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Home Owned and Operated for more than 90 Years
Volume No. 96, No. 38
Commissioners will not fire tax assessors
County Commissioners offer to meet with
anyone who feels he has not received proper
treatment from the tax assessors. The com¬
missioners also will ask the board of
equalization to hear again any case where
someone may feel that the lack of access to
public records may have hindered his case.
Judge rules that tax
be available
In a special hearing held at the
Peach County Counhouse Friday,
Superior Coun Judge Tommy Day
Wilcox ordered Peach County Chief
Tax Assessor J. T. Joiner to comply
with open records law and allow
individuals to view property tax
records ‘ 'on an immediate basis. ’ ’
The ruling came after Colonel Jon
Pensyl asked the court for assistance in
obtaining access to property tax
records after both Tax Appraiser Tom
Waldon and Joiner refused to allow
him to view a copy of the county tax
digest and individual property cards.
The digest is a specific computer print-out
which contains information
about how property is appraised and
valued The individual property cards
hold detailed information about
individual parcels of property. Pensyl
and his attorney, Robert E Lanyon,
said the information was public and
was necessary in order to prepare an
appeal to the recent tax re-evaluation
Lanyon asserted tliat pnw xw the
recent re-evaluaiion the records were
open to anyone who asked to see them.
Several witnesses for the prosecution
testified that they had earlier obtained
the same information Pensyl was
denied access to.
“Always before people got what
they wanted and all of a sudden with
this tax digest it got hot in the
kitchen,’’ Lanyon said
Arguing that the First and
Fourteenth Amendments to the U S.
Constitution guaranteed Pensyl the
right to view public documents, Lanyon
added that his client had also pointed
out to the assessors office the Georgia
codes which apply to the tax records
making them open and not privileged
information
Joiner held that the appraised values
Peeler resigns post;
to run for mayor of Byron
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Bill Peeler
Byron City Councilman Bill Peeler
announced Monday that he
resigning his post as alderman in order
to focus his energy and artention on his
bid for the title of Mayor of Byron.
“I entered the race because I
thought I could serve a need,” Peeler
said. He said he resigned the city
council post he has held for three years
because he feels he can “act more
freely and concentrate on the job” he is
seeking
Peeler said he has no specific
projects he would like to work on but
that he wants to be known as a
candidate who will serve the entire
community ' 'That is one reason why I
resigned,” Peeler said. He added that
he would rather be known as a
candidate with a reconciliatory
Fort Valley, Peach County, Ga„ Thursday, September 22, 198*
of Peach County property were open to
anyone who requested such infor¬
mation but more detailed information
was privileged He testified that
although he had earlier allowed
individuals to look at property cards,
he did so because they were real estate
or other professionals who needed the
information for appraisal purposes. He
said he felt granting access to the
property cards to anyone who wanted
to see them was an invasion of privacy.
County Attorney Sam Culpepper
argued that not all public records are
subject to inspection. “We submit
there arc good reasons for not giving
direct copies of information. We don’t
say it is not public record, we say it is
protected public records,” he said.
Culpepper also denied that Joiner had
willfully violated the law. “Even the
courts have trouble with this ... this
area is as gray as can be,” Culpepper
said.
Joiner had said earlier that he could
find no taw *aymg that the particulars
of another's property are public and
that he feared giving out the
information indiscriminately because it
could be used in ways detrimental to
the property owner.
In his decision, Judge Wilcox said
the documents in question were dearly
public records. He said the tax
assessor’s action was not a willful act
and denied Pensyl's request for
attorney’s fees.
In response to Joiner’s comments
about burglars or others who wish to
obtain information for wrongful
purposes, Judge Wilcox advised Joiner
to keep a log of those who ask for
access to the records containing the
person’s name, address and purpose of
the request.
relationship with the city admini¬
stration rather than a conflict of
interest.
He describes himself as a Tar Heel
by birth and a Georgian by choice.
Peeler was transferred from Virginia to
Byron in 1957 when he was a civilian
employee of the Navy, He liked it so
much he stayed, he said. After his
retirement he began working with
Green and Jackson Seed Company,
where he is still actively employed
A member of the Byron Methodist
Church, Peeler and his wife Lillian
have one grown daughter, Lillian, and
two younger canine members of the
family who still live at home Peeler
joked that his two dogs firmly believe
they are a part of the Peeler family.
Peeler said he believes he is the best
candidate for Mayor because ”1 have a
firm conviction of what duty consists
of. 1 would sell myself short if I didn’t
think 1 was capable of being a very
good public servant
USDA gives free food
More than 200 hundred Byron
residents received free USDA allot¬
ments of butter, cheese and nee
Tuesday at the city’s Neighborhood
Service Center. According to Director
Marie Gibson, several people had to be
turned away when the food supply ran
out. However, they will receive their
allotments as soon as possible, she
said.
