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Commissioner of Kevenue Beverly Atkins agreed, telling the board, “I was deeply offended. Mr. Massie made me feel like we were constantly coming to you asking for things. All the constitutional officers live within the limited constraints of tax dollars. There are many things we could have asked for - like hot water. There is no hot water in the Treasurer’s office or my office if we want to wash our hands. We only asked for one thing. I care about my county.”
“You already know how I feel about insurance,” Sheriff John Henry Woodward said. “The people with a family policy, this is really going to be a burden on those people. They pay out $207 a month now, with a 26 percent increase they’re really going to see a jump.
“Last year, for the-first time this was 100 percent funded. I ask that this year it still be 100 percent funded,” he said.
With no further comments offered by members of the audience, Chairman Hubert Gilkey asked for comments from the board.
Hampton District Supervisor Mike Massie said, “People who have seen me work know how' hard I’ve tried to do things in an open outfront manner. The consitutitonal officers came when all the public had left and half the press had left. There was time to have gotten on the agenda.
“I want to commend you for coming here and speaking your mind tonight", Mr. Massie said, “. . . (but) I can’t in good faith apologize to you.”
Jackson District representative Ellis Bingham said, “I have to concur with the comments of the Sheriff and Peggy. It bothers me that we can’t afford to do the things I think we should be able to afford. That’s why we are starting the procedure for a reassessment.
“We need,” Col. Bingham continued, “to evaluate the whole land use business because we have to increase our tax base . . . We’re going to try to separate the investors from the non-investors, maybe by having them submit their W-2 forms. We don’t w'ant to hurt the 157 farmers in the county; neither do we want you to subsidize the net worth of investors.
“The money’s not there to do the minimum things,” the Jackson District representative avowed. “I don’t think the county has gone overboard. You know wThat your salaries
85.8%