First Posted: 1/15/2009

LUMBERTON - The county Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to move up the next revaluation by two years.
The revaluation, which had been scheduled for 2012, will now be held in 2010. The work will be done by the county Tax Office.
County officials have been critical of the last revaluation done by an Ohio company, whose mistakes they say delayed the process by several months. Tax Administrator Robert Baird said an in-house revaluation would save money and provide better controls. The last revaluation cost the county about $1.3 million.
“The cost will be less than $950,000, or about $12 per parcel,” Baird said.
County officials plan to start the revaluation process in 2007. New tax notices would be mailed Jan. 1, 2010.
“It'll be smoother,” Commissioner Noah Woods said. “We'll be getting constant reports so we can monitor the process.”
Woods said the board should organize informational meetings in local municipalities to educate residents about the next revaluation.
“Let's work as hard as we can to get into the community and educate,” he told the board. “Educate, educate, educate. I think the citizens will appreciate it.”
In other business, Jan Maynor, a representative of the Lumber River Council of Governments, told the board that the state agreed to give $470,000 to the council's Crisis Housing Assistance Fund to use in helping determine eligibility for people seeking FEMA assistance. Residents would qualify “only if they have storm damage” she said.
The board also:
– Approved a resolution honoring the Littlefield High School state football champions of 1965.
– Approved the purchase of a 2005 Mack front-loading refuse truck for $157,774.
n Approved an eight-year agreement with the State Employees Credit Union to place an ATM machine at the Water Customer Service Department at Sanchez Drive. The credit union will pay the county $100 a month for the first five years, and $125 per month for the last three years of the agreement.