It is true that the tax assessor-collector’s job is not the most exciting position in Collin County. But it is also true that there are few jobs as important as the person responsible for collecting and then distributing billions of tax dollars to the county, cities and school districts that depend on them.
It requires strong financial services experience, a keen knowledge of state laws and a willingness to embrace new ideas for this fast-growing county that gains thousands of new residents each year.
Incumbent Kenneth Maun certainly has the experience — he’s led the office for the last 35 years. But we lean toward Scott Grigg, currently an internal auditor for Collin County, in the Republican primary.
Grigg, 48, has innovative ideas to make the office more efficient for residents and government entities alike. He previously spent two years as the county’s financial operations manager where Maun was his boss. That afforded him an up-close look at how the office could run better.
We support his idea to modernize the county’s technology — taxpayers should have an option to pay by phone, for example. He also has smart ideas to automate reports to taxing entities each month. And we support his plans to improve communication about the budget process to taxpayers, so they can have input on the front end of political decisions that affect their tax bills.
And Grigg has more than 30 years of experience in financial reporting and accounting, including with major corporations such as Walmart and Tyson Foods. His certification as a fraud examiner should serve county taxpayers well.
It says a lot that he lists among his supporters many county elected officials, including state Reps. Jeff Leach and Scott Sanford, and city council members and school trustees throughout the county.
There’s no doubt that Maun, 81, has done a steady job over the past three decades. He didn’t attend our candidates’ interview but told us later by phone that he considered retirement but changed his mind after realizing he had no hobbies, likes to work and is proud of the people in his office.
But this newspaper faulted him a couple of years ago for being slow to block vehicle registrations for tollway cheats and deadbeats. While he’s right that the office doesn’t make policy but carries out state laws, he seemed resigned that those laws prevented him from making improvements.
A dynamic county like Collin needs fresh ideas and consistent review of operations. Voters should choose Grigg.
