Fisher to retire before term ends

Orange County Tax Assessor-Collector Karen Fisher has publicly announced she will be retiring on July 31, months before her term in office ends.

Orange County Commissioners Court, by state law, will be required to appoint her replacement to the elected office. Fisher's current four-year term does not end until December 31.

Octavia Guzman, a longtime employee in the tax assessor-collector's office, ran unopposed for the position in the March Republican primary race. No Democrats are running locally on the ballot for the November general election; so Guzman is the expected winner of the position.

Commissioners courts in the past have usually primary winners with no opponents to fill a position of the current elected official decides to retire early. A similar situation came four years ago, when incumbent sheriff Keith Merritt retired and Jimmy Lane Mooney, winner of the 2020 Republican primary, was appointed.

Fisher has some 30 years of experience in the county tax assessor-collector's office, and is serving her second four-year term as the elected head of the department. She replaced Lynda Gunstream, who decided not to run and retired at the end of her term.

Guzman has 11 years of experience working in the office. That office collects property taxes for all the entities in the county and oversees property sales for delinquent taxes. The office also issues vehicle and boat titles, and new or renewed vehicle and boat licenses.