This letter is in response to a letter to the editor published last week in The Citizen concerning Fayette County Tax Commissioner George Wingo. I do appreciate the followup article by The Citizen questioning one of the baseless assertions contained in the letter. I am happy to assure you and your readers that George did not seek to increase his paycheck.

Commissioner Herb Frady and I happened to run into George at a lunch. George had just returned from a seminar and told us of one of the topics that was discussed. He indicated that some counties were charging an administrative fee to the various municipalities for the billing and collecting of taxes. George indicated that the Fayette County Commission had historically not charged the municipalities for this service.

Commissioner Frady and I both asked that George provide the full Board of Commissioners with a memo. George followed up that conversation as requested.

George has not asked or indicated that he was seeking a greater salary. The letter to the editor that you received is simply based on an inaccurate assumption on the writer’s part at best or a deliberate distortion of the truth at worse.

Please be mindful that George has honorably held the position of Fayette County tax commissioner for the past 15 years. He is a certified public accountant by trade. He was voted by his peers as the Tax Commissioner of the Year for the state of Georgia in 2004. His office has a historical collection rate exceeding 98 percent.

George has recently implemented a process where taxpayers can pay their vehicle and property taxes via the Internet and credit card with no transaction cost charged to the county. George has been frequently called upon to help write new laws for the state of Georgia. In 1997, George worked with [the late] Representative Dan Lakly to increase the local homestead exemption.

I guess when an unqualified challenger candidate seeks to raise her profile, desperate means must be employed. Please be mindful that George is being challenged by a former [county] commissioner who spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to fight Sheriff Johnson, only to be told by a judge that she was wrong.

It is my hope that on July 15 the voters will not forget why Ms. Wells was thrown out of office.

I have spoken with Commissioner Frady, and he agrees with the contents of this letter. There is a clear choice for the best qualified person to continue as our tax commissioner.

Eric K. Maxwell

Fayette County Commissioner

Fayetteville, Ga.

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