(Editor’s note: this is the second half of a two-part review of the top news stories of 2024. January through July were published last week.)
August
Jones County’s first responders were celebrated Aug. 3 with an annual appreciation banquet held at Bradley Baptist Church. A power outage earlier in the afternoon did not deter the firefighters and rescue volunteers, who hooked up generators to provide lights and fans to allow the program to go on.
The evening included service awards and promotions, including making Thomas Coleman’s appointment as Jones County Fire Chief official.
With the departure of Graham, Karen McMichael was named Jones County’s EMA director. McMichael has been with the department since 2008 and received her EMA certification in 2015.
Shaun Mills entered a guilty plea Aug. 15 to seven counts of armed robbery and received life with the possibility of parole on each count. The life sentences mean he will not be eligible for parole until he has served 29 years in prison.
Mills was one of three defendants in a case that involved aggravated assault and home invasion that was scheduled to go to trial.
Commissioners addressed the issue of the county’s sales ratio failure at a Aug. 27 meeting. The problem is complicated by the fact that it is the board of tax assessors that has control over the department and chief tax appraiser.
According to Georgia law, the functions of the property taxation must be separated for the governing authority to create a separation of powers. The commissioners questioned George about the problem, but he cited other reasons for the failure.
September
The board of commissioners held a work session Sept. 3 to delve into the tax ratio problem. Jones County’s tax ratio was 31.26 following an audit by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts. The acceptable ratio is above 36.
The report showed the county’s 2023 ratio was lower than in 2022. George contended the properties in the audit were selected by the DOAA and the internal study had the county in the acceptable range. His solution was to file another appeal.
Two Jones County tax assessors came forward at the meeting to point out issues within the department. Bill Goodman was first and was followed by Kim Adams. Both are experienced Level II tax assessors with more than 10 years of experience.
The assessors said it was issues, including excessive overrides and lack of uniformity in property values, that were causing the problems. They suggested the only way to fix the problem was a countywide revaluation by an outside firm.
A member of Jones County’s Board of Equalization agreed with the problems as board member. Mary Watts, who was the chairman, would resign a few days after the session that lasted from 4 p.m. to after 8 p.m. Watts had served on the board for 16 years.
Other board members are Scherryl Morgan, Tim Andrews and Geraldine Hogan.
The chief appraiser obviously ran the meeting, and after a few business items, he talked about the sales ratio and gave multiple reasons for the failure.
When confronted about the illegal closed session by Commissioner Sam Kitchens when the meeting reconvened, Andrews stated that they did not know it was not legal. He also said they were not prepared to have an audience at the meeting because that had not happened before.
Kitchens went on to say the BOA has one job, which is to make sure the tax assessments in Jones County are fair and open. He said that is not happening.
At the city council’s Sept. 9 meeting, City Attorney John Newberry stated in his opinion Jackson’s rezoning was considered closed as of June 3.
That decision put in question the city’s test well that sits on Jackson’s property,.
October
The county’s appeal of its sales ratio audit took place Oct. 1. George and consultant Stan King argued the DOAA’s methodology is all wrong and blamed a hyper-inflated economy for the county’s failure.
George and King asserted that the county’s internal sales ratio that is correctly computed is a practically perfect 38. DOAA Sales Ratio Director Lee Thomas presented Jones County’s five-year property digest to show property values in the county had not kept up. He said more than 45 percent of Jones County properties had not increased in value from 2020 to 2023.
Thomas stated it was a uniformity issue, and he doubted the sales ratio would be better next year. George submitted several properties to Thomas for reconsideration.
The result of the appeal was the sales ratio was increased from 31.26 to 31.71.
The 2024 Georgia Sheriff’s Salute, held Oct. 17 at Walnut Creek Shooting Preserve, was the 11th year for the event. Sheriff Ron Freeman of Forsyth County was honored as Sheriff of the Year, and the keynote speaker was Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. Law enforcement officers from across the state attended the annual event.
Resulting conflict from the actions of the whistle blowers in the tax assessors’ office came to a head Oct. 25 with the arrest of another tax assessor, Donna Welch, for simple battery. The suspect was alleged to have elbowed Adams in the back the previous day, and when the department head or HR department took no action, the incident was reported to the Gray Police Department.
Welch was arrested following the investigation of the complaint but was allowed by the department head to report back to work the following Monday. Jones County Commissioners made separate working accommodations for Adams and Goodman to defuse the situation.
Dafredia Yvette Stephens was sentenced to 10 years to serve in prison Oct. 28, following a guilty plea to the charge of concealing the death of another and abandonment of a dead body. Stephens was the caretaker of her uncle, whose body was found Dec. 17, 2021, on Cheehaw Trail.
Investigators with the Jones County Sheriff’s Department said it took more than a year to identify the body and track down family members. Stephens was arrested July 11, 2023, as she was going to the bank to cash her uncle’s monthly check.
