V. Hugh Lewis II/Jefferson Jimplecute
The Tax Man is coming, but she’s also moving.
Marion County commissioners approved moving Tax Assessor/Collector Karen Jones’ office from it’s current location on Austin Street over to the 119 W. Lafayette Street offices previously occupied by the county during the Historic Courthouse Restoration project.
“This will be so much better for the taxpayer,“ said Jones. “With the new offices we’ll have more waiting room space, better access to records, more room, and a less confusing setup for everyone.”
Marion County Judge Leward LaFleur asked other officials to have anything they had left in the building this week so Jones’ office can start working towards moving.
“Now that we’ve vacated that building, we have the question of ‘What do we do now?’,” said LaFleur. We have a tangible asset sitting vacant. With the issues on the Jail, we. Need to look at moving some offices around.
“We need to start showing some type of movement about the jail,” said Pct 4 Commissioner Charlie Treadwell. “We can look at some options on using [Jones’ space] and saving the county some funds. We only need eight beds, so…”
Treadwell indicated the desire to restrict Jones’ offices be only on the west side of the building in the discussions. However common areas like bathrooms are located on the east side of the building. In Marion County, Sheriff David Capps is responsible for how buildings are used, and the Court’s action only applies to costs associated with the move. Jones expressed concern over security issues with the rest of the building, but Commissioners left those issues between Capps and Jones.
Commissioner Charlie Treadwell made the “motion to approve moving the Tax Assessor and Collector’s office to the 119 W Lafayette Street building. Before the move all security measures will be run through the Sheriff and discussed and approved.”
Commissioners also approved accepting a proposal of $19,900 from JP Abernathy to paint and caulk windows in the Courthouse Annex building, and do other repairs necessary on the back of the Jail which faces Austin Street.
Abernathy originally made the proposal back in November, but Commissioners asked the Sheriff to reach out to other contractors for additional proposals. According to LaFleur, no other proposals were received.
Family Search International, which owns Ancestry.com and other genealogical systems, received approval to create more digital images of county records to help individuals with their family history research. There is no cost to the County for the service.
Vera Bank will continue to be the County’s depository bank as they offered the highest interest rate on reserves the County has, even though they have fees on some of their other services, such as stop payment on checks, but County Treasurer Terri Neuville said they rarely used those services. Neuville and County Auditor Shanna Solomon recommended continuing to use Vera Bank.
The Jackson Volunteer Fire Department is now the owner of two old portable buildings the County was donated years ago. How the VFD will use the buildings wasn’t specified, but they requested obtaining them from the County via Treadwell, as their current buildings are in need of repair.
The general public will be able to start renting the Kellyville Community Center soon as Commissioners finish up amending the rental agreement to include fees for COVID-19 cleaning. The building has been closed to the public since COVID-19 started.
Three properties were returned to the tax rolls after Jones received a full bid. The properties are Big Oaks lots 11 and 12 from Steve Sutton for $7,423; Shady Shores Hilltop lot 219 from Dustin Bond for $300; and Pine Harbor lot 579 from Trent Clark for $500.
The County will begin accepting bids for Road and Bridge supplies and fuel in May and will award the 2021 contract at the May 28 regular meeting. Bid notices will appear in next week’s Jimplecute.