Tax Sale Thank You - June 7, 2023

Ad valorem or property tax is the primary source of revenue for local counties and schools in Georgia. These are the funds that pay for all the services your government provides to the citizens of Murray County.

Each of the 159 Georgia counties have tax offices that assess and collect property tax and the tax commissioner’s office is required to perform all functions relating to billing, collecting, disbursing, and accounting for ad valorem taxes collected in the county. When you have property taxes in Georgia, the courts have a legal claim against your property called a tax lien.

This is one of the duties of this job that I don’t like. But having said that, I would like to personally thank all the taxpayers who continually remit and pay their taxes in a timely manner, allowing our office to meet our obligations to the governing authorities that we collect for.

This year we had 207 delinquent taxpayers who were behind on payment and met the criteria to be levied on and sold at public auctions. Our office began our due process duties to notify each delinquent taxpayer that their properties were in jeopardy of being sold. Also we started making personal visits to ensure that each property owner was notified and made aware of the delinquency and given the opportunity to settle their debt before the property was sold.

I’m very happy to report that through these efforts our office has been successful in collecting the delinquent tax on these properties. So, thank you to the individuals who stepped up to the plate and resolved and took care of their tax obligations. Because of this, we did not have to levy and sell any properties yesterday

Billy Childers
Murray County Tax Commissioner

Message From Your Tax Commissioner

I offered myself as a candidate for the office of Murray County Tax Commissioner with a vision of providing service to the citizens of Murray County and have continually looked for ways to better serve the taxpayers of our county. It was and will always continue to be a part of my vision.

One area of concern for me is the hindrances that many of our Murray County citizens face in conducting business with the tax/tag office during our present office hours of 8-4:30 each day. I understand that some members of our community may not be able to take leave time from work, or they may have long commutes to work, or any number of reasons that they find it difficult to conduct their business during our currently existing office hours. I am now seeking public input into ways to improve in this area.

Since the citizens of Murray County provided me the opportunity to serve as your Tax Commissioner, I have been able to upgrade our services in many important areas:

• We have been able to put in place a new software system allowing online research and payment ability for taxes, tag renewals and other business needs without even coming into our office.
• We have been afforded the new office which now provides a drive through ability for senior citizens, disable citizens, parents of young children, and anyone else that does not want to come in our office to conduct their business.
• We have been able through collaboration and partnership with Whitfield County Tax Commissioner, Danny Sane, to provide our customers the use of Kiosk Machines located in Whitfield County and other areas of the state for tag renewal.
• We have drop boxes customers can use when the office is closed.
• We have created a web page along with other social media applications that enable users to access content, updates, and postings to keep the public informed.
• We have created a web page along with other social media applications that enable users to access content, updates, and postings to keep the public informed.
• We now have an associate from the Tax assessor’s office who will be physically located in our Tax Tag office to provide exemption application and other assessor office service here on premises. This service will also continue to be offered at the Tax Assessor’s office as well. This change is scheduled in the immediate future and has been made possible through collaboration with the Board of Assessors, the Tax Assessor Chief Appraiser, Steven Johnson, and County Commissioner Greg Hogan, in order to provide better customer service to Murray County citizens.

As our office is operated with a small staff and we face limited financial resources to expand staff or extend operating hours, I am researching ways to provide access to our office for those who may be hindered in conducting business with our office during our current operating schedule. One way would be to go to a 4-day work week. There are currently two Georgia County Tax Offices now practicing a 4-day 10-hour work week and they report it has proven to be very successful and most of all beneficial to better serve our customers. Operating on a 4-day work week would enable our office to be open longer those days with no increased staff or financial outlays and allow us to better serve those of you that can’t get to our office during our current operating hours.

Although our office is very busy conducting business for the public each day now, we have tried to identify the best day for closure, and currently, we feel Monday of each week would be the best.

I am putting this out as information and encouraging public feedback on our website, with discussion from the perspective of Murray County citizens. Please give us your insights and ideas, both approvals and disapprovals, and just general thoughts as to ideas of this proposal and what your considerations would in this this regard. As always, my aim is to provide the best customer service to the public.

Billy Childers
Murray County Tax Commissioner