 in Trinity and $148,000 in Groveton or about $900,000 combined. With four months of collections still to go, the combined 2007 total for the two cities is expected to be close to $1 million.
Evans added that unlike fees and other revenue items enacted by the legislature in the recent past, the sales tax income would not be dedicated to any specific purpose.
“We can use this money for the construction, maintenance and improvement of roads; for law enforcement and jails; for the maintenance of libraries, museums, parks and other recreational facilities; for the benefit of public health or welfare, including firefighting and fire prevention; and for the promotion of economic development and tourism.
“That basically covers all of the things we do as a county,” Evans told commissioners.
Pct. 2 Commissioner Grover “Tiger” Worsham noted that he would like to see at least part of the money earmarked toward the improvement of county roads.

“The two major things we have in this county in terms of expense are jail inmates and roads,” Worsham said.
He said he would favor putting part of the sales tax income aside to improve law enforcement and part to improve roads.
“Maybe we can get some of these roads up into the 21st century using this money,” he added. “And the nice thing about the sales tax money is it should grow in the coming years.”
Evans noted that while the 0.5 percent rate will probably not change, the income generated by the tax would probably increase each year.
“If voters approve the tax, it will not affect our property tax rate. It is a completely separate tax,” Evans added.
The judge explained that if approved by voters, the tax would be collected beginning in April 2008 but it would probably be June 2008 before the county began receiving payments.
Like the city’s tax, merchants would turn the county’s tax revenue over to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts along with the state’s 6.25 percent tax. The comptroller would then rebate the county’s share on a monthly basis.
“We can come back next summer and amend the budget after we begin receiving revenue,” Evans added.
Both Pct. 4 Commissioner Travis Forrest and Pct. 2 Commissioner Jannette Hortman called the sales tax fair, noting that everyone – not just property owners – will pay it.

County Auditor Sheila Johnson added that non-county residents who come here to enjoy the recreational opportunities offered by Lake Livingston also will be paying the tax.
Evans noted that a number of county officials across the state and the Texas Association of Counties, have been asking the state legislature for permission to create the sales tax for the past four legislative sessions.
“This has been a long, uphill struggle to get to this point,” Evans told commissioners. “Many times I didn’t think we’d ever get an opportunity to have a county sales tax.”
He expressed his appreciation to State Rep. Jim McReynolds (D-Lufkin) and State Senator Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) for carrying the legislation that was approved earlier this year.
The state legislature authorized counties to collect a 0.5 percent sales tax a number of years ago but only about half of them took advantage of the law. Trinity County was among those that decided not to impose the tax.
Under that earlier law, cities were authorized to collect a 1.5 percent sales tax, counties were authorized to collect a 0.5 percent tax and the state was allowed to collect a 6.25 percent tax – for a maximum of 8.25 percent.
When many counties decided not to take advantage of the tax, cities across the state lobbied the legislature to allow them to increase their percentage.
The legislature then approved an economic development tax which allowed cities located within counties with no sales tax to increase their rate to 2 percent. Under this law, the additional 0.5 percent was dedicated for economic development purposes.

The cities and Trinity and Groveton took advantage of that increase and when they did, Trinity County was prohibited from adopting its own sales tax because it would have increased the tax inside the cities over the 8.25 percent maximum.
To solve this problem, the legislature this year allowed for the creation of the county assistance district which would allow counties to collect the tax outside of the current boundaries of the cities.

“I would like to extend my thanks to Dr. Ramona Kellum, County Judge Mark Evans, the Trinity County commissioners and Texas Cooperative Extension Service for trusting me. I think we will make a perfect match,” he added.
The new county agent has worked as the ag teacher at Centerville ISD near Groveton since June 2000. Prior to that, he taught pre-kindergarten at Lansberry Elementary School in Trinity.
He also has worked as a ground-wood mill worker for St. Regis Paper Mill in Lufkin.
Hewitt also owns and operates A.V. Cattle Co., headquartered in Trinity. This enterprise involves cattle and hay production, welding, equipment mechanics, custom pasture renovation, hog trapping, hay bailing and pasture mowing.
He is a founding member of the Trinity County Young Farmers and Rangers organization, having served as vice president and president. He served on the Trinity County Farm Bureau Board for two terms and was the group’s secretary for a year.
He is a member of the Centerville Buyers Group and the Trinity County Fair Board and served this past year on the State FFA John Justin Scholarship Committee.
Hewitt holds certifications in ag mechanics, tractors and NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research). He has a Class B commercial driver’s license and was Centerville’s Deep East Texas College Tech Prep Ag Science Coordinator.

A native of Trinity, he lived in many places as a child. His family moved to Hudson where he attended both junior high and high school.
As a youth, he spent countless hours working on his grandfather’s ranch in Trinity and he moved back to the city with his family in 1982.
His wife, Vicky, is a first grade teacher at Lansberry Elementary School in Trinity and their daughter, Reva Meshell, is a senior at SHSU. She and her husband, Jason, reside in Groveton.
Hewitt’s son, Manny, is a draftsman/welder and resides in Dayton.
Trinity County’s extension office is part of Texas Cooperative Extension, an agency of the Texas A&M University System. Local extension programs extend university resources to local residents by providing practical information and education in the four areas of agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, 4-H and youth development, and community development.