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The courthouse was filled with unhappy property owners who rose to their feet with applause several
ttmes.
Protesters unhappy with audit;
ask commissioners for help
In a standing room only meeting at
the Peach County Courthouse Thurs
day, a frustrated, sometimes angry quiet
crowd of tax protestors told a
group of Peach County Commissioners
they want Chief Tax Assessor J. I
Joiner and Chief Tax Appraiser Tom
Waldon fired
The Committee on Taxation als<
repeated iheir demands that the
commissioners withdraw the tax digest
and revert to the 1982 digest to resolve
whai they called ’’the dilemma In
addition, they called for an end to the
hearings before the tax equalization
board
The leader of the group, Billy
Powell, called a recently completed
study of the evaluation “nothing but
the epitomy of camoflauge” because it
was conducted by the State
Dili’s top problem list
Continued from front page
—-— 1 — -—-—-
ol Troutman Avenue tried to escape
from Officer Freddie Walker, who
stopped Simmons for a traffic violation.
Simmons losi control of Ins car on the
corner of Fagan and Davis streets and
struck two parked cats Multiple
charges were filed DUI, a suspended
license, reckless driving, attempt to
elude a police officer, giving a false
name and being a habitual violator
Bond was set at $2370, but Simmons
remains in jail because of a probation
violation
1’liai same day lack Farrabee of
Ventura Trailer Park was arrested In
Officet Leon Smith and charged with
DUI Liter he w.n released on $330
lx aid
September 18 saw the arrest of
(Italics l Walton of Columbus
Attested on I Mam Street by Officer
James Baket. Walton was charged
with DUI and released on $330 bond
Liter that night Freeman Kverrtt of
Alabama Avenue was attested for DUI
Arresting officer was Futbri Manson
I vereti was released on $*>SO bond
Several charges were filed against
Amaechi Nene of Khourv's Trailer
Park in the earls morning hours of
September 20 Officer Matslui Poole
chill get! him with DUI, no license on
bis person and no proof of insurance
Nene remains in the Peach Countv jail
Ifnec burglaries occurred Iasi week
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Farewell
Chamber of Commerce President Dennis Herbert fnght) bids Donald Mer
ritt farewell at Tuesday s chamber meeting. Merritt has accepted a promo¬
tion within bis company and u-ill be moving to North Carolina. Merritt is
vice president of the chamber and is vice chairman of the Peach County /in¬
dustrial) Development Authority.
The leader Trtbune, Fort Vall«y, Georgia, Thursday, September 22, 1983
Department of Revenue.
“It is nothing more than a
white-wash job. I’ve been in the
analysis business for 28 years and you
can’t snow me,” Powell said
In an earlier meeting, the
commissioners had promised to have a
state team audit the evaluation. At that
time Powell and others expressed their
displeasure over the decision and
called for an independent rather than a
siatc conducted audit
“That is like asking Colonel Sanders
who makes the best fried chicken; like
letting the fox guard thc hen house,”
Powell told the commissioners
He also chastised the commissioners'
for not contacting the group's steering
committee conc erning the results of
the audit “I felt we had a gentlemen’s
agreement to present the findings to
Someone broke into the residence of
Curtis Keen on Montrose Street A
19-inch Curtis-Mathcs television set
was taken Captain Wayne McKinnon
is investigating. On September 18 the
home of Arlene Dukes on Anderson
Avenue was entered through an
unlocked door or window The sum of
$100 was taken. On September 12
Agnes Brown's apartment at Lakeview
Apartments was entered forcibly A
small automatic pistol and some food
— approximate value of both totaling
$125 were taken
Completing break-in the week's violations
was an auto on September 17
Ella Jane Lowe of Spillcts Street was
the victim Some cash was removed
hum the t at
On a personal note:
Mrs. Walter Christopher (nee
Jeanette Lowe) of Byron has travelled
to Germany to join her husband, Sgi
Walter Christopher. Also on the trip
are their two sons, Core Tabias and
Walter 111
Jeanette is the daughter of Mr and
Mrs C lifford Lowe of Bvron, and
Walter is the son of Johnny and Bertha
C hristopher of Heron The families
wished Jeanette and the children a side
crip
this committee. It is a tactical error,
but I don’t think it was proper to leak
the audit results to the press and then
come to me,” Powell said.
