The Jones County Board of Tax Assessors got down to business quickly at a called meeting last week with a clear goal of correcting problems in the tax assessors office.
The Feb. 20 called meeting was brought to order by Chairman Leigh Stanford, who was one of three new board members appointed by the Jones County Board of Commissioners Jan. 14 to fill vacancies on the board.
The meeting concluded more than four hours later with the termination of chief appraiser Tony George.
The motion to fire George was made by board member Joe Rutledge following a closed session held to discuss personnel. Rutledge said his motion was based on the facts received and for the benefit of Jones County.
The motion was seconded by board member Andrea Riley. Stanford called for the vote, and upon receiving three affirmative votes, the chairman addressed George.
“I don’t feel like the board had a choice,” she said. “The motion passed; your position has been terminated.”
George showed no emotion but did speak to the board.
“I’ve worked here eight years, and it’s been a pleasure. I do understand the circumstances, and I wish you well,” he said.
Stanford asked the remaining staff of the tax assessor’s office to help the board resolve the issues in their office.
The Feb. 20 meeting began with approval of corrected minutes of the Feb. 6 meeting and motions by Rutledge to include an opening prayer and pledge for the subsequent meetings. He also requested public comments be changed back to a limit of 10 minutes, rather than the two minutes it was recently changed to.
“I think we are here to serve the people, and they deserve a voice,” he said.
Following a discussion about that motion, board members compromised by limiting the comments to five minutes. Those motions were all approved unanimously.
The meeting’s agenda listed the names of the department’s personnel, beginning with George. Stanford said board members received and reviewed the information they requested prior to the meeting, including employee information, manuals, minutes to meetings and watched recorded meetings.
She said they also reviewed the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Performance Review of the Jones County Board of Tax Assessors and George’s notes on the review.
She stated that the mission statement of the tax assessors office is to be fair and equitable to the taxpayers of Jones County.
The chairman said it is the chief appraiser’s role to manage the office with the purpose of preparing the county’s tax digest.
“The auditors concluded Jones County failed its Sales Tax Ratio Audit in 2023,” she said.
Stanford said the review found the county lost over $300,000 in public utility payments, and the staff was not in compliance for training.
“There are allegations of mistreatment and a hostile work environment,” she said.
The chairman went on to say the county is not on track to reach the sales ratio goal for 2024, either. She said it was noted in the review that the chief appraiser’s training was not reflected in the performance of his job.
“The report is clear. It cites statutes and makes recommendations. I think those are more of a mandate,” she said.
Stanford also stated that all the items George claimed to have completed since the review was released have not been done.
“My conclusion is our county’s office is not run properly. We have a duty to take action,” she said. “Incompetence is a grade three offense.”
The chairman then opened the floor for discussion.
Staff speaks
George began his defense by stating the office was down two appraisers. He again claimed the county had not lost money and the sales ratio was actually at 38 percent. The chief appraiser claimed the training deficit for employees was because of less training classes due to the pandemic.
He said the override issue had been corrected, and the department has excellent communication with other departments.
Stanford said she had spoken to those other departments and did not find that to be the case.
George admitted everything was not perfect.
“Are there things we can improve on? Sure. But we are doing the best we can with what we have to work with,” he said.
George said the county is not under a collection order by the state.
“The most important thing we do is the tax digest, and we have been on time for the last eight years,” he said.
Stanford corrected that statement.
“No, we have a conditional acceptance for 2023,” she said.
George said all the changes had been made and as soon as the price per foot for homes in the county is raised, all would be in compliance.
Riley asked if revaluations had been done to stop the ratio issue from happening. His response was consistent with his previous statements.
“We’ve done a yeoman’s job with what we have fixed with the people we have,” George said.
Stanford said George’s responses make her feel like she’s living through “Groundhog Day.”
“You said the same thing two weeks ago, and two years ago,” she said.
Andrews took exception to that comment.
“It’s not proper to disrespect an employee,” he said.
Then Andrews stated that the Jones County Board of Commissioners were sitting in the audience like a “bunch of buzzards sitting on a fence.”
Stanford asked if any other employees wanted to speak, and tax appraiser Bill Goodman came forward.
Goodman said the grades of properties had not been fixed, and the grades all went through the chief appraiser. He said the ratio issues were born out in the peer review.
“We were told by the state the square foot value should be $120. Jones County’s was $60,” he said. “The numbers he gives as added to the tax digest every year is a farse. Tony only puts in the additions. If he had fixed everything, we would not need a [revaluation].”
Staff members Lonnette Jones and Tanisha Clark spoke in support of George. They pointed to the two whistleblowers, Kim Adams and Goodman, as the problems in the department.
Jones said she felt no one had stepped up to protect them. She said she believes there were outside influences at work causing problems.
Clark said she had no idea what the peer review was talking about with issues of tax exemptions for the elderly.
“I do everything I can to help people,” she said.
Clark went on to state that, in her opinion, a lot of the issues had to do with racism.
Andrews said he feels like the problems go back to a letter presented to the former Board of Tax Assessors by department employees before George was hired.
“I think the discord is generated from the outside. There’s a mess not generated by employees,” he said.
Adams said she came forward Sept. 3 as a whistleblower.
“Everything I said has been vindicated by the state. Our digest had not been fair and equitable,” she said.
The appraiser said she felt the peer review is embarrassing.
“We have not been fair to the people of Jones County,” she added.
Adams talked about the problem with overrides that even when fixed do nothing to help with property values. She said it will take a couple of years for all the problems to be fixed.
The only public comments were from Jones County District 1 Commissioner Sam Kitchens. He said the problem came to the commissioners’ attention in 2023 when the county failed the 2022 sales tax ratio audit.
He pointed out that the performance review was completed by independent chief tax appraisers with no ties to Jones County.
Next steps
Stanford spoke when the meeting reopened after the closed session. She stated that there was nothing the board could do at the meeting that would immediately fix the problems the county was facing.
“Whatever we do tonight, I can assure you it will not be the last action this board takes. The employees deserve better, and the citizens deserve better,” she said.
The chairman said the lack of professionalism and disrespect of coworkers would not be tolerated, and it would be addressed.
The motion for George’s termination was made following those comments, but there was still more to do. The board appointed Tommy Crosby, the only Appraiser III in the department, to oversee the day-to-day operation of the tax assessor’s office until an interim chief appraiser is appointed.
The last action by the board was to call a meeting for Feb. 25, but that meeting was canceled Tuesday morning.
The Feb. 20 meeting can be viewed in its entirety via the county’s website, jonescountyga.org.
