Newspaper Page Text
12-A
from front page |
taxes was not collected until
1985, .
As of Dec. 31, 1985, Hall |
said, a total of $263,217.98 in |
1984 taxes was owed — not |
$908,911. f
In 1985, the tax commis- |
sioner continued, he collected |
in taxes and Said to the coun- |
ty $1,900,097, including |
$1,689,918 in property tax, |
$203,234 on motor vehici;s and |
$6,945 on mobile homes. 1
If Powell had not granted |
an extension in 1984 into 1985, |
Hall speculated, the audit |
figure on delinquent taxes in
11984 would have been much |
ess.
LATE DIGEST
The county was late in com
pleting its digest that f'ear and
in getting out its bills. Tax
payers have 60 days to pay
their tax bills. Controversy
arose in the latter days of 1984
between Powell ams then in
cumbent Commissioner Wayne
“Pete’”” Denson. Denson said
Powell could not legally extend
the Dec. 27 deadline —the end
of the 60-day period — into
1985. Powel{ Sisagreed and
said the extension would stand,
according to accounts in The
News at the time.
In 1986, Hall said, he has
collected $1,317,470 in taxes
for the county with most of
‘those being 1985 taxes. Those
1985 bills weren't legally
ayable until Jan. 10 this year,
fie explained, because the state
factored the county's tax
digest by 15 percent, forcing
local governments to adjust
their tax rates and delaying the
time for sending out bills.
The tax commissioner said
state law allows him to be paid
a commission of one percent of
all the taxes over 90 percent
that he collects in addition to
his salary. For the years
1980-84, he was paid a total of
$3,006.80, he said, including
$752.11 for 1984. That meant,
he said, that he collected some
875,000 over the 90 percent
mark that vear.
STAFF
Hall said he has adequate
staff to record all the fie?as in
the execution docket but
acknowledges that he has not
brought the delinquent tax fi
fas up to date because he has
not received any legal
assistance from the county in
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BRAD RAGAN
X |
APPLIANCE _
PHONE 857-2456
North Commerce Street Summerville
The Summerville News, Thursday, August 28, 1986
Tax Report
collecting those back taxes.
Generall;):. fi fas are record
ed during the late spring and
ear(ljy summer months, Hall
said. The January through
March period is usually rather
bu?iv because of tag sales, he
said, and the fall period is busy
with the digest, preparing and
sending out tax bills and collec
ting tax payments.
A fi fa being filed on the ex
ecution docket means that the
delinquent taxpayer cannot
dispose of his property until
those taxes are paid, because
the docket is checked by at
torneys during title searches,
Hall explaineg. It also begins
the collection process of back
takes hatpig.
Hall contended that he
must have legal assistance to
collect back taxes in the coun
ty, saying that help usually
comes from the office of coun
:}y attorney in most counties in
eorgia.
TE:e property must be
researched and legal descrip
tions written for posting on the
progerty itself and to advertise
in the county legal organ — in
Chattoodga's case, The News,
Hall said. He is not an attorney
and neither are most tax com
missioners, he continued.
EX OFFICIO
Hall, an ex officio sheriff's
deputy, is empowered to ac
tually sell proFerty on the cour
thouse steps for back taxes, he
said. “'I cfim‘t have any pro
blem with that,” he sai({ i‘s) he
knows legal requirements for
reaching that point have been
met.
In checking several drawers
of profperty tax records on
which fi fas had been filed, The
News estimated that 600 to
700 notices may be involved, a
figure with which Hall agreed.
The News also checked with
Catoosa and Whitfield Coun
t}\;‘s tax commissioners about
the specific procedures used in
collecting back taxes. They
each basically confirmed the
process Hall outlined for collec
tions and said they could not
function without the active
assistance of their respective
county attorney offices.
CATOOSA
Catoosa County follows
this basic procedure in collec
‘ting back taxes:
. The name of the delinquent
taxpayer is placed in the execu
tion docket in the office of clerk
|of court as soon as possible
| after the tax deadline passes.
| However, since the taxpayer is
| obligated for at least seven
|years back taxes, fi\lus the
| previous year's delinquent
| taxes, the fi fa process may
| take several months.
| When the collection pro
| cedure be%ins, the tax commis
| sioner’s office sends a letter to
;the delinquent taxpayer, giv
| ing him 20 business days, or a
!month, to a})ay the taxes. The
| tax office also attempts to con
| tact the taxpayer by telephone
orin Klerson about the same. At
roughly the same time, the tax
commissioner's office provides
the name of the delinquent tax
payer to the county attorney,
who prepares a legal sign war
ning that the property is to be
sold. The tax commissioner's
office staff then posts the sign
on the property, as well as
copies of the sign at the post of
fice and in the courthouse.
