Stand and delivered

Locals gather at Courthouse with petition in hand on taxes

Gareth Fenley (center) speaks out against the Walton County Board of Commissioners’ millage rate hike, while Ron Sack, left, holds the bundle of 3,325 signatures gathered on a petition to rescind that hike. Photo credit: Stephen Milligan | The Walton Tribune

More than a dozen people gathered on the steps of the Walton County Historic Courthouse Tuesday morning in the latest salvo against the county’s controversial millage rate hike.

But while the crowd was small, the bundle they carried was not: a sheaf of signatures numbering in the thousands on a petition to rescind the tax vote.

“We the citizens of Walton County are hand-delivering hundreds of petitions with thousands of individual signatures,” Gareth Fenley, one of the organizers for Walton In Action, said.

The grassroots activist group has been spearheading the call for a meeting to reverse the Walton County Board of Commissioners’ recent approval of a 19.55% increase in the millage rate, a move which drew ire from people all over Walton County. The petition ultimately gathered 3,325 signatures in six days, and Fenley said they could have gotten much more if they’d had more time.

The group pushed to have the petition in by Tuesday to give the commissioners time to hold a special meeting to rescind the tax vote before it becomes official on Sept. 1.

“We are exercising our freedom to petition the government for redress of our grievances,” Fenley said.
“And do we have grievances. We invited all our commissioners today but they all declined to attend.”

Those who did come out, however, all pleaded for the county to reverse course on the tax increase.

“This tax hike they’re trying to shove down our throats right now, I’m at a loss,” Barry Ford, of Walton County, said. “Shame on you. You’re not looking at the best interests of the people.”

Many said they felt county leadership had failed to heed the will of the people. “I attended meetings before this to address these issues and was treated like dirt,” Sandy Davis said. “They should be representing us, not fighting us.”

Diana Trese agreed, saying the arguments presented to support the millage hike were not convincing, particularly the constant refrain of the increased cost of operating the brand-new replacement Walton County Jail.

“Their rebuttals don’t hold up,” Trese said. “The jail is not the reason this is happening. I’m astonished at the financial mishandling and irresponsibility.”

Ron Sack was blunt, taking on County Chairman David Thompson in his comments.

“David Thompson’s arrogant and condescending statements are appalling and unacceptable,” he said. “There’s never a wrong time to do the right thing. Listen to the people you represent.”

The protestors delivered the petition to the county, but Sack was not optimistic.

“I don’t expect them to have the guts to meet,” he admitted.

Sources within the county said a new vote would not have been feasible, even after the passing of Bo Warren, who voted to approve the millage rate earlier this month. Any BOC vote must have at least four votes to pass, and only three commissioners voted against the tax hike on Aug. 5. The millage rate goes into effect Monday. Sack said this will not be the end of it, though.

“There is going to be a day of reckoning,” he said.