The findings of the audit were
announced at the commissioner’s
regular monthly meeting last Tuesday
morning and Powell said he felt the
steering committee should have been
contacted prior to that time. However,
t hc commissioners have said the letter
from the Department of Revenue had
( ust arrived that morning and they had
contacted Powell as soon as they could,
Powell said the reasons he objected
to the audit was because it contained
no information concerning the sam
phng size or techniques and because it
had no supporting data or appendages,
Powell said there had never been any
doubt in his mind that the state “had a
vested interest” in the matter.
Suggesting that the commissioners
bring in an independent team of
auditors, Powell said, “I’ll be willing to
believe them and I will iive with what
they say. You'll never heat another
squeal out of Billy Powell is long as I
lt Vf
At that point as well as several other
times during the meeting, the crowd
burst into applause
Chairman Hal Peavy, along with
commissioners Annie Rumph, W. L.
Brown and Donnie Doles, listened
quietly to nearly three hours of
complaints about the new property
evaluations and members of the tax
assessor's office.
Various members of the audience
related their experiences with re
evaluation, voicing their complaints
chat' 'one business should not be taxed
21 times greater than another
business,” ' farmers are paying thc
greatest taxes, and “decisions in the
tax assessors office seem arbitrary not
professional, not accurate but more
like they arc pic king figures out of the
air." One woman told the commis
sinners "we need help and we need it
bad
At several points in the meeting,
Powell and others told the commis
sioners thev were “taking a lot of
abuse tonight” because they were
"caught between a rock and a hard
place “You have taken a lot of
criticism tonight I think c all have
been fiscally responsible and 1 don’t
want these deliberations to taint all
that y all have done l appreciate the
work you have done and 1 want you to
know it, but we do have a problem. My
only qualm Is the tax digest,” Powell
said
R E Martin, a Peach Counts
property owner, told the commis¬
sioners. “You represent the cream of
the county, You are good people But
these tax increases seem like a lot of
crookedness The tax assessors are
unprofessionals and amateurs We like
sou and we trust you but we are not
going to roll over and play dead. '
Commissioner Donnie Doles ex
plained to the audience thes were not
ordering a reassessment bs choice but
that tt had been “forced upon us bv
the state He said there would be
errors anytime a reassessment was
conducted
Chairman Hal Pcavy rold the group
T am sure va il want some sort of
decision tonight, but I have never been
one to make this rvpe of decision on the
spot He added that the commis
sioners and members of the tax
assessors office would meet and he
would see w hat w e can do to get some
information flowing
Peasx asked the group for a iittle
more time’ for the commissioners to
get feedback from the people and to
meet wirh the Tax Appeals Board
before the\ make anv type decision on
the groups request
Following several more minures of
discussion the group agreed ro meet
with the commissioners again the
following week
Crafter asks for help for parking
for customers in downtown area
< < The merchants want to know the
status of their petition on parking in
the downtown area,” said Councilman
Marvin Crafter at last Thursday night’s
Fort Valley City Council meeting
Crafter said that the city should
learn from the lesson taught by the
Cherry Street Promonade in Macon
which was recently undone. He said
that some merchants in the downtown
area seem to be hurring, and he was
anxious to know the results of the
survey.
Mayor C. W. “Pete” Peterson said
that the survey, which is to be done by
the Middle Georgia Area Planning and
Development Commission (MGAPDC),
has not been done yet. He explained
that the survey team has been finishing
another job, and that it will be done in
Fort Valley soon.