LEGAL AD
The month after the proper
ty is posted, the county at
torney places a legal advertise
ment in the local newspaper to
run for four weeks. After the
legal ad is published, the tax
commissioner, who is an ex
officio sheriff, sells the proper
ty on the steps of the cour
tKouse unless the taxes have
been paid. . .
Charles Proctor, the
Catoosa tax commissioner,
said he required legal
assistance from the county at
torney to prepare the sign for
posting, to research the proper
ty and to obtain a legal J:escrip
tion of the property for the
advertisement. It would be
very difficult, if not impossible,
for his office to handle the col
lection process without legal
assistance, Proctor said.
In Whitfield County, the |
collection grocess is much the |
same, said Pryor Fitts, tax |
commissioner, who is also an |
ex-officio sheriff. I
Fi fas are filed in the clerk's |
office three months after the I
taxes haven't been paid — 1
usually in March or April. That |
work is done by Fitts’ office. |
NOTIFICATION [
If the taxes haven't been |
paid after about two years 1
(with fi fas having been posted |
for each year), the names of the !
delinquent taxpayers are given |
to the county attorney'’s office.
The attorney determines if |
liens exist against the proper- |
ty and, if so, notifies the ‘
lienholders that the property is |
about to be sold. ‘
At about the same time, the |
tax commissioner's office |
sends a registered letter to the |
taxpayer and efforts are made |
by the tax office to contact the |
taxpayer by telephone and in |
person. i
If those efforts are unsuc- |
cessful, the property is posted |
in about the same manner asis |
done in Catoosa County. ;
Then the county attorney |
prepares the legal a({ to be plac- |
ed in the loca%paper for four |
weeks. The ad contains a legal {
descr(i;)tion of the property, ob- |
tained by the attorney in his
research of the land.
SOLD!
If, after four weeks adver
tising, the taxes remain un
paid, the property is sold by
the tax commissioner’s office
on the steps of the Whitfield
County courthouse.
However, Fitts, said little
property is sold because most
taxpayers will pay the back
taxes before the process is
completed.
It would be impossible for
his office to collect the back
taxes without legal assistance
from the county attorney’s of
fice, Fitts said.
In some of the larger coun
ties in Georgia, Fitts added,
some tax offices have a
separate department staffed
with pe;)f)le qualified to handle
the legal aspect of the collec
tion procedure. But in most
counties, he said, that work is
done by the county attorney.
SHOP CHATTOOGA
COUNTY MERCHANTS
29 N. Commerce St. Phone 857-1048
Closed Monday
Open Tuesday Through Friday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
P e O e
DABRETS . . ... o sas 8000 5
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Rose, Country Blue-Green. Several sizes.
M
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On The Funny Side §
By Gary Solomon M 1 ;,
from editorial page
highway that passes through our city. The
driver turned on his emergency flashers
while a passenger in the car jumped out,
ran 25 yards to a business establishment,
handed an envelope and said a few words
to a man standing there, and hustled back
to the car. The driver then turned off his
flashers and continued on his way.
Now, 1 try to maintain an even
temperament, but this incident really
steamed me. If [ hadn't been caught so
totally off-guard, I would have rammed his
car from behind as a polite reminder that
using emergency lights doesn’t give you
the right to stop anywhere you please.
A local package delivery service is par
ticularly guilty of excessive flashing. At
least once a month since January I've
come upon one of their trucks stopped in
the street, blocking my lane of traffic,
while the driver delivers a parcel. Several
times the trucks were near a corner or in
tersection, making them impossible to
pass because of the danger of oncoming
traffic.
Fach time this has happened, I've look-
-
AV ANS
Three Escape,
Two Captured
from page 2-A
purpose room, which is located
only a few feet from the outside
door to the jail's exercise yard.
The sheriff speculated that the
three escapees hid in the
room’s darkness and then slip
ped out the unlocked exercise
yard door.
Once in the exercise yard,
he speculated, they pulled
themselves up onto the basket
ball goal and from there reach
ed the top of the open
enclosure. The exercise yard
has widely separated steel
beams overheag. covered by
sections of chain-link fencing
held together by twisted wire
loops.
\ LOOPS UNTIED
: Three connecting loops
| were hanging Wednesday mor
| ning where the prisoners ap
| parently untwisted them so
t they could slip through the sec
tions of chain-link fencing,
I Cord of Thanks ]
| Our heartfelt thanks to all
] who extended comforting sym
| pathy and help in our recent
| sorrow. For the beautiful ser
| vice, floral offerings, food, all
| other acts of kindness and to
} Chattooga County Ambulance
| Service, we are deeply grateful.
' The Jimmie Alexander
l family
ed around and seen parking space
available. Granted, it would require turn
ing down a side street or pulling into a lot,
but that's the breaks. Everyone else has
to do it, why not them?
