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Tax assessment questions fill county commission's meeting A small, frustrated, and sometimes volatile group of concerned citizens demanded some answers from the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners about tax assessments, tax bills, and tax personnel last Thursday, November 9, at the regular meeting of the board. Prompted primarily by this year's partial revaluation of certain properties, the group's outrage was a continuation of dissatisfactions expressed over tax bills that, in some cases, more than doubled. Complicating the situation was a fairly large number of incorrect tax bills that was sent out by mistake. The group wanted to know when those bills would be fixed. Commission Chairman Sam Moore said that the corrected bills had actually been mailed that very day (November 9). "Hopefully that's going to correct a lot of the problems we've had and hopefully we won't have this kind of problem again and everybody's taxes will be fair," Moore commented. He also explained that a large part of the reason for the incorrect bills in the first place was a computer malfunction that was not discovered until the first set of bills had already gone out. County Attorney Charles LeGette reported that there was "a great number" of tax relief applications that had been turned in and that many of those dealt with issues contained within the set of tax bill that had been corrected. "Let's let the corrected bills get out, get settled, and then see how many are left over," he suggested. "Then we will get organized to deal with those problems." He suggested that if there was sufficient number, meetings may be held and effective notice would be given concerning when to attend. The group further complained that there had been no way to conveniently check on 2006 taxes and assessments because the book was not available in the tax assessor's office and the information is not published online anywhere. It was explained that to company that produces the book had refused to reprint it and the corrections were having to be made by hand. Moore said that would take a while but was necessary in order to insure that the information presented to the public is correct. As for why only parts of the tax digest were revalued this year, LeGette explained that the state dictates which parts of the digest need to be revalued, if any, each year. He pointed out that different types of properties appreciate at different rates. The state monitors values and from time to time will say "this segment of your digest is now out of balance." Only occasionally, he said, is it necessary to revalue the whole digest at once. The last time that was done in Wilkes County was 1992. The group questioned the qualifications of personnel in the tax assessor's office, saying there had been problems getting answers to questions about understanding codes and markings attached to properties. "We have been to the assessor's office, we have been to the tax commissioner, and now we have come to the County Commission. All we want is some answers from someone who knows," one member said. "We know that we should have staff in that office that understands and can explain the system," Moore said. "We are working on that situation." Though he didn't indicate what the county is doing at this time, Moore said, "Give us some time and we are going to work through these problems. However, we can't allow this meeting to become a forum for attacking county personnel. Otherwise, the meeting of the commissioners was extremely brief with all commissioners in attendance. In other business: County Administrator David Tyler reported that Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax received for the month of September was $109,442.17 and the $71,092.69 had been received in Local Option Sales Tax for the same period. Chief Deputy Mike Sisson reported that the Wilkes County Sheriff's Department was expecting to new patrol cars to be delivered on November 13. Wilkes County EMS Director Blake Thompson said that his staff was preparing for a motocross event at Aonia Pass and that he would have four trucks on duty. Moore announced that the next meeting of the commissioners would be held on December 14 at 2 p.m. in the courthouse. He also reported that the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) District 7 meeting would be held in Warrenton on Thursday, November 16, beginning at noon. Moore further announced a surplus sale set for 10 a.m. on December 10. Moore also reported that Glit- Microtron, which moved into the building vacated by Washington Manufacturing, has announced that it will be closing in March 2007. "They never really fulfilled their contractual obligations because of reorganization," Moore said, "and they will be moving their jobs and operations back to their Wrens plant." Moore announced that work has begun on the parallel taxiway at the Washington-Wilkes Airport after a delay since April.
Following an executive session, the board voted to accept the proposal for contractual services as submitted by John Sisson for Sisson Realty and Timber Services, Inc.
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