Jones County commissioners move to remove remaining members of Board of Tax Assessors

Jones County commissioners voted at a Jan. 7 public hearing to remove the two remaining members of the county Board of Tax Assessors, taking action under Georgia law after hearing a legal opinion that the board had failed to perform statutory duties.

The commissioners’ action followed a presentation from the county’s retained attorney, William Nolan, who said the governing body has discretion to remove members “for the failure to perform the duties or requirements or meet the qualifications imposed upon such member by law,” citing OCGA Section 48-5-295(b). “I’m not here to advocate for removal,” Nolan told the commission. “What I’m here to do is give my legal opinion, that there are grounds to do so.”

Nolan and the commissioners pointed to three primary grounds laid out in a removal letter and discussed in public meetings: (1) Jones County’s sales-ratio results for tax years 2022 and 2023 fell below the state’s acceptable range, (2) appraisal practices that relied on manual overrides rather than countywide adjustments and (3) an allegedly unlawful closed session on Sept. 5, 2024. The county’s outside counsel…