MoCo Tax Commissioner Sends Letter To County Commissioners

mrandolphadvance@gmail.com

During the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Work Session on May 8, Commissioner Amie Vassey presented a letter to the commissioners from Montgomery County Tax Commissioner Renee Wooten-Perry, in which Perry stated she had not obtained the necessary tax records from the previous administration.

Vassey told the commissioners that Perry was unable to attend the work session because of having to attend a meeting with the John Robison Silicon Ranch Scholarship committee. “She prepared a letter that she asked me to pass out to each of the commissioners, county manager, and the county attorney, but before I do that, she asked me to read it aloud for the public to hear,” Vassey explained.

The letter stated, “Good evening, esteemed members of the Board of Commissioners. I would like to discuss a pressing matter that is affecting my office’s operation. Due to missing records from a previous administration, I am failing to access critical documentation for the December TAVT collection and disbursement, missing timber bills that are needed for the tax assessor, and missing information for open records request. This lack of records is impacting my ability to effectively manage the office, process payments, and fulfill my duties as tax commissioner. I kindly request the Board’s assistance in 1.) locating and providing missing records, 2.) establishing procedures for future record keeping and transition, and 3.) supporting an audit so we can ensure transparency and accountability in this office’s financial transactions. Your assistance and support in resolving this matter and promoting transparency [greatly enhances] this office’s efficiency, accountability, and public trust. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

After reading the letter, Vassey commented on the situation. “I think it’s important that we do not throw around accusations, but I do think that it’s important that the public be aware of what’s going on, so I’m going to present the facts as we know them,” she said. “On January 2, when Tax Commissioner Wooten-Perry went into her office – the tax commissioner’s office – most all records were missing – hard copies, electronic, and otherwise. There was no staff – the two employees had been terminated. What was located was one small binder of [of tax information] from the early 2000’s and the tax digest binders. The Tax Commissioner contacted the county manager, who came over and saw that these records were missing, and she said that it was possible that these records could be in storage or in some other county building. Since then, she has been making efforts to look for them; she has found one small box – roughly 8” by 20” of papers through various years. She also did have the IT department get them into one electronic device.”

Vassey continued, “The Tax Commissioner visited Altamaha Bank [& Trust] in the days following that situation and asked to receive copies of statements from 2024 and 2023. She was denied them, noting that she was not listed on that account. There are TAVT payments from the year 2024 that have not and still cannot be paid out to the County, Board of Education, and each city within our county because she does not have records to determine how to make these payments.”

She told the fellow commissioners that this situation is problematic, as some state statutory guidelines require multiple documents to be held in the office for several years. “I think it’s safe to say that all of that is not in that 8” by 20” box that was found. I will tell y’all that earlier today, there were some boxes located in the old road department building. I did go over and look at those, and there wasn’t anything from 2023 or 2024. I think it’s safe to say at this point, these records are no longer in possession of the county, and so, Tax Commissioner Wooten-Perry has asked me tonight to direct my comments to the County Attorney and specifically ask if you have any guidance for her on how to legally compel these records from the people that have them,” Vassey remarked.

County Attorney Ron Daniels stated that based on the comments in the letter, his understanding is that the location of the documents is unknown at this time. Vassey agreed with this comment, but rebutted that the location of the bank statements was known, as they were at Altamaha Bank & Trust.

“I think we can get those without too much issue, but she hasn’t contacted me about having any issues getting those,” Daniels explained. “The only email I have from her is about a records request.”

Vassey replied, “And in that email, she made you aware that she did not have these records in her possession and you did not proactively tell her how to obtain them, you just simply said that her response to the Board of Education’s attorney was to let them know that she didn’t have them in her possession. And I’m a little bit concerned since you are our county attorney that one of our dually elected constitutional officers reached out to you with this sort of significant issue and you did not proactively provide legal guidance.”

County Commissioner Clarence Thomas shared that he was troubled about Perry’s lack of attendance to discuss the matter at the meeting. “I’m a little bit concerned that she did not come and talk to the Board of Commissioners herself in person. That’s not right. She should be here speaking for herself,” he remarked. “I don’t have a problem with you speaking, but she needs to speak for herself. She is the one that was elected to that position. She should be talking to us as commissioners. She asks that we work with her – how can you work with somebody that’s not coming to you?”

Vassey responded to Thomas, saying, “She has attended multiple of these meetings, many times when others did not. She could not be here because she had a very important scholarship board [meeting]. She took the time to write a letter to you and sign it.”

Vassey asked County Attorney Daniels to reach out to Perry and provide legal guidance, to which Daniels agreed. He commented on the situation, as he stated, “With respect to the other issue of finding records, I’m not going to be well-suited for that because I don’t know where those records are. This is the first instance that I have heard that we actually know of someone who has an issue with this specific bank in that nature. I do recall at the start [of her term], there was an issue and I had to assist her – well, not specifically her but the County – with getting a bank account opened because there was an issue with [the account being closed] and essentially, locking everyone out of it.”

Daniels clarified that he had no idea that Perry was having any issue locating documents, and that she should be reaching out to him directly if she has further issues in the future.