LETTER: BOC should have to answer for budget

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Tuesday, December 29. 2009

Comments (23)

Dear Editor:

The Board of Commissioners passed the budget for 2010 and they are very self-congratulatory about what an austere budget it is.

I am left with several questions. I know the BOC will say I should have spoken up during the public input portions of the budget hearings, but I have learned a lesson about that. I have tried many times to speak on what I felt are important matters, only to have them limit my time, or place themselves above answering questions from ordinary citizens such as myself.

For instance, I’m thinking about the Madison County employees who have been told they will be losing part of their earned holiday pay. They, for example, may share my interest in the budget item for board of tax assessor members’ pay. (Or maybe they would seriously like a job on the BOA.)

After the previous BOA members (including myself) were fired, we were replaced by a board of three members who only meet once a month. The budget of $8,400 for 2010 works out to $300 per meeting for the chairman and $200 per meeting for each of the other two members. So think about this – records show that the Aug. 19 meeting lasted only 15 minutes, so the chairman was paid $20 per minute. Each of the other two members were paid $13 per minute. Yes you read it right – those dollar amounts were per minute.

Their first three meetings lasted a total of one hour and 30 minutes. Is it possible that $2,100 was divided among three people for working one and a half hours? Fantastic figures, if you’re on the receiving end of them.

I’m sure the BOC members would just brush my comments off, saying I’m a disgruntled fired member of the BOA. Yes, I am a fired member and I am certainly disgruntled, but it has always been about the way your property values (and mine) are being set and the way some of our taxes are spent (spell that “wasted’). There is an old saying, “ignorance is bliss.” Don’t choose to be blissful about being ignorant, ask questions and demand answers, but good luck on getting them.

Sincerely,

Jim R. Escoe Sr.

Colbert

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#1 Taxpayers on 12/29/09 at 12:22 PM [Reply]

Shouldn't the taxpayers also be refunded for the money we paid you, Mr. Escoe, since you and your the rest of the BOA had to eventually be fired for mucking it up?

Will you be cutting us a check, Mr. Escoe, for the money that you took?

We are waiting!

#2 JIM R ESCOE SR. on 12/29/09 at 01:28 PM [Reply]

State your name and I'll be glad to reply to you in full. I don't talk to un-named cowards.

#2.1 Taxpayers on 12/29/09 at 02:25 PM [Reply]

Don't worry, Mr. Escoe, I have no desire for you to talk to me. Trust me, I've heard enough from you. I don't think I could take any more.

Your "reply" is no longer necessary, either, since thankfully you don't have any control over my, or anyone else's, assessments. You're yesterday's news, Mr. Escoe, you just haven't figured it out yet. And I think you're the only one who hasn't figured that out.

Sounds like it's "do as I say, not as I do" or "I can't practice what I preach."

Either way, it doesn't look like Mr. Escoe will be refuding the taxpayers for the money he was paid so apparently Mr. Escoe is fine taking the money for himself!

All Mr. Escoe's petty rant confirms is that the commissioners absolutely did the right thing in firing him. And this degree of pettiness goes a LOOOOOOONG way in demonstrating why we had so many problems with the BOA in the past.

I haven't had to deal with the current BOA, but the tax bills went out on time, so as far as I'm concerned it's OK to spend the same $8,400 on the current board that we spend on the old board.

I'm sure they aren't perfect, but we spent the same amount of money and this board got the job done! All the delays and late bills and appeals that BOA members like Mr. Escoe helped along cost a whole lot more than $8,400. A LOT MORE!

Go away, Mr. Escoe. You embarrassed yourself at BOA hearings, you embarrassed yourself on individual appeals where you demonstrated a lack of knowledge, you embarrassed yourself in the paper, you embarrassed yourself at commission meetings, and you continue to embarrass yourself with your petty gripes. Pathetic. So glad we we do not have to see you on the BOA. Hate to say "I told you so," but, Mr. Escoe, I told you that you didn't know what you were doing, and I also told you that you would be gone by the end of the year! The taxpayers had had enough of your nonsense! The county has moved forward, and thankfully left you and your political sour-grapes gripes behind.

