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Supervisors OK tax office plan for annex bldg.
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| By: ADAM NORTHAM, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
October 06, 2009 |
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The old Courthouse Annex building will soon host functions of the Lincoln County Tax Office after supervisors decided Monday to perform limited renovations and keep the 65-year-old structure in use.
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The tax office's assessing and mapping departments will move into the front half of the building at 304 South Second St., while county records will be moved from the Kees Building on First Street and stored in the rear half, freeing up monthly rent the county has been paying for the space. Supervisors are planning a limited "facelift" - "renovations" is too strong a word, they said - to bring the building's aging internal systems up to speed.
The plan also calls for the current tax office to be renovated and the collections department to expand into both available offices in the Lincoln County-Brookhaven Government Complex. No official vote on the plan was taken Monday, and supervisors are planning the restructuring effort piece-by-piece.
Supervisors reached the decision after reviewing the findings of a two-month architectural study performed by Dan Dillard, of Natchez-based Waycaster and Associates Architects. His report recommended the building only as a short-term solution for storing records and housing departments that have "(no) or limited public interaction."
Dillard approved supervisors' plan for limited renovations, saying that adjusting the tax office's requirements to fit the serviceability of the building - rather than attempting a full renovation or new construction, which could cost in the millions - would be cost-effective.
"You can get some more wear out these tires instead of buying a new set of Michelins," he alluded. "I would certainly think you're going at it the most nickel-stretching way."
Despite earlier concerns and criticisms of the Courthouse Annex, Lincoln County Tax Assessor/Collector Nancy Jordan told supervisors early in Monday's discussion that she is ready to move her appraising, mapping and records functions into the building. She requested several repairs to the building before her employees move in, including repairs to its leaky roof; a dropped ceiling of new tiles to catch the tiny white flakes raining down from the crumbling plaster ceiling; electrical and plumbing upgrades and an enlarged front counter.
"There's one wall that needs to come out to make the counter long enough to serve the public," Jordan said.
Dillard estimated the Courthouse Annex renovations would cost less than $250,000.
The approved plan brings to a conclusion an almost yearlong struggle for supervisors, who have seen the annex go from the 12-year home to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks' District Five headquarters to a thorn in their political sides.
Supervisors voted not to renew MDWF&P's lease on the building in January, intending to use the space for the tax office, which has outgrown its current location in the courthouse.
The ouster of the wildlife department proved unpopular with the public, and over the summer supervisors weathered heavy criticism and a round of failed negotiations to keep the state office in Brookhaven. The District Five headquarters reopened in Magnolia last week.
Throughout the ordeal, supervisors stuck to their guns, reviewing construction and renovation options that would relieve some of the burden on the cramped tax office.
"This is where this thing has been headed since the beginning," said Lincoln County Chancery Clerk Tillmon Bishop.
Now, the real work will begin. At supervisors' request, Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said jail trustys would begin cleaning and clearing the Courthouse Annex next week.
To make sure records only have to be moved once, Bishop plans to schedule an inspection by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to see how many of the county's plentiful collection of records can be thrown away. Some records, like land records, must be kept indefinitely.
With such a big project looming, Bishop suggested supervisors appoint a coordinator for the renovations and relocation. No point man was named Monday, though county engineers Dungan Engineering, PA, may get the job.
"It's not just moving records and painting, it's dealing with the current tax office and it's going to take some time," Bishop said.
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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