Lane Bishop, Chairman of Board of Assessors for Fannin County

Lane Bishop, Chairman of the Board of Assessors, stood before the Board of Commissioners at the March 8^th meeting to clarify the presentation given by Chief Appraiser Dawn Cochran at the previous Board of Commissioners meeting. At that meeting, Ms. Cochran gave a lengthy list of examples of mechanical failures of cars the Assessors’ office uses during its daily work are putting Assessors’ safety at risk and impeding the possibility to complete tax digest mandate from the state.  Towards the end of her presentation, Ms. Cochran told the Commissioners that the Board of Assessors had bought a car and was seeking bids for another used vehicle. Post Commissioner 1 Earl Johnson, strenuously questioned the Tax Assessors office about purchasing a new vehicle and acquiring bids for another car without going through the Board of Commissioners.  This subject also prompted an across room debate between Mr. Johnson and Fannin County Attorney Lynn Doss as to the budget decisions that the legally semi-independent Assessors office is allowed to make on its own.  Ms. Doss stated from her seat among the general public that she was searching on-line and texting colleagues at that very moment to clarify the extent of budget independence of a Tax Assessors office in Georgia.  Mr. Johnson also asked when she could let the Board of Commissioners know the results of her research.

During his March 8^th presentation, Mr. Bishop stated to the Commissioners and public that as Chairman of the Board of Tax Assessors, he had asked Ms. Cochran to describe the current dangerous condition of the cars to the Commissioners.  He went on to say that the Board of Assessors has decided to follow whatever budget protocols the Commission has set up, including sending all invoices over $4,500 to be approved by the Board of Commissioners, even though this is not legally required due to the semi-independent status of the Tax Assessors office.  Mr. Bishop also thanked Commission Chairman Bill Simonds for graciously loaning a fire and rescue squad vehicle to the Tax Assessors office until another car can be purchased and the mechanical problems of other cars can be fixed.  Mr. Simonds also told Mr. Bishop to bring the cars one by one to the county garage to be fixed and to let him (Mr. Simonds) know when the cars are there so that he can oversee their repairs.  Mr. Johnson made it known to the public that the County’s priority is with the safety of its employees.  In fact, during the March 8^th meeting, the Commissioners approved purchase of a used car for the Assessors office.

Later that week, FetchYourNews.com asked Mr. Bishop about his presentation in front of the Commissioners. Mr. Bishop said that there is a very legitimate reason why the Tax Assessors functions as a semi-independent body.  They are a stage in the checks and balance system which is essential to American Constitutional ideals, i.e. no part of the government, local, state or national, should acquire greater power over another.  In the case of Tax Assessor offices, having semi-independence ensures that elected officials cannot skew taxes to benefit themselves.  The Board of Commissioners does have a legal responsibility to provide the Tax Assessors with the necessary supplies, including vehicles, to complete their job.  FetchYourNews.com also asked who Ms. Doss had consulted about budget independence of the Tax Assessors office and if the information was relayed to the Board of Commissioners.  Mr. Bishop said that he didn’t want to misspeak and requested that we ask Ms. Doss for that information.

Remember that Ms. Doss had told the entire February 23^rd meeting, Commissioners and public, that she was looking for clarification during Mr. Johnson’s questions about the level of independence of the Tax Assessors. Also, Mr. Bishop, Chair of the Board of Assessors asked FetchYourNews.com to ask Ms. Doss herself about whom she had contacted so that the information is correct. FetchYourNews.com contacted Ms. Doss twice in person, once through phone and once through email.  At the first contact, Ms. Doss said she had spoken to the Georgia Department of Revenue and others but did not elaborate about who she had spoken to.  At the second encounter no information was given.  The phone call was not returned.  The email, though, was answered with the following.

As to the question of who she looked to for legal advice about the extent of Tax Assessors’ independent authority in purchases, Ms. Doss replied, “The specifics of who I might have spoken with or what research I do is attorney work product and is not subject to open records.”  As to the question of when she contacted the Commissioners with her findings, she stated, “Any legal advice that any attorney gives to his or her client is covered under attorney client-privilege and it would be improper for me to violate the attorney-client privilege.”

FetchYourNews.com also asked for an explanation of the semi-independent status of Board of Assessors in order to accurately represent the relationship between the Board of Assessors and the Board of Commissioners.  Ms. Doss said that the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia has an excellent website documenting the division of powers.  After using search terms such as board of assessors and tax assessors, no clear description of the relationship between the Board of Assessors and Board of Commissioners could be found.  The closest information is from the Vinson Institute’s Compliance Auditing in Georgia Counties and Municipalities, but it only covers the budget separation between the tax appeal administrator and the clerk of the superior court.

So, despite asking Fannin County Attorney Lynn Doss and researching sources suggested by her, FetchYourNews.com is unable to accurately report how Ms. Doss obtained her information or to what degree the Board of Assessors has relinquished their semi-autonomous budget authority in order to  diplomatically reduce friction between the Tax Assessors office and the Board of Commissioners.