TAXING MATTERS
CHERYL E . JOHNSON , PCC , CTOP Galveston County Tax Assessor Collector
REDISTRICTING AND YOU
The US Constitution requires reapportionment of Congressional seats upon completion of the decennial census . Reapportionment is the act of allocating 435 House positions among the 50 states . Due to population increases , Texas gained two seats and Colorado , Florida , North Carolina , Montana and Oregon each gained one . For each gain , others lost one each ( California , Illinois , Michigan , New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania and West Virginia ).
The Texas Constitution requires the legislature to redraw congressional districts in accordance with State and Federal law such that they have equal or nearly equal populations that will not deny the right to vote on the basis of race , color or language group . This is redistricting - revision of existing electoral districts resulting in new districts with different geographical boundaries . The legislature , typically during its first regular session following publication of the census , also redraws Texas House , Senate and State Board of Education districts bringing them into compliance with the one-person , one-vote Constitutional requirement . Since COVID-19 delayed delivery of data until after the adjournment of the 87th Regular Session , a special session was called and , October 25 , 2021 , the
Texas Legislature enacted all maps . These will take effect beginning with the Primary election in March 2022 .
Congressional Districts
What does this have to do with the Galveston County Tax Office ? The Office of Tax Assessor Collector is constitutionally required for counties over 10,000 people . Among other things , the county tax assessor collector serves as voter registrar for the county and bears the responsibility for performing changes to election precincts … all election precincts .
In Galveston County , there is one Congressional , two State Board of Education , State Senate and House districts , four County Commissioner seats ( plus 92 + election precincts ), four Justice of the Peace and Constable , four cities ( with 18 districts between them ), five school districts ( with potentially 30 districts between them ) and one community college ( with 5 districts ). We have thus far completed only state level changes and expect to begin revising county commissioner and county election precincts by the middle of November . Our target completion is the first week of January .
Thanks to the various delays , the mailing of voter registration certificates ( which typically occurs in December of odd-numbered years ) will also be postponed – likely until the second week of January . Since local jurisdictions have not yet completed their redistricting efforts , voter certificates will likely be mailed without specific district designations for area cities , school districts and community colleges that have single member districts . Affected areas include Clear Creek , Dickinson , Hitchcock , Galveston and Texas City ISDs , the cities of Galveston , Hitchcock , La Marque and Texas City and College of the Mainland . Discussions have not yet begun regarding whether those entities will want voter certificates remailed upon completion of boundary changes . If so , changes must first be received and changes completed . Although the actual certificate has an expiration date of December 31st – do not worry ! You continue to be registered and are eligible to vote even without a voter certificate .
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