Thank you, Commissioners. Obviously, this is one decision you got RIGHT! We the taxpayers appreciate it.

Time to move on, Mr. Escoe. Everyone else has. No one cares for you "stirring the stick" anymore.

Happy New Year everybody!

#3 eddiethedude on 12/29/09 at 03:05 PM [Reply]

I don't think in hard times like these that someone should be paid $200 & $300 respectively for 15 minutes of time. That is absurd. At the very time that everyone else is being cut back. I think that Mr. Escoe has a very valid point!! I have not always agreed with him but when he is right he is RIGHT! As for the comment about the new BOA getting bills out on time, NO THEY DID NOT! In fact they should have been out sooner and would have been had the previous board been left in place. All you have now are three BOA members rubber stamping anything the chief appraiser says. Things are in a bigger mess now than ever and when some of you see what the future holds under this current setup you will be sorry for what you have said. Just wait and see, time will show you. However, for the time being if these people want to only meet for 15 minutes a month then adjust their pay accordingly. The BOC needs to hold them accountable and if not then turn out the BOC!!!!

#3.1 Sheila on 12/29/09 at 03:25 PM [Reply]

Tax bills were definitely out on time by my standards - meaning before Christmas, heck, I think it was before Thanksgiving. Under the old board they were months behind and didn't get them out until the following year and we had to pay taxes twice in the same year. Big improvement now. I agree someone should go back and figure what all those late bills and appeals cost us and make the previous board pay us back all they cost us. Probably at least a few hundred thousand.

#3.2 Hillbilly on 12/29/09 at 04:39 PM [Reply]

Eddie you are dumber than a box of rocks! Mr. Esco and his counterpart Larry Stewart are hung up on the fact this board only meets once a month where does it state they have to meet more than once a month? It appears to me the new board get's more done in one meeting than the previous group of clowns could manage to screw up in two meetings a month! I have attended meetings with the previous board and I can't put my finger on anything they accomplished that benefited the county. Now they did do a lot of patting themself on the back especially Mr. Ragland I guess that required two meeting's a month. Now to the issue of who got the tax bills out, dude, it was the new board!!! If you think back the previous board never got them out on time. Do you like paying two tax bills a year or do you pay your taxes, after all not all of the previous board paid their's. As for 2.1 taxpayers on--what a classy response to Mr. Esco request--first class and to the point!

#3.2.1 Taxed on 12/29/09 at 06:18 PM [Reply]

Hillbilly, can you say for sure that all of the present board paid their taxes on time???

#3.2.2 Anonymous on 12/30/09 at 07:17 AM [Reply]

Hillbilly and Taxpayers (really Mrs Hillbilly)I have a suggestion for you. Why don't the two of you move back to Gwinnett County where you came from and take the water pipes and all the other money you cost this county with you. And while you are at it take the chief appraiser (who also resides in Gwinnett County ) with you too. You know now that I think of it, I believe Madison County has been invaded by Gwinnett County. Right under our noses. Call out the Guard!!

#3.2.2.1 MC Taxpayor on 12/30/09 at 03:42 PM [Reply]

Dear Ms. Anonymous : your post in past interesting and hope you son got the deserved job.

You seem to have a Gwinnett issue. Did you come from there or did you run for beauty queen and got second place or did family member not get job there ?

I think personally Athens has invaded or perhaps some think Little Mexico in MC in some areas. This said in nonsense by the way.

Chill on issue of where from. Do not chill though as your thoughts on taxes and responsibility OK more often than not.

Now I just need you to raise issue of Conservation Tax status and raise voice to ask people to ask Ga Att. General or Superior Court how to visit this area and OK for AG business but maybe some parcels do not fit this category.

