A mistake on the part of Beaufort County Board of Commissioners last year was righted last week when commissioners voted to reappointed both the county’s tax assessor and tax collector to new terms.

During the June 1 Board meeting, Beaufort County Tax Assessor Bobby Parker and Beaufort County Tax Collector Wyn Kinion were both appointed to new two-year terms. By state statute, both positions are required appointments of not less than two year and no more than four years. However, last year, the Board mistakenly voted to appoint both Kinion and Parker to one-year terms only.

Discussion at the meeting centered on Parker’s appointment, and whether the Board would be violating state statute by knowingly reappointing both men to another one-year term.

“It’s our mistake, but it’s going to be our mistake again if we appoint him for another year,” said Commissioner Ed Booth.

The Board voted, 6-1, for two-year terms, with Commissioner Hood Richardson the lone dissenting vote.

Richardson has been publicly critical of the county’s tax assessor and the ongoing data rollover from the count’s old tax software to a new tax assessment and billing software system. During the meeting, Richardson made it clear he holds Parker personally responsible for the project he says has been both overdue and over budget.

Other commissioners did not agree with Richardson’s assessment.

“I’ve sat in on the IT committee meetings. I’ve heard the discussion. It always costs more and it always takes longer,” said Commissioner Frankie Waters.

According to interim County Manager Ken Windley, the project is slightly over budget and will be finished by the end of the year, but there was concern last year when the contracted software development company failed to meet a deadline that caused tax bills to go out in October, rather than in July or August as they normally would.

“If we had had a project manager for that, it would have gone a whole lot smoother,” Windley said.

In response, the county has budgeted for an IT coordinator for the 2015-16 budget in order to avoid such problems in the future, Windley said.