A line for the surplus food formed
early Tuesday morning and by 11.00
more than 200 applications had been
processed.
In a joint meeting of the Peach
County Commissioners and the Board
of Tax Assessors Tuesday morning,
Scptcmbcr 20, the commissioners ex
pressed the need for a concerted effort
to bridge the gap - real or imagined
-between the taxpayers and the tax
board regarding the recent tax re
evaluation controversy.
As a result of that meeting, the com¬
missioners decided to act as an in
termediary with the assessors for any
taxpayer who believes that he has not
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The tax assessors met with the county commissioners
Tuesday morning. John Demons t set tad from left) said
that no one has been mistreated in that office, and that
after a working career of helping people, it is hard to
Consolidation voter registration
rolls be - for now
An effort by the city of Fort Valley to
comply with the Charter Commission’s
recommendation to consolidate city
and county voter registration sites by
October 1 has been halted by a
five-page list of instructions by the
Department of Justice.
The Charter Commission was a
University of Georgia study of
government agencies in Peach County,
Fort Valley and Byron and ways which
these agencies could consolidate to
serve citizens more efficiently and
economically. Superior Court Judge G.
Bryant Culpepper IV developed the
idea of the commission and saw it
through the Georgia Legislature when
he was a state representative.
Voters in the city of Fort Valley
presently have to register in both the
Peach County Courthouse and in City
Hall. The effort by the city to
consolidate the registration into one
stop at the courthouse was in response
to the Charter Commission’s recom¬
mendations. However, before such a
$1.9 million city budget includes
increase, and
A record budget for the city of Fort
Valley was adopted with little
discussion last Thusday night,
September 15, at the regular monthly
council meeting. The new budget is for
$1,978,697, which is an 8.7 per cent
increase over the current year's fiscal
plan.
All councilmen, with the exception of
Councilman Marvin Crafter, voted for
the new budget. Crafter abstained
from voting
An interview with Finance
Committee Chairman Bobby Hester
later revealed that expenditures in the
budget call for a lot of capital
improvements. Hester pointed out that
the city has committed an additional
$30,000 as its first year’s part of
building the new recreation complex; a
$10 per week pay increase for 68 city
employees (excluding elected offi¬
cials); new police cars; and new
equipment for the Sanitation Depart¬
ment.
Additional income to pay for the
expected expenses will come from a
received the right treatment at the
office. The commissioners also
to ask the Board of Equalization to con
sidcr rc-hcaring those appeals (for those
who appeared) of anyone who might
believe that the withholding of all
records might have affected their case,
The commissioners expressed con¬
cern about the real or perceived pro¬
blems of the taxpayers; they said that
ttiore knowledge and better com
munication would result in better
understanding.
take the abuse that the assessors are having to take.
Around the table are W. L. Brown, Demons, Tom
Franklin, J. T. Joiner and Mrs. Annie Rumph.
change can be made, it first must be
approved by the Justice Department. detailed
In the five-page list of
questions and requirements, the
department asked for such information
as: the election returns by voting
precincts for all city and county
elections in which a black candidate
participated since 1965; the name of
each person or organization that has
requested a voter registration drive;
the dates submitted; the racial
composition of the group; the number
of requests approved and disapproved;
and the reasons why they were
disapproved. said
Mayor C. W. “Pete” Peterson
the consolidation was planned to make
it more convenient for voters to
register and to make voter registration
more efficient by letting one central
office handle the task. The Justice
Department turned the matter into a
racial issue, he said. “Race has
nothing to do with it,” Peterson
explained.
big increase in the one cent sales tax,
liquor tax, liquor licenses tax, and
increased revenue from the police
court.
Councilman Hester said that the
city’s $10 per week increase for its
employees will amount to $35,360 per
year in expense to the city. He said that
the city preferred to make the increase
in this fashion rather than a percentage
type raise, for the concern was that the
lower paid workers would share less in
a percentage raise. He laughed and
said that the city’s elected officials did
not share in the pay increase.
Two new police cars and a new car
for the fire chief are planned for the
new fiscal year which begins October
1. A total of $62,560 will be spent for a
new compactor and two new chassis at
the sanitation department during the
new fiscal year, said Hester.
Another new expense the city is
committed for is $13,000 as the city’s
part (first year ot two payments) of
constructing the addition to the new
library.
1 Year (local) Subscription
Thc decision was not unanimous,
Commissioner Annie Rumph said that
the tax assessors and the equalization
board should handle the appeals
without interference from the commis
sioners. On the other hand, Commis
sioner Hal Pcavy stated that “a person
who filed his appeal, showed up at the
hearing, acted in good faith and felt he
did not get a fair hearing [because of
the absence of public records]” should
be granted another hearing. “There
may be a few who felt their records
According to Fort Valley City Clerk
M. L. Gilchrist, many of the records
requested by the Justice Department
are not available because the only
information kept longer than two years
are certified voters lists.