#3.2.3 Larry Stewart on 12/30/09 at 02:13 PM [Reply]

Hillbilly, I feel I must respond to the fact that you have drug my name into this debate between yourself and Mr. Escoe. First, you certainly have a lot of nerve accusing me of something you know nothing about, and I take great offense to your remark. Where do you get your information? Because you certainly don't know your butt from a hole in the ground mister! I did not have any part of Mr. Escoe's letter. That is between you and him. Leave me out of it! When I sign my name to a letter feel free to address me. What kind of coward takes a shot at uninvolved people and then won't sign his name to it!
Since you have opened this can of worms with me though, I will explain a few things to you. How dare you describe me as a "counterpart" to Mr. Escoe! Since you say that you attended our meetings, you will well remember that myself and Mr. Escoe differed greatly on many issues during my time there. Unlike yourself, I am nobodys "counterpart"! You have no idea what that board was having to deal with. You don't have the guts to put yourself on the other side of the table and see how hard that job can be. We looked for over a year for a chief appraiser, with no luck. Most of the people I approached laughed at me because they wouldn't work for us because of county commissioner interference. And you can't get bills out without a chief appraiser sir!! So you and everyone else will never know what the real situation going on was. I had a candidate ready January 2009. But my fellow board members did not vote for him. That's okay, that is their right. As for this current BOA meeting thing, here is my opinion. And the last itme I looked this was still America, so I have a right to an opinion (no I am not "hung up" as you say). And let me be clear to you, that I will damm well state my opinion!! In 2004 (long before I came to that board) the State Department of Revenue did a peer review of the assessors office. This was during John Bellew's time. That board was only meeting once a month then. One of the DOR recomendations was that "once a month meetings of the BOA is NOT enough to do the job". The board I served on moved to change that to comply with the DOR. As we were also moving to comply with the DOR report from 2008, until we were removed. I hope you understand nothing has been done since on that subject either. You have no idea how many hours I spent trying to do a job correctly for the citizens of this county. That is a job that if done properly cannot be accomplished with one meeting a month. Of course you can just blow it off in less time, but I said properly. So, in answer to you question, no there is no rule that says it must be done in more than one meeting. Heck, I guess you really don't have to meet at all if you can get by with it. So we had our pay restructured so that it was a flat amount to compensate for all the time we spent. Before that it was $50 per meeting. Now if the new BOA want to take the $200 and $300 for 15 minutes per month and sleep at night, that is their business not mine (my involment ended August 8, 2009). That is my opinion sir, but I am definately not "hung up" on it. I hope you have been able to follow this as I know I have rambled. I could write a book on my time at the BOA to tell all I know. However, don't you ever dare question my desire to help the people of this county again.

#3.3 Anonymous on 12/30/09 at 07:00 AM [Reply]

Come on Eddie, if you think that the BOC is going to hold the new BOA "accountable" for anything you must live in a dream world! Those people could double their pay again and the BOC would think it was just fine. Get real man, they appointed only their best buddies to that board. I do agree with your comment though and think something should be done about it. However, I live in the real world and know that nothing will be done. Meanwhile, I will just sit here and laugh so hard that it hurts to think that you would actually think that someone would be "held accountable".

#4 eddiethedude on 12/29/09 at 05:17 PM [Reply]

Hillbilly you are the one that is dumber than a rock! You are just one of the lackeys for the BOC!! You are right the current BOA did get the bills out, but not on time! On time is August. Let's be clear about that. And they can probably make that deadline this coming year. It doesn't take much talent to show up rubber stamp and collect your check. So what they are REALLY doing is a disservice to the citizens of Madison County. You are right there is no further controversy or other disagreements. All is QUITE and everyone is happy. Happy to rip off you and every other taxpayer that is. It all just gets swept under the rug and the public thinks everything is okay. Well "Hillbilly" and "Sheila" it is NOT!! You know what they say "you have to stand for something or you will fall for anything". I stil think $200 & $300 for 15 minutes is a disservice and a disgrace!!!!!!!

#4.1 MC Taxpayor on 12/30/09 at 10:41 AM [Reply]

New board better which is general view of all I know which is more than several people.

