Michael Hartgrove, county tax administrator, said, “We finished at 97.82 percent, which was remarkable.”
For the seventh year in a row, the tax office exceeded the collection percentage from the previous year. The primary goal of the tax office was to collect the budgeted amount of $29,813,299, which would keep collections above 96 percent. A secondary goal was to collect 97 to 97.5 percent of total property taxes owed in the county. In the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the county collected 97.75 percent of the total owed. The tax office exceeded that this year, collecting 97.82 percent or a total of $31,370,394.70.
Hartgrove said he thinks the county would have been able to collect 98 percent had it been given a few more days. The deadline was July 1 to have the numbers in for the year. Each year the county commissioners then have to approve a settlement and resolution listing the amount of taxes collected.
So far in the new fiscal year, tax collections are a little bit down, but Hartgrove expects the amount to go up near the end of the month.
The tax administrator also gave the commissioners some updates regarding initiatives in his office. He said the tax office is still trying to set up a debit machine at the office and an automatic draft program for checking accounts. The office is now working with new software as well.
“We appreciate the job you’re doing on the behalf of citizens,” said Commissioner Jimmy Miller. He also applauded the way Hartgrove and his employees relate to clients.
Hartgrove said, “We touch people once, twice, three times a year ... The best way to do that is be courteous and get the job done.”
During the meeting, Hartgrove and the commissioners recognized Brenda Davis. She has worked at the tax department since 1981 and recently retired. Davis designed some of the first maps in the county. She started as a mapper and eventually became land records manager. Hartgrove said Davis always worked with elegance and grace.
“Our maps are Brenda’s babies,” he said before presenting her with a plaque.
On Monday the commissioners also approved an updated permits and fees schedule for the Surry County Fire Prevention Inspections program. Fire Marshal Doug Jones said the fees have not changed, but the updated schedule included some new permits that are now included in the state’s fire code.
Miller said he had looked at the schedule closely and noticed that there were a lot of fees that were only $10.
“I’m not sure that’s a good enough fee,” said Miller, suggesting that the fees might be too low.
Jones said the fire prevention inspection fees have not increased since 1993. At the direction of the board, Jones agreed to look at the county’s fees in comparison to those of neighboring counties to see if the fees should be adjusted.
The commissioners went into a closed session at the end of the meeting which lasted more than two hours. When they came back out of closed session, the commissioners approved several requests. The board approved a kitchen study for the county jail to look at prices on preparing meals at the jail, the extension of a DARE position at the Sheriff’s Office, and the hiring of a nutritionist for the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center. The commissioners also voted to add eight hours of petty leave for all county employees. These hours would be used in the case of bad weather such as snow.
Post a Comment
