County property taxes remain unchanged

Published 2:28 pm Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Marengo County Commission voted Tuesday to adopt a resolution for the county property tax.

The resolution calls for the taxes to remain the same as the previous year, which is a total of 24 mills. The taxes are broken up into 8 mills for general taxes, 4 mills for road and bridge, 2 mills for fire tax, 5 mills for county-wide school purposes, 3 mills for school district school purposes, and 2 mills for district one and district 3 school purposes.

The commission also approved a request from Sheriff Richard Bates to adjust the salary of Aquanette Daniels, who was named jail administrator on Jan. 21.

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Ben Ballard, a Dixons Mills resident, address the Commission about closing Dirt Pit Road in Dixons Mills.

“I’ve got a majority of the land around the road, and I’ve spoken with all of the landowners,” Ballard said. “We pick up garbage daily. We have to keep it up so we can even access it. The kids down there tear it up when it rains. The only way to keep it clean is going to be to keep people out of it.”

Commissioner Calvin Martin said he’s looked at the road and that “it’s an eyesore.” County Engineer Ken Atkins said he counted five dumps along the mile-and-a-half stretch of road where people are dumping mattresses and other household items.

The Commission told Ballard to start the process of getting a petition signed by all landowners on the road, and they will begin to move forward.

The Commission also heard from Sarah Smith, who requested the county to pay her for three days a week at the Community Action Agency.

Yolanda Jones, a manager with the Community Action Agency, said Smith had been paid to volunteer by the Alabama-Tombigbee Regional Commission for four years until March 2014.

“She has volunteered her time to us since then,” Jones said. “We aren’t financially able to pay her, but she’s been a big help. She knows the job and she does it well.”

The Commission told Smith they would consider her request.