News, Safety

Montgomery Tax Office Software Problems Cause Delays

Media
March 27th, 2026

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

**Tech Meltdown Grips Montgomery County Tax Office, Leaves Residents Stranded in Sweltering Heat**

**CONROE, TX – August 1, 2024** – Frustration reached a boiling point, literally and figuratively, on Thursday, August 1, 2024, as Montgomery County residents faced sweltering conditions and agonizingly long lines outside the Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office. A major tech meltdown, attributed to a new, buggy software system, brought essential services like vehicle registration renewals to a grinding halt, forcing many to wait for hours under the scorching Texas sun.

The scene outside the office, located at 210 West Davis Street within the Montgomery County Plaza in Conroe, was described as chaotic. With temperatures soaring into the high 90s and a heat index pushing well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, residents reported waiting two to three hours or more just to reach the counter.

“I’ve been here since 9 AM, and it’s almost lunchtime,” fumed Maria Rodriguez, a Conroe resident trying to renew her vehicle tags. “My appointment was for 10, but the system just isn’t working. It’s unbearable out here.”

Witnessing the distress, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough personally intervened. He ordered the doors of the nearby Montgomery County Courthouse to be opened, providing a much-needed air-conditioned refuge, bottled water, and restroom access to those caught in the gridlock. Judge Keough didn’t hold back his criticism, publicly lambasting both the new software vendor, ACS Government Systems, and what he termed “gross mismanagement” by the Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office.

“This situation is absolutely unacceptable and has been ongoing for far too long,” Judge Keough stated in a heated Facebook post shared on his official page (facebook.com/JudgeMarkKeough). “Our residents deserve efficient service, not to be subjected to hours in this August heat due to preventable tech failures. Both the vendor and the office responsible for this implementation have some serious explaining to do.”

Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae quickly responded to the public outcry, acknowledging the widespread frustration and the “severe impact” on residents. She confirmed that the primary cause of the chaos was a malfunctioning new software system provided by ACS Government Systems under a $5.4 million contract approved by the Montgomery County Commissioners Court earlier this year.

“While we began transitioning to this new system months ago, critical modules, especially those handling vehicle registration and property tax processing, have been riddled with glitches, outages, and slow performance for several months,” McRae explained in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “The issues worsened significantly today, leading to the unprecedented delays we witnessed.”

McRae emphasized that her staff is working tirelessly to mitigate the problems. “Our dedicated employees are putting in long hours, even weekend shifts, to manually process backlogs and serve our community,” she said. “They are also grappling with insufficient training on this new, malfunctioning system, which further complicates their efforts.”

The contract with ACS Government Systems was intended to modernize and streamline the county’s tax processing, promising greater efficiency and convenience for residents. However, the implementation has, for now, resulted in considerable headaches and significant service disruptions. The vendor, ACS Government Systems, headquartered out of state, has not yet issued a public statement, though McRae confirmed her office is in constant communication with their technical support teams, demanding immediate resolution.

Residents are advised to check the Montgomery County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office website (mctx.org/departments/departments_a_-_f/tax_assessor_collector) for updates on service availability and potential alternative processing methods, though online options for some transactions have also been impacted by the system’s instability. The county continues to press ACS Government Systems for an expedited solution to prevent further disruption to essential county services.

Media

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