Ordinarily, I choose not to engage in political bickering in the news media. I find it distasteful and generally unproductie. However, a recent letter to The Citizen by Commissioner Peter Pfeifer deserves clarification and correction.

In the letter Commissioner Pfeifer discusses, in a manner, several issues, including the fact that I asked the board to approve a program allowing my office to collect property taxes and motor vehicle renewal registrations through a third party internet service provider. To describe the progra in simple terms, citizens of Fayette County wishing to pay taxes or renew registrations online via the Internet would go to a specific website, process their transactions, charge the taxes, fees, etc, including the service provider’s fees, to their own credit or charge card. The service provider would then remit to my office the total due for taxes, fees, etc, while retaining their own fees for having provided the service. The county gets 100 percent of what is due the county. The gist of Commissioner Pfeifer’s letter with reference to my office was to suggest that I had recklessly asked the commission to approve a collection program that would entail additional costs to the county and that such costs would be passed on to the taxpayers, all in an underhanded way.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. I did ask the board to approve the plan outlined above, but I assured them that the taxpayer choosing to use this service would absorb all of the costs of using a charge or credit card and that there would be no cost to the county or any other taxpayer.

Prior to going to the that meeting in the spring of 2003, I discussed my proposal with a staff person a the county attorney’s office. That individual advised that a resolution would be necessary and prepared it, which I delivered to the five board members along with my proposal at that meeting. The eight-plus pages of minutes of that meeting reveal a great deal of questions and discussion, along with my assurances that the payment program I was asking that they approve would not involve any additional cost to the county or taxpayers not choosing to pay their tax through this method.

More than one commissioner at that meeting expressed concerns about “ambiguities” in the resolution prepared by the county attorney’s office. These were concerns that should have been addressed with the county attorney who was present at that meeting. I do not recall any commissioner asking the county attorney to clear up any “ambiguities.” I do not recall and cannot find anything in the minutes of that meeting to support Commissioner Pfeifer’s assertation that “we (the commissioners) asked Tax Commissioner Wingo to go and find out how we could charge this fee to the person using the service.” The fact is, the resolution they had before them specifically provided for the user paying any additional fees imposed on the internet service provider.

Commissioner Pfeifer’s allusions to a notion that all of the taxpayers in Fayette County would be paying for a convenience to a few taxpayers if the board approved the proposal I maded seems to a not so well disguised attempt to excuse the board’s illogical reasoning in denying the “no cost” convenience to the taxpayers of Fayette County.

Again in the spring of 2004 I spoke with the commission assigned to liason to my office, along with the county attorney, and asked the county attorney to ask the commissioners if they would reconsider approving the proposed program. The response I got was that they were not inclinded to reconsider the proposal. According to the responder, one commissioner had stated, parapharsed, “that they didn’t think charging taxes to a credit card was responsible financial management on the part of a taxpayer”. Are the commissioners now taking on the responsibility of shepherding the financial affairs of the taxpayers?

For Commissioner Pheifer to suggest that I as a constitutional officer would waster taxpayer dollars or not strive to offer the citizen of Fayette County the very best and cost efficient service from my office is absolutely ludicrous. A majority of you have been in my office at least once over the 13 years I have been in office and you already know that my staff and I go out of the way to provide the best possible service within our capability.

It has been my observation that the other constitutional officers of Fayette County share my dedication to serving the citizens of this great county in the most cost efficient and courteous manner.

I have witnessed in the past two or three years a progressive deterioration in the relationships between the Fayette County Board of Commissioners and other government entities, such as meddling and lawsuits in the affairs of cities within Fayette County. Relationships with other elected county officials, including constitutional officers, have suffered as well.

Now, Commissioner Pfeifer, I share your desire to hold taxes to a minimum, and my historical budgets will testify to that. If protecting the taxpayer’s assets, including dollars, is a primary objective for you, then I challenge you to explain why the board of commissioners has spent thousands of taxpayer dollars for attorney fees, some of which were for lawsuits against cities in Fayette County and some of which was to pursue a sign ordiance which the courts to date have ruled against, all of which you should have known in advance there was no likelihood of winning.

Finally, I will tell you, the citizens of Fayette County, that of the 21 counties now considered metro Atlanta counties, Fayette County is the only one that does not allow citizens to renew motor vehicles online via the Internet through a service provider. Several of these counties allow for payment of property taxes in a similar manner with an online internet service provider. This can be done at no cost to anyone but the taxpayer choosing to use the service. No cost to the county. No cost to other taxpayers. Twenty other counties have, with the help of their county attorney, found a way to implement this program. It’s a no-brainer. Call your county commissioner and suggest that they “fast fowward” into the 21st century and approve this program for the convenience of those who want to use it.

George Wingo
Fayette County Tax Commissioner