I want conservation tax status reviewed for all parcels and if not used for ag business or in conservation easement then back to normal taxation. Was there not someone in MC GOVT on possibly BOA/BOC that had this tax break where one could question the validity or maybe late on taxes but could be wrong and if so apology.

This BOA / BOC should ask if needed Ga AG to see if can do this legally.

I think MC GOVT working better.

#5 Lester Roadhog on 12/29/09 at 07:02 PM [Reply]

Hillbilly??? Could that be code for, THE BIG HOUSE ON THE HILL?? I think so.

#6 jim escoe sr on 12/29/09 at 09:38 PM [Reply]

Since the BOC placed all the Madison County Employees under the at will employment program
(which all but did away with their First Admentment Rights) they are now in charge of
all tax appraisers and hired their top man to oversee the tax process. They have fired the old BOA and installed a smaller hand picked board. So I guess you might say they now control all aspects of the tax process in Madison County. The old board felt that the values was wrong and values were being forced up. The old BOA requested a state audit which found problems as we suppected. Since we were deep into the tax process and assesment notices had been sent out the BOC called a meeting between the BOC and the BOA and (suggested) that even though the Department of Revenue had found these errows that we go ahead and approve the digest and work to correct the problems this year. Three of the five BOA members caved in and approved the flawed digest (I was not one who voted to approve) IN MY WORLD IF SOMETHING IS WRONG YOU FIX IT! This years digest was a copy of last years with only small changes and still the DOR approved another digest. The old board is gone because we was speaking out about the way things were being done. You won't be hearing many if any employees speaking out anymore bacause of the at will employment. Since I don't work for Madison County you may still hear me cry fowl when I see things not right.

#7 Taxpayers on 12/30/09 at 03:10 PM [Reply]

"Since I don't work for Madison County you may still hear me cry fowl when I see things not right." - Jim Escoe, Sr.

Hahaha...there you go again, Mr. Escoe, embarrassing yourself at every turn! Seriously, it's like you just can't help it!

So, when you cry "fowl," do you cry "chicken" or "quail" or "turkey?"

Man, you really are too much! What is obvious to all and what you continue to demonstrate is you never had any business being on the BOA (or in any position of responsibility anytime or anywhere) and the only mistake the commissioners made was not firing you sooner.

Move on, buddy. Every word you write and you just look more foolish.

There's an old saying: "When you're in a hole, stop digging."

Time to stop digging, Jim!

#7.1 jim on 12/31/09 at 10:20 AM [Reply]

you ain't seen no diggin yet you gutless noname.

#7.1.1 Taxed on 12/31/09 at 01:05 PM [Reply]

Actually, "gutless noname" sounds a lot like "larry10" used to.

#7.1.2 MC taxpayor on 12/31/09 at 01:28 PM [Reply]

down jimbo, down there boy. have not heard gutless noname since 5th grade but did make me smile.

Jim tell us your full name and maybe Taxpayers tell you theirs.

Oh Jim do you have conservation tax break ?

#7.2 Taxed on 12/31/09 at 12:08 PM [Reply]

Madison County is so fortunate to have you, a built-in spell checker, in its midst. Regardless of how it is spelled, "fowl" or "foul", thank God for people who are willing to say it when they see things they think are not right. Mr. Escoe may yet prove to be right on many things.

#8 Anonymous on 12/31/09 at 04:39 PM [Reply]

There have been situations where Jim was overpowering in his comments. However, instead of throwing stones at him or anyone else, why not sit back and see what he has?
He may not be correct on all issues but he might have something that all of us could use or benefit us.

I do not believe that Jim is in the conservation program due to the location of his residence, however; I could be wrong.

So, lets stop bashing each other just because someone wrote a letter to the paper. This type of behavior could prevent someone else from expressing their opinions, which could benefit all of us.

#8.1 MC taxpayor on 01/02/10 at 12:05 PM [Reply]

Agree with your view.

#8.2 Buck on 01/09/10 at 01:04 PM [Reply]

Escoe is the political equivalent of a rodeo clown.

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LETTER: BOC should have to answer for budget

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LETTER: BOC should have to answer for budget

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