Mayor Peterson said the matter had
been looked into and although the City
Council has not yet officially acted on
the Justice Department’s response, he
felt the consolidation effort will be
dropped.
“It would take a whole group of
people weeks to dig up the information
requested by the Justice Department
and I just can’t see spending that much
time on it,” Peterson said.
The mayor said it was very likely that
even if the city attempted to answer all
of the Justice Department’s requests,
its proposal would likely be
disapproved no matter what. He said
that on many other occasions when the
city has attempted to comply with
Justice Department requests, they
have been turned down.
Regarding income, Hester said that
the city anticipates receiving $525,500
in one-per cent sales tax, an increase of
about $45,000 over last year. The
liquor tax is expected to yield $30,000,
although Hester cautioned that this is
an anticipated figure made without
benefit of previous experience.
Another new source of income is
$27,800 for beverage licenses.
The city is also budgeting $100,000
from the Fort Valley Utilities
Commission. Hester said that the city
anticipated that amount this year, but
did not get it.
Hester pointed out that the city
budgeted an income of $50,000 from
police fines during the current year,
but the income will actually be nearer
$100,000. This is the basis for the city’s
new estimate of $100,000, he said.
Hester said that the reason for this
drastic increase of income is because
the city has a judge who knows what he
is doing, an efficient and professional
police department, and increased
amounts of fines for offenses.
would have been inaccessible,” said
Pcavy.
The tax assessors agreed with the
commissioners’ first suggestion, that of
the elected officials acting as an in
termediary. However the second sug
gestion was objected to by Joiner who
said that he did not feel that anyone
had been denied his appeal rights. .
“We feel that everyone is receiving
due process,” said Joiner.
John Demons told the commis¬
sioners that people are treated fairly
and with courtesy in the tax office. He
said that the assessors do not always get
the same courtesy, however. He related
an incident where one person came into
the office “raising cain”, it would have
been a mistake “had we let two fools
act ... we would have had a mess,” he
said. Demons said that they calmed the
person down and he came back later
and the assessors and the taxpayer had
an intelligent conversation.
Demons said that it was difficult for
him, after spending his working career
helping people, now having to take
abuse in the tax office.
After the assessors left the room, the
commissioners were asked if they were
going to keep them on the job. Pcavy
answered, “I sec no reason to pursue
that at this time. The assessors are
discharging their duty in a very ade¬
quate manner.”
Representing the commissioners
were Pcavy, W. L. Brown and Mrs.
Rumph. The tax assessors present were
Joiner, Demons and Grant Vennes.
Spillers decries
‘trashiness’
inside the city
Fort Valley City Councilman Wilbur
Spillers is ready for the city to declare
war on those property owners who do
not keep ther property looking
presentable. Spillers said that some
areas of Anderson Avenue, Vineville
Street, and the Gano section are
becoming “ghettos”. “This has got to
come to a screeching halt,” said
Spillers last Thursday night at the city
council meeting,
Spillers asked the city to set a
reasonable time limit for people to
clean up their property before the city
enforces its ordinance. He said that in
some areas of town people have left
burned out houses to stand, have
abandoned buildings, and have let
garbage and junk cars accumulate in
yards. “There is one burned-out
packing house in the city that has not
been touched in over a year,” he said,
The councilman asked for a time
limit of 90 days to allow a property
owner to clean up his property. If the
owner fails to do it, then he suggested
levying a fine. Spillers said that the
junk is a haven for the city’s numerous
rats.
City Attorney Charles Adams was
asked to research the city’s ordinance
and to suggest a time limit. Adams
said that the city has “inherited” some
responsibility in the past, for if a
property owner did not clean up an
objectionable piece of property, the
city would do the job and charge the
owner.
Spillers said in an interview later
that he expected his stand to make
some people mad, but that he is willing
to take the heat in order to get
something done. He said that if people
wonder why we don’t get any new
industry in this town, the trash is part
of the reason. We’ll never get
anything until we get this cleaned up,”
he said.
DUI cases
create problems
A rash of DUI cases and burglaries
were uppermost in the minds of police
officers last week.
On September 9 Andrew G. Ross III
of 207 San Gerald Drive was arrested
by Officer James Baker at the corner of
Spruce and East Main for making an
improper left turn. Driving a van, Ross
struck a car driven by Warren Statham.
Ross was charged with DUI and later
released on $566.50 property bond.
Statham and his daughter, Tori, were
released from the hospital after being
treated for minor injuries.
On September 16 Gary W. Simmons
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