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Court to get unpaid fire fee cases

Posted by
Walter Geiger
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Monday, April 18. 2011
Comments (19)
Lamar countians who have not paid their ambulance/fire fee bills may soon find themselves with a summons to appear in magistrate court, according to commissioner Jimmy Hearn

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#1 No-name on 04/18/11 at 07:40 PM
This could get interesting...seeing how the Magistrate IS an elected official. hmmmmmmmmm
#2 Fox hound on 04/18/11 at 09:22 PM
A new study shows that judges tend to be more lenient after taking breaks to eat. So if you haven't paid your fire/EMS tax, pray your hearing is first thing in the morning or right after lunch.
#3 It's Me on 04/18/11 at 10:03 PM
“We set it up so owners could pass the fees on to their renters, but they’re telling us they can’t collect them."

What a crock. My landlords live out of state and were mailed a post card in barely enough time to pay the fee on time. The fees are not right as it is but now saying to push the burden on the renters .. that is rather disgusting.
#4 Taxpayer on 04/19/11 at 08:25 AM
What a joke. First the mental midgets send out incorrect bills. Then they say they will send out corrected ones and never do. Then they send out an information letter WHICH DOES NOT SAY HOW MUCH THE BILL IS. No wonder many people have not paid.
#5 Whatever on 04/19/11 at 10:00 AM
I have use my money for Gas!! THE SAME THING THEY ARE GOING TO USE IT FOR!
#6 GM = Gary McCall on 04/19/11 at 02:24 PM
When incompetence is pulling the strings bad results should be expected. These people may be elected however, they are not leaders. Leaders lead by example. What we have is incompetent individuals who were elected to an office but have no idea what to do in that office. Their idea of dealing with a crisis is to raise taxes. When people say no, they raise taxes under the guise of camouflage. People do not have the luxury of collecting money from someone else when they are met with a financial budget. They must cutback somewhere else. That is what we expect elected office members to do; cutback. One member of the commission has already demonstrated an inability to be a money manager, yet the people elect him to manage money for the county. Just what should the people expect? Remember, members of the school board are elected. Members of the commission are elected. If these people don’t have the ability to figure out solutions to problems other than ramming it down the taxpayer’s throat, a no-brainer for the people is to replace them. Even ask them to step down. We expect these elected officials to treat our money as if it were their own and have no means of collecting more. We don’t expect them to steal from the tax payer because they lack the intestinal fortitude to say no; we have to cut back. We are looking for leaders: Not office furniture occupiers.
#7 Pat Byrd on 04/19/11 at 03:24 PM
Yeah Gary, you tell um like it is.
I'm tired of getting ripped off!!!!
#8 big momma on 04/19/11 at 06:05 PM
Mr. Hearn, You referred to the employees as "girls in the office", time for you to get out of the 60s, correct term should be employees, gender is unnecessary, it's 2011, time for you to "boy up", you have been a big disapointment.
#9 Anonymous on 04/20/11 at 01:17 PM
Mr. Jimmy Hearn, Both Boys and Girls. Cut 7% ambulance and fire fees. Don't cut jobs. Pay $30 dollars ambulance and fire fees. Not $80 or 100 dollars. Charles Glass was wrong.
#10 H B on 04/20/11 at 01:28 PM
Seems Mr. Hearn and Mr. Glass think there should be a tax increase to cover this.
I think they should look at the foolish spending that is going on and probably that will cover the short fall.
On foolish spending is advertising for a County Manager, which we have seen is an unnecessary position and cost to our taxpayers. Alot of that so called work they want this person to do, is what, in my opinion, is what the Commissioners were elected to do themselves.
#11 Anonymous on 04/20/11 at 03:44 PM
I am a renter.. And can barley pay rent gas food etc.. My Husband was just laid off again! I work as much as I can. We have 3 kids that are in School that ask for money everyweek for something. So dont pass it my way cant afford it!!! Why dont you put a Walmart, Kroger more stores to pay your bills for you! And maybe the people of Lamar County can get jobs to pay all this crazy stuff that You and Your partners in crime come up with!! Then maybe Your employees aka(girls) in the office can handle it..
#12 Calling your bluff! on 04/20/11 at 11:32 PM
Not everyone is running on fumes, Attorney waiting! send me my summons. These type cases have been defeated time and time again. Do a little more research on the subject before wasting more tax money on court cost! Even if the twit over the hill lawyer you have for a magistrate judge rules againtst the citizens sealing his fate in the next election, it will be taken to superior court.....try me!
#13 Tom Rauch on 04/21/11 at 02:15 AM
Commissioner Hearn,

I don't know how this played out for other people, but here is how the fire fees went for us:

1.) We were sent an initial bill

2.) Before we could pay, we were told we would receive a corrected bill

3.) We eventually received a corrected bill

4.) We paid the corrected bill in full

5.) The county returned our check **uncashed** with a letter advising us to pay what looked like the very first amount we were billed. We received a letter telling us to read a county website for fee schedules when (at least at the time I looked) no fee information was there.

6.) We sent a check in for the last (third) billed amount

To this day we have no idea if the third amount (we paid) was complete or correct. We don't know if we overpaid, underpaid, or paid the proper amount.
#14 Anonymous on 04/21/11 at 08:40 AM
We initially recieved 3 bills for 3 separate parcels of land. Then were told we would be recieving a corrected bill. We received 1 corrected bill and paid it. What about the other 2?? Will we be taken to court over them? Could someone "official" please update us on what exactly we owe? Get your billing department right, and maybe people will pay the fees.
#15 Anonymous on 04/21/11 at 01:18 PM
November 8, 2011. Vote yes or no, Cut 7% ambulance and fire fees. Don't cut jobs. Pay $20 or 30 dollars ambulance and fire fees. Not $50 and 80 or 100 dollars. I think Charles Glass was wrong.
#16 No-name on 04/21/11 at 03:19 PM
I agree 100%..... I'm ready to "lawyer up"!! If I lose in court... The Magistrate will lose in re-election. I have said since the beginning that these fees are BS. At EVERY county comm. meeting the people stood up and said "cut spending." Did the commission listen? NO Instead the Commission shoved this "fee" down our throats. If I pay to have fire protection and my house burns down, I'll lawyer up again!
#17 Who cares on 04/21/11 at 09:51 PM
I just saw where Tom Rauch has been mentioned in several articles about ham radio lawsuits. I also see where someone claims he threatened him with a libel lawsuit in 1994 for sharing his "thoughts" in a critique on radio amplifiers. Since he came to Barnesville I personally know that he has been at the center of the Ag Authority lawsuit threat, and others.
Rauch, you're a big wiondbag. Now get over it!
#18 No-name on 04/22/11 at 07:10 AM
I am disappointed in my commissioner. I voted for her believing she would stand up to these idiots up there. Instead, she fell right in line with them.... I will remember this come re-election time, and will remind my neighbors also.
#19 Anonymous on 04/22/11 at 07:14 PM
If everyone that did not pay this bill ends up not having to pay it , DO I GET MY MONEY BACK SINCE I DID PAY IT?????? I did not have the money to pay this, I had to sacrifice to pay it!!!
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