Macon-Bibb tax commissioner endorsement for McCord

There are two races in this election cycle that are causing gastric distress. The race for tax commissioner is one of them; the contest for sheriff is the other. The distress is not entirely about the candidates running, but the process of the election. When voters go to the polls on May 24 or take advantage of early voting this week, they will be asked to select one of three ballots: Democratic, Republican or nonpartisan. If voters choose either Republican or nonpartisan, the offices of tax commissioner and sheriff will not appear on their ballots. There are no do-overs. The ballots are plainly marked on the screen. If a voter sees he has the wrong ballot, he should stop right away and get a poll worker.

For tax commissioner, there are two candidates. One is a well-known, former two-term mayor of Macon — C. Jack Ellis. He would like to get the 1,200 properties he says the tax commissioner holds back on the tax rolls. However, the only thing we can decipher is that Ellis must mean liens on property that, by law, the tax commissioner must issue. Many tax liens are paid at the time of sale.

Ellis says that 42 homes have been sold for delinquent garbage fees, and he says if elected, he wouldn’t sell a home because of a delinquent fee. The garbage collection fee has been a vexing issue since a $5 monthly fee was enacted in 1992. By 1995, collections were $290,000 in arrears. The city of Macon was paying the Macon Water Authority $90,000 a year to add the fee to the water bills, but in January 1995, the MWA board voted not to cut off service to the 700 to 1,000 customers who were not paying the fee.

It was discovered under the administration of Mayor Jim Marshall that about 4,000 homes were never placed on the garbage fee billing list; some homeowners were allowed to stop paying, and new homes were never added. All totaled, the list was about 7,000 households short. The unpaid bills now topped $3 million.

As a candidate for mayor in 1999, Ellis called for an end to the $5 garbage fee, but by 2003, the fee doubled. By 2004, Ellis proposed ending curbside recycling, the reason initially given for the $5 fee. By September, the fee would be $15. Still 7,500 households were 90 days or more past due. Auditors said the city was owed $2.5 million in uncollected garbage fees and was still grappling with how to collect.

The county said it was ready for the tax commissioner to take over billing in April 2005, almost 10 years after first giving approval, but it wasn’t until June 2006 that the Macon Water Authority voted to end the billing relationship with the city. There were still 3,000 unbilled households and $2.3 million owed.

All that said, the tax commissioner’s office has maintained a 90 percent collection rate, 30 percent higher than the MWA rate since it took over in 2007. Wade McCord, the interim tax commissioner, doesn’t know if any of the 42 homes were sold since he took over the department last September. While there is $7 million uncollected, some perspective is needed. The office bills $10 million a quarter in garbage fees to 45,000 accounts. The office also handles 119,000 car tags, 45,000 car title transfers, bank gross receipts and property taxes on 73,000 parcels.

Both candidates are veterans. Ellis is from the Vietnam era, and Wade McCord has served 30 years on active duty and in the Georgia Army National Guard. He’s been on several deployments, including Afghanistan. Both men are college educated. What sets them apart is experience. McCord has worked in the tax commissioner’s office for 21 years. Ellis has no experience in the office. Tax commissioners are governed by a myriad of state laws and the local charter. Commissioners cannot choose which to obey. With the sheriff’s permission, members of the tax commissioner’s staff can be appointed ex-officio sheriffs for the purpose of collecting taxes. The office has to report weekly to the Macon-Bibb County Commission and give monthly reports to the state. In its spare time it must handle about 70 levies a month.

Our next tax commissioner needs to be in the quiet and efficient mold of F. Ray Jackson and Thomas Tedders. We endorse Wade McCord for Macon-Bibb County tax commissioner.

This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Macon-Bibb tax commissioner endorsement for McCord."