David Clinton Smith was found guilty on each count for which he was charged by a Jones County Jury Oct. 30. His charges included three counts of aggravated child molestation, cruelty to children, enticing a child for indecent purposes and sexual exploitation of children.
The jury heard testimony from the victim, who is now 16. She was 13 at the time the molestation began. It took jurors less than 30 minutes to return with the guilty verdict on all counts.
Smith was sentenced by Chief Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammel to three consecutive life sentences plus 20 years to run consecutively. Trammel told the defendant he would be spending the rest of his life in prison, which is where he needed to be.
November
Jones County was in the national news during the days leading up to the Nov. 5 election due to threats received during early voting. Nicholas Wimbish was arrested Nov. 4 and charged in federal court for mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information and making false statements to the FBI.
Wimbish was indicted for the federal offenses Nov. 19. The original complaint was made to the JCSO Oct. 22 after a letter was received by Jones County Election Superintendent Marion Hatton. The threat was investigated by the Gray Police Department, which reported it to the FBI for further investigation.
The arbitration proceeding for the 2023 sales ratio took place Nov. 6 in Macon. King and George once again represented the county and presented the same arguments. At the conclusion of the arbitration, the ratio was increased to 33.94, which is still a failing result for the audit.
City council members voted unanimously at their Nov. 4 meeting to approve a conditional use for the purpose of allowing a brewery to operate in the former Chevy’s Pizza building.
Jones County’s election results were exciting for the wrong reasons. Results for the Nov. 5 election were not released until Nov. 7 due to technical difficulties with the tabulation equipment.
Representatives of the Secretary of State’s Office and Dominion Voting Systems came to Jones County and were able to resolve the problem, but the complete results were not final until the next day.
When the votes were tabulated for District 4, Martin and West were tied. It was not until a military absentee ballot arrived that Friday afternoon that Martin was declared the winner.
Jones County had an impressive turnout for early voting with more people casting their ballots during those three weeks than did on Election Day. The total turnout was 76.65 percent of registered voters.
The Nov. 7 meeting of the tax assessors drew another large audience, but the number of board members had dwindled. With the resignation of the former chairman, the number of members of the board was now three.
Andrews took the role of chairman.
Community members were allowed to speak for two minutes, and several took the opportunity to express their displeasure with the county’s tax assessment practices. The speakers included Mickey Parker, Kitchens and James Collins.
Jones County’s Veterans Appreciation Day was a huge flagwaving success with the community taking the time to thank its veterans for their past and continued sacrifices. The first appreciation day event was held in 2001 and has been held every year thereafter.
The result of a Nov. 18 called meeting of the tax assessors board was to suspend Adams with pay for insubordination pending an investigation. Andrews requested the presence of County Attorney Ashely Brodie at the meeting.
The chairman asked to hear from employees of the department starting with Adams and included Goodman. Other employees in the department also spoke, with the exception of Welch, who was not at the meeting.
During public comments, County Commissioner Chairman Chris Weidner, Kitchens, Wood and Martin all spoke.
At the commissioners Nov. 19 board meeting, they discussed the need include package liquor sales approved on the Nov. 5 ballot to the county’s alcohol ordinance.
Following a closed session, Kitchens made the motion to remove the remaining members of the Board of Tax Assessors, and the motion was approved with a 4-1 vote with Martin in opposition.
Kitchens cited reasons for the removal as inadequate sales ratio studies in 2022 and 2023, the improper use of overrides, general mismanagement of the appraiser process and open meeting violations.
December
The board of assessors issue dominated the commissioners’ final meeting of the year Dec. 3. Community members presented board members with a petition requesting the removal of the remaining members of that board.
Collins spoke on behalf of the City of Gray in support of the county’s decision to remove the members of the board of tax assessors.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the commissioners entered closed session. When they returned, Kitchens made a motion to approve the removal letter for the members of the board of tax assessors.
That motion was once again approved with a vote of 4-1 with Martin opposed.
The removal process will include a public hearing at a date later to be determined. At the conclusion of 2024, the board of tax assessors will include only two members. The term of the third member expired Dec. 31.
The board of tax assessors had their final meeting Dec. 5. George spoke at the beginning of the meeting stating that the department was operating well. The people who spoke after him did not share his opinion.
Those speaking were Parker, James Crutchfield, Collins and Mathew Simms.
At the conclusion of the agenda, the meeting adjourned to enter into closed session. When it reconvened, Hogan read a motion to place a written reprimand in the files of Adams and Goodman for reasons of their discourtesy. No other explanation was given.
The motion was passed, which meant Adams’ suspension was lifted, and the meeting was adjourned.
2024 concluded with the holiday celebrations of the Live Nativity at Gray Methodist Dec. 13-15 and the city’s Christmas Parade that took place Dec. 12 hosted by the members of Sincerity Lodge #430.
