NELDA WELLS SPEARS FILES FOR RE-ELECTION
Travis County Tax Collector to Run On Record of Building Texas’ Best Local Tax Collection and Voter Registration Rates, Vows to Keep Fighting Against Scheme to Privatize Public Services
(AUSTIN) — On the first day that candidates can register to run in next spring’s Democratic primary, veteran Travis County Tax Collector Nelda Wells Spears today filed her official papers, saying she is eager to make the case for why her steady leadership through changing times has helped achieve the highest tax collection rate in Texas and the best voter registration record of any major county in the state — and why that performance is proof that outside schemes to privatize the county’s $2 billion annual collections should be defeated.
“Our public schools, public health, and public safety depend on a fair, professional tax collection operation free from political ideology and the influence of outside special interests,” Spears said. “That’s what we have delivered for Travis County, and I intend to ask voters to rehire me for a job well-done.”
A report to the Travis County Commissioners Court this week will show that Spears’ office once again achieved a 99 percent tax collection rate for the fiscal year just ended — the best of any county in Texas.
In addition, Spears’ office achieved voter registration rate of almost 95 percent during the last presidential election, higher than any other urban county in the state.
Spears was Travis County’s top vote-getter of any candidate on the ballot when she was re-elected in 2004. She has been endorsed by a diverse group of local leaders, including former State Comptroller John Sharp, Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe, and Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton.
The Travis County Tax Collector is responsible for collecting property and vehicle taxes and serves as the county’s official voter registrar.
As Travis County’s chief tax expert, Spears has helped lead the fight against a sustained campaign by outside special interests to engineer a county contract to collect unpaid taxes. According to estimates by the county auditor, privatizing the county’s collection efforts would divert millions of dollars in tax revenues from public services to private attorneys’ fees. She has also worked to defeat federal efforts to privatize tax collection efforts, arguing that such a move would cost jobs and squander taxpayer resources that should be spent on public schools, public health, and public safety.
Spears manages more than 130 employees who process 1.3 million tax and fee payments each year, collect more than $2 billion in local taxes and fees, and actively register and protect the data of more than half-a-million voters.
Certified by the State Board of Tax Professional Examiners, Spears previously served as chief deputy to Tax Assessor-Collector Cecelia Burke and personnel director for State Comptroller Bob Bullock and Land Commissioner Garry Mauro.
Spears this year received the prestigious Best Practices Awards for Exceptional Delivery of Services from her peers in the Texas Association of Counties Leadership Foundation for technological innovations and customer service. She was also awarded the 2007 ComputerWorld Honors Laureate for the application of the latest technology to improve access for taxpayers with visual impairments.
