Wilkes County Tax Commissioner Mary Hubbard sent a request to the Board of Commissioners that it petition the courts for permission to proceed with the sale of motor vehicle tags and to collect local timber taxes prior to the approval of the new tax digest. She got more than she wanted when the commissioners voted to seek clearance to issue temporary tax bills "across the board" and thus allow Wilkes County taxpayers to pay all their property taxes before the end of the year.

Due to a large number of revaluation corrections and the time required to enter them into the tax database, the state's approval of the digest has been delayed probably until the spring of 2010. Waiting on that approval would preclude taxpayers from paying their 2009 taxes in 2009 even if they want to.

Monday night, the Wilkes County Board of Education voted to join the County in its request and attorneys have drawn up the appropriate petition. A public hearing on the petition will be held on Thursday, December 3, at 1:30 p.m. in the courthouse.

Commissioners expressed their concern over the additional work that the expanded request would place on Hubbard but decided to go ahead with the petition based on the number of taxpayers that had complained about the possibility that they would not be allowed to pay in 2009. "She did not create the delay, but unfortunately she is the one who has to suffer the consequences," County Attorney Charles LeGette explained.

An advertisement announcing the points of the petition and the details of the public hearing is planned for publication in this newspaper's November 26 edition.

The commissioners also voted to raise the county's hotel/motel tax from five percent to six percent effective January 1, 2010. Commissioner Ed Geddings reported that the increase would bring Wilkes County more in line with surrounding counties. The tax, he explained, is paid by visitors staying in accommodations within the county and not generally by Wilkes County residents.

The increase will account for an increase in $7-8,000 per year making the total around $30,000 a year in revenue that must be used in the county's marketing efforts.

All commissioners, including Div- enski Lee, Chairman Sam Moore, John Howard, Jerry Stover, and Geddings, were present for the regular November meeting of the board as were County Administrator David Tyler, LeGette, and a number of visitors.

In other business, the board:

l Granted tax relief to William Hiland on property which had contained a house which burned in 2007 but had not been taken off his 2008 tax bill.

l Granted tax relief to Mike Hunter for a portable building which had been moved out of the county.

l Denied tax relief to Joel and Kelly Jackson who said they didn't agree with the value assigned to a tract of land. "There is a process to challenge valuation every year," Moore explained, "and this is not the place to do that."

l Denied tax relief to H&D Building Supply for basically the same reason. "Taxpayers are not even supposed to come to us when it's a value issue," Moore said further. "The only things we're supposed to deal with are mistakes made on tax bills."

l Heard a report that Local Option Sales Tax received for the month of August amounted to $52,515.23, and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax amounted to $80,792.94 for the same month.

And in other business:

l EMS Director Blake Thompson reported that a new truck for his department has been approved by the state and he is hoping for another.

l Tourism Director Ashley Barnett reported on a large number of events and activities scheduled for the months of November and December.

l The board approved 2010 rates for beer and wine licenses.

l Nathaniel Cullars said he had a problem with voting procedures conducted in the recent City of Washington election. He was referred to the Judge of Superior Court who is responsible for personnel appointment.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners will be held on Thursday, December 10, at 2 p.m.