Mayor Peterson expressed his fears
that parking on both sides of the street
might be an impossibility, but he said
that the survey would give the city
some facts to consider.
Councilman Crafter also asked the
city to address the problem of
pedestrians who are trying to get to the
new health department building on
East Church Street. He pointed out
that there is no sidewalk on the south
side of East Church Street and that
vehicular traffic at the railroad tracks,
the intersection of Church Street and
Heights, makes pedes¬
traffic dangerous.
Police Chief John Dankel was asked
consider this problem and to propose
solution.
In other business last Thursday
the council voted to purchase a
front end loader The councilmen
to buy it on a lease-purchase
The city councilmen also agreed to
a resolution approving the
of Russell Parkway in
Robins to the interstate, and
it via Georgia Highway 96
Fort Valley. Officials in Peach and
counties are planning to ask
U S Department of Defense for
No major fires
reported last week
Minor damage resulted from a fire at
College Inn on September 19. At 2:57
p tn Leola Lemon, proprietor, called
Bremen to 307 Pear Street where the
hood on a stove had caught fire
■
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t. to NOTICE
THE PUBLIC
factoT In aZcX
County, offer“t* ^ 1 ! C COncer " over various
we of p each
'h°you 0 nTme C ng:
wi 0 ni S Si0ners
a in a T a s ““of* wil1 meet
p P° !ment, if you jointly by
pnsTderThea'ing^/ -K^--o^.- ( n was not ac ce ade- SS
Boar <> of App eals
taxpayers who fii ec ^twU j an appea *s of those ft
$ SeZT^e* PP r 3nd
i '«•' that ,h. 16, 1983 of
? ■“*“'» ( Ta^Sa. who
9 Count, ied ad equate
]
board of peach county
“TBHBeAa , 1983
funds to purchase the necessary rights
of way in both counties.
Recreation Director Robert Stump
reported on the progress of the South
Peach Recreation Park. He said that
another $30,000 grant will be used for
construction work at the park. He said
that the new ball fields in the park
should be ready for use next Spring.
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1 he new notecards will feature laurie Pearson's drawings of poinsettias.
JAAC annual art show is planned
Hie Jailhouse Alley Art Center of
Fort Valley will hold its 17th annual art
show Saturday and Sunday, October 1
and 2.
Paintings, pen and ink drawings,
portraits in pastel, and children’s
works will be for sale. Of special
interest will be a new not rear d
featuring a pen and ink drawing of
poinsettias by Laurie Pearson that was
Byron police investigate accident
An accident occurred on the
afternoon of September 13, when the
brakes on the auto driven by Jonice
Patricia David failed and she hit the
vehicle driven by Leon Moss, also of
Byron. Chief Maynard Watson
answered the call; no charges were
made and no one was injured.
Chief Watson investigated another
accident on Highway 49 on September
15 involving Mark Allen Joiner and J.
C, Solomon, both of Byron. No charges
were made
On the same day, Chief Watson
Mrs. Karen Giles asked for help in
capturing a stray dog that has been
Jiving in the vicinity of Chamlee
Drive. She said that previous attempts
at catching the dog have failed, and
now telephone requests to the city for
help arc not answered. Chief Dankel
promised to try again to catch the
stray.
in the 1982 calendar. Other notecards
1 include peaches and local scenes.
The show will be held at the Fort
Valley Woman’s Club on W'est Church
Streer. Preview hours on Saturday are
9:00-10:00 o'clock. Show hours will be
2:00 to 5:00 on Sunday,
No admission charge except for
preview hour.
responded to an accident on Highway
49 when a doe jumped into the path of
an auto driven by Travis Rucker of
Americus, causing slight damage to his
car
Shortly after 1:00 a m. on September
16, Officer Bill Wood answered a call to
the Waffle House in reference to a
fight involving John H Messenger Jr.
of Byron and Steven Gary Wade, also
of Byron. Both were charged with
disorderly conduct and released on
$220 bond each.