PALESTINE —
Anderson County Commissioners heard a report from District Clerk Janice Staples about ongoing problems related to the county software conversion and took action on the matter during their regular meeting Monday.
Staples reported that her office, which processes paperwork for district judges and the sheriff’s office, has been unable to create reports for the Attorney General’s office that would reimburse more than $68,000 in fees to the county.
“We are reimbursed 66 percent of certain fees we have by the Attorney General’s office,” Staples reported, “but we have not been able to run a report since August of 2010.”
According to Staples and County Auditor Karin Smith, multiple inquiries have been exchanged between the county and Tyler Technologies about the problem, including reports, e-mails, meetings and conference calls.
“It is just not happening,” Staples said. “I cannot do a correct report.”
According to Smith, after each meeting on the matter, attempts are made by Tyler Technologies to fix the problems, but they have yet to find a solution.
Staples also told commissioners that the reports contained items that should not be included, forcing employees to go over the report manually.
“If it gets done, it is done by hand,” Staples said. “I think that the county paid too much money for this software to have to do reports by hand.”
The state allows two years for submission of the reports, Staples said.
“We are quickly approaching that first deadline, and may lose our August payment,” Smith told the court. “We have not paid final payment due to these issues. It could actually come out that they owe us.”
Precinct 1 Commissioner Joe Chaffin voiced his continuing frustration on the issue.
“We have been battling (Tyler Technologies) for six years,” the commissioner said. “There has got to be some option, some route we can take to solve this.”
District Attorney Doug Lowe suggested that a letter be sent to Tyler Technologies stating that the county would deduct funds from maintenance payments and/or withhold payment until the issue is fixed.
The court agreed with Lowe’s suggestion, unanimously approving the decision.
Also on Monday, commissioners:
• APPROVED minutes from June 25 and July 9 meetings.
• APPROVED reports from county officials, budget amendments and bills.
• APPROVED, with no changes, renewal of Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Optional County Road and Bridge fees pursuant to Chapter 502 of the Transportation Code.
• APPROVED the hiring of a part time employee for the IT department for $13 per hour.
Mary Rainwater may be reached via e-mail at mrainwater@palestineherald.com
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