Could the COVID-19 Pandemic Mean Lost Tax Revenue for Local Governments?

April 28, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Could the COVID-19 pandemic mean lost tax revenue for local governments?

For several weeks local businesses have had to alter the way they operate in providing services to the public due to COVID-19 and some have been forced to close completely because of the Governor’s Executive Orders regarding social distancing.

Since local governments rely on tax revenues including sales taxes and fees from services to help balance their budgets, concerns have been raised about possible revenue shortfalls for the county.

During Monday night’s monthly county commission meeting via a conference call, members Bruce Malone and Dennis Slager questioned if there should be a plan to cut expenses.

“I think everybody knows we are probably going to have a budget shortfall and we will have to go into cash (reserves) to pay all the budgeted expenses. Do you have a plan of trying to reduce expenses for the remainder of the budget year that would save us some money to help offset some of these shortfalls we are definitely going to be having”, asked Slager.

County Mayor Tim Stribling said the budgetary concerns will be addressed but in the meantime the business of the county goes on during the pandemic even though much of the work for the public is being done by officials at the courthouse and county complex behind locked doors .

“We are going to continue as we have been. As far as county offices, they may be locked but people are in there working. At the county complex, the Property Assessor, County Clerk, Register of Deeds and Trustee have their front doors locked but they are in there working. We are very fortunate that we have a drive through window for our County Clerk and are able to continue that service. We will have to look at the budget shortfalls and make adjustments. I am sure revenues will be less than normal and as far as the sales tax it will be affected but we might be able to get some money back for some things through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) ACT,” said Stribling.

Although he had not asked them directly, Malone questioned during Monday night’s meeting how the sheriff and the public officials serving the court system are using their employees during the pandemic.

“At the sheriff’s office we are utilizing the school resource officers and the court officers to work shifts. They work shifts when school is out. We are using them. We have a plan in place that we are using for COVID-19 until the threat of that is gone and the courts open back up. We also have a plan in place at the jail in case we have to quarantine shifts we still have enough employees to cover the jail and the county,” said Sheriff Ray.

“We are still receiving civil papers and those fees are paid up front. As soon as we get back to normal then we will serve those papers,” he continued.

“A few people have asked me what are the court officers and jailers doing since the jail is empty,” said Malone.

“The jail is not empty”, answered Sheriff Ray. “Inmates are still being brought in but the District Attorney General has given us strict guidelines on what charges to arrest on and when to use traffic citations in lieu of arrests but we still have arrests coming in,” he said.

“We are also taking advantage of the smaller inmate population to get the cells cleaned, painted, and repaired while we can because I assume when the courts open back up we will probably get the inmate population back up,” added Sheriff Ray.

April 28, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The controversy over who should be chairman of the DeKalb County Budget Committee may be over.

During Monday night’s county commission meeting, County Mayor Tim Stribling said he has received confirmation from the State Comptroller that DeKalb County is governed by the Local Option Budgeting Law of 1993 which does not specifically address the makeup of the budget committee and therefore does not give the committee the authority to unilaterally replace its own chairman with someone else.

Appointments to the budget committee and the naming of a chairman are made by the County Mayor with the approval of the county commission.

First District County Commissioner Dennis Slager has served as chairman of the budget committee since 2018 but in February fellow committee member Anita Puckett sought to replace Slager as chairman with Stribling.

County Mayor Stribling said the committee will continue to operate as it has with no changes.

In September 2018, Stribling appointed to the budget committee Dennis Slager, Anita Puckett, Jerry Adcock, Sabrina Farler, and Jeff Barnes and he named Slager as chairman.

In the attempt to remove Slager as chairman, Puckett referenced a 1957 budgeting law which states that “The committee shall consist of five members, one of whom shall be the county mayor and the other four shall be appointed by the county mayor with the approval of the county governing body at its regular January session each year or at any subsequent session. The county mayor shall be the ex officio chair of the budget committee and the director of accounts and budget shall be the ex officio secretary of the budget committee”.

According to County Mayor Stribling, DeKalb County is not governed by the 1957 budget law.

April 28, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Members to the DeKalb County Equalization Board were reappointed by the County Commission Monday night.

The commission reappointed Russell Watson, Jimmy Midgett, Doyle Evans, Joel Hooker, and Jim Davies to serve on the five member board and Jimmy Goad will be an alternate.

Members of the equalization board are required to attend four hours of training before they begin meeting in June. The training is required by state law. Members who do not complete the training cannot serve.

County equalization boards across the state are to meet each year on June 1 (or the next business day if the 1st falls on Saturday or Sunday). The county board is authorized by law to receive and hear appeals of current year property tax assessments as fixed by the county assessor of property. Generally an assessment must be appealed to the county board of equalization to preserve the taxpayer’s right to further appeal.

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