Bell County Commissioner delinquent on 2023 property taxes | Local News

“Like anything, things are tight,” Minor told the Herald Monday. “My business has taken a hit since I’ve been on commissioners court. So that’ll get paid on the first (of June).”

As a Bell County commissioner, Minor makes decisions on how to spend taxpayer money, much of which comes from property taxes. That taxpayer money is used to fund the Bell County Sheriff’s Department and many other segments of the county government.

Minor’s unpaid 2023 property taxes come at a time when many Bell County residents are appealing their 2024 appraised values on property.

State Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple, spoke earlier this month about what he said is misleading language in notices to Bell County property owners in a perceived attempt to intimate them in filing reappraisals, according to FME News Service.

“The 2024 Notice of Appraised Value has been delivered to property owners across Bell County during the month of April and property owners who wish to file an appeal that disputes the assessed market value on the notice need to complete a Notice of Protest within 30 days or within the deadline contained on their statement,” Shine said in a statement.

Other Texas Legislators believe, in spite of the dispute over language, that the recent legislation over property tax gives property owners more leeway.

“In the second called Special Session of the 88th Legislature in 2023, State Sen. Bettencourt, R-Houston, passed SB 2, which provided historic property tax reductions, and SB 3, which doubled the franchise tax exemption taking around 67,000 Texas small and mid-sized businesses off the franchise tax roll and eliminated the requirement to file a ‘No Tax Due’ form,” Braden Roehling, a spokesman for Bettencourt’s office, said in a news release in May.