Over 80 citizens have packed the Lamar County commission meeting tonight to discuss the controversial and erroneous fire/EMS bills received this week.
Chairman Jay Matthews reported the county has maxed out its $2.4 million line of credit.
Among those speaking out:
Jane Phillips: "The county ain't gonna shove this down our throats."
Kenneth Phillips: "The fire department is great. They ain't lost a chimney yet."
Jane Phillips
Hell, I say we boycott the fire/ems bill and donate the money to hiring a good lawyer to sue Jay for getting us into this mess.
We talk a lot about national political "stuff" and stories that we need to know. BUT, everyone of us outta look to what is going on in our towns, cities, counties, districts!
I found out last night that our county pays $350,000 just to have service for our county by one ambulance company. That doesn't mean a lot of services. I think there are 2 ambulances serving our county 24/7 from that company. And then we get to pay for our ride again, or our insurance companies do...
I learned that we have 3 full time paid firefighters. The rest are volunteers.
With all these services, I learned we are also building a Training Center for firefighters! All 3 of them I guess....lol.
A couple days before that meeting, I learned that every property owner in our county gets to pay a special Ambulance and Fire FEE (translated tax, even by the commissioners) on top of all the rest of the taxes we pay. And this one, the way they did it, is not even deductable.
I asked how they are going to charge those who do NOT own property. They said that they are charging all the property owners who will, in turn, pass along the cost to the renters. That is better than nothing, but not too good in my opinion.
I saw people who were already maxed out at that meeting. Little gray haired ladies, and men alike. I only have 2 of these $80 a year bills. One lady had 9 of them. Another man had 10 of them!!!
The 80 year old lady with 9 bills was careful to remind the commissioners that she could not live in 9 parcels at once...lol.
Even folks with vacant land got these bills, some for a lot more than $80!!!! One interesting comment was that the squirrels and rabbits would not be interested in calling 911.
If we don't pay it, we get taken to Magistrate Court. The county had to pay over $4,000 for stamps to mail bills that in too many cases were incorrect. That doesn't include paying the company they hired to do the work. I wish they had hired me. I would have done a better job, and for less $$.
This was my first attendance at County Commissioners meetings. I apologized to the Commissioners for my lackadaisical attitude in the past and promised them that I would be more careful to attend from now on.
Look to home folks. Carefully. Speak your mind clearly, concisely and with however much determination it takes. A wise man told me recently that we better learn how to deal with things at home before we think we can change what is going on statewide or nationally. That lesson was just clearly brought home to me.
There needs to be a roomful of people, overflowng, at EVERY County Commission meeting... and for those of you in the city... at yours too!
Julia
And correct again, it was approved by the voters and both of those projects were listed on the ballot as projects that the tax would pay for.
I DO NOT agree with this new EMS/Fire "fee" which is just a tax by another name but to continually bring up the stadium and fine arts center just shows the complainers' ignorance.
Whereas I can't buy groceries for weeks at a time.
Now there goes another $80 dollars out of my budget. This government has turned this whole world upside down. YOu get rewarded for being a welefare recipient and the taxpayers get punished for trying to make it on their own blood sweat and tears. THIS NEEDS TO BE STOPPED OR ELSE THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE SUPPORTING ALL OF US.
I still say that the taxpayers should have to foot the bill for something they didn't create. If I wanted to raise another child I would have one of my own.
I agree our county government has grossly mismanaged the finances and took the easy way to pass costs of their mismanagement to the taxpayer.
I would like to see a list of the cuts our county government made prior to just adding these fees.
I cannot believe we are paying the ambulance service $350,000 a year. Are we still paying extra for ambulance service for trips when the user cannot pay? This doesn't sound like a very good deal to me.
That said, the fire training center, materials and installation, was donated to the county by Enercon.
I fully agree these fees are wrong. It should be illegal. They are also not fair to property owners with less valuable properties since a person with a trailer and a couple of acres of land pays the same as someone with a 300,000 home and hundreds of acres.
But the problem is that if we take them to court or refuse to pay and cause extra expense WE will be paying that too! I will remember who my council member is and will definitely vote against them next chance I get, regardless of who runs!
This goes beyond going to Magistrate Court.
Bennie Page and Kenneth Phillips..LOL!
Since they sent out 9000 notices at $80.00 per whack, that is over 700,000 dollars revenue before the end of the year. This is, in my opinion, immoral on the part of the Commissioners and the County Manager. I still hear the applause of the persons in Clayton County, when our now County Manager left that county.
Seriously, if someone will request an itemized list of the expenditures..........you will be in for some surprises. I am not kidding. I know ....
There is a lot of stuff in this thing, and for someone who knows a little about accounting it would be interesting :)
Julia
We must rise up to the bankers who are controlling everything...until then...we are all screwed...end the fed...vote Ron Paul.
fixing the pot holes on Thomaston St. and Forsyth St. by the time you get from one to the other you need your car relined
We also need to quit electing the same people who continue to make a career out of politics and keep getting us in this trouble.
LINE OF CREDIT when your on a set amount of money from taxes to spend.This fee there charging us says to me LOOK WE SCREWED UP AND RUN THIS JOB WE ARE IN CHARGE OF, SO I THINK IF WE THE PEOPLE BAIL OUT THIS 2.4m LINE OF CREDIT YOU SHOULD STEP DOWN AND NOT BE ALLOWED TO GET THIS COUNTY IN THIS AGAIN. AND BY THE YES IT IS YOUR FAULT IT YOUR JOB AND YOU COMMISIONEERS CHOSE US THE PEOPLE TO BAIL YOU OUT . BUSINESS REVENUE IS DOWN FROM 15 TO 80 % ACROSS THE BOARD AND THIS IS A 25% INCREASE ON MY TAXES. SO YOUR CHOICES WOULN'T CUT IT IN THE REAL WOLRD OUT HERE
I have to say? BECAUSE, STATE OF EMERGENCY TO PROTECT THE HOUSE FROM DISASTERS. Lamar County ambulance and fire fees. If you pay 80 dollars. Or if you not pay, your bill $160? I have to say? Disasters.
The county gave the schools a bus barn. They gave away land to the schools. They gave money and property to Barnesville.
The school system with the millions in surplus should have paid for what they got.
What about prosecuting employees for stealing? This has been at least two people now that have stole big money. Why did we give up a good fire station that a business is now using? Why did we need fancy downtown offices? Why do we need the same number of people in zoning now that building new buildings has stopped? Why can we update property values in Barnesville?