Gatherings in county to focus on tax proposal

HOPE — Hempstead County officials are holding a series of public meetings over the next month to inform voters regarding a proposal for a temporary 1% sales tax for relocating the courthouse.

Late last year, the Hempstead County Quorum Court approved placing the sales tax measure on the March 3 primary ballot for voter consideration. If the measure is approved, then the money generated by the sales tax, which will be limited to a two-year period, will be used to continue renovations on the Farmers Bank and Trust building. The building, constructed in 2003 and located at 200 E. Third St. in Hope, will be the county courthouse’s new site.

Besides helping to pay for the building’s renovations, some of the money collected would also be used to section off the current courthouse, located at 400 S. Washington St.

During their first a public meeting, held last week at the DeAnn Fire Station, county officials attributed the need for limiting access to the old courthouse to the fact that black mold has been developing in the building for perhaps as long as 20 years.

County officials attributed the gradual mold buildup in the old courthouse, built in 1939, to the fact that Christmas lights were installed on the building’s exterior about 20 years ago. When the lights were eventually removed, the holes chiseled in the old courthouse’s brick and cement to help install the lights gradually started to collect rainwater that eventually leaked into the building’s interior, causing the mold formation.

“The most important reason for this tax measure to get approval is for the health, safety and welfare of our residents who come out to conduct business at the old courthouse every day,” said Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton.

Singleton estimated that more than 39,000 individual visits were made to the current courthouse in 2019. He also estimated that at least 30 to 35 county employees still work inside the courthouse.

Work on securing the 17-year-old bank building for the new courthouse location started in 2017 when the county purchased the building for $1.5 million. Renovations needed on the bank building in order to convert it for county use initially started with a $2.8 million price tag. However, revised estimations now put costs at between $4.5 million and $5.7 million, said Ed Darling, the Hempstead County Quorum Court’s Finance Committee chairman.