Once on another main thoroughfare, a
car ahead of me stopped and turned on his
flashers. Just as I was about to lay on the
horn, an elderly passenger climbed slowly
out of the car and made his why to a house
nearby. There was no driveway there, and
it would have been inappropriate to ask
this senior citizen to walk the distance
from the nearest intersection. I held off on
honking and accepted the incident as an
understandable delay.
Consider this fair warning, however.
Anyone caught using their emergency
flashers simply because it's inconvenient
for them to find a parking space is
henceforth subject to citizen's arrest by
this writer, package deliver or no package
delivery. Habitual violators will be forced
to sit for hours in my un-air-conditioned
car behind some jerk who is blocking traf
fic, just so they’'ll know how it feels.
B
A
P
y iLN
& 2 P
¥. ? =
o R
L S
GOINS
McConnell said. ;
From that point, the
prisoners evidently crossed the
steel beams or the outside wall
of the exercise yard to reach
the main jail buif;iing and then
crossed to the roof of the
house-like sheriff's office on
Washington Street where they
apparently dropped to the
ground and ran, the sheriff
speculated.
Math For Nurses
Math for nurses will be
taught in three sessions at
Floyd Junior College.
Session 1 will be from 9 to
11 a.m. Sept. 8-12 and session
2 will be from noon to 2 p.m.
those same dates. Session 3
will be noon to 2 p.m. Sept.
15-19. The fee for each session
will be $25.
Fall Session Starts Sept. §
Go To College
In Summerville . . .
For the fourth year, earning college credits is as conve
nient as your driving to Chattooga County High School.
Shorter College of Rome is offering a First Aid course,
two courses in English, one in Basic Speech, and one in
Western Civilization at Chattooga High.
Also, Shorter’s Summerville Off-Campus program is
registering students for ECO 201, Principles of
Economics course, to be taught on the Shorter College
main campus in Rome, classes beginning September 3.
The Fall Semester at Chattooga High will run Monday,
September 8 to Thursday, December 18.
Registration will be held Wednesday, September 3, at
6 oclock in the library of Chattooga County High
School.
Courses offered are:
Basic Speech (COM 101)
on Mondays, 6 to 8 p.m.
Freshman English (ENG 101)
on Tuesdays, 5 to 7:50 p.m.
World Literature (ENG 204)
on Tuesdays, 7:50 to 10:40 p.m.
Western Civilization (HIS 102)
on Thursdays, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
First Aid (HPE 215)
Time to be announced.
v A
Principles of Economics (ECO 201)
on Wednesdays, 7:20 to 10 p.m.
at Shorter’s Main Campus
(to pre-register for this course,
contact Jeff Hyder, in Rome, 291-2121).
Admission requirements can be discussed by calling Jack
Herring at Chattooga County High School, 857-2402;
gg })y2 i;llling Shorter College Admissions Office in Rome,
po— passseste
CIREE
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= S R
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b eroansose
b T i
McGUIRE
They were discovered miss
inf after jailers had manually
relocked the jail's doors and
conducted a routine head
count, the sheriff said.
Immediate efforts were
made during a downpour to get
the jail generator working, he
added, but it did not become
operable until after electrical
power had been restored about
40 to 45 minutes later.
CPS Review
Certified Professional
Secretary review courses will
be taught at Floyd Junior Col
lege this fall.
Economics and manage
ment will be taught from 6 to
8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Sept.
24-Oct. 14.
Business law will be taught
from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays,
Oct. 21 to Nov. 11.
Ry : i o
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Guests At Fiddlers Convention
Residents of Oak View Nursing Home were guests of
the Chattooga County Wildlife Association at the re
cent Menlo lgiddler‘s Convention. The residents wish
ed to express their appreciation to Butch Young and
all association members for making their attendance
possible. Pictured (from left) seated are Naomi Hurlefi
and Lenton Drew; (standing) Alma Moon, Sam T. Smit
t}i)r;‘d Viola Hudgins. Not siown is J. D. Bailey. (Staff
oto).
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7 BRUNSWICK
STEW
4
BENNY’S
9th Annual Labor Day
Brunswick Stew
Cookin’
Beginning Saturday, Aug. 30
Hickory Smoked
Barbecued Pork or Ribs
(Sold By The Pound Or Sandwich)
Also . . .
Hot Dogs and Roast Beef
(Roast Beef Sold By The Pound Or Sandwich)
¢ Hot Fudge Cake
o Banana Split ¢ Nut Sundae
¢ Old Fashion Dipped Ice Cream
FOUNTAIN Quart
DRINKS 49 ¢
* Pepsi ¢ Mountain Dew
o Diet Pepsi ¢ 7Up
* Root Beer
— Picnic Supplies —
Sliced Crushed Or
~Lunch | ow
Meat ICE
? ~ Tri-Sum
B enny S Foods