With property tax season upon us, Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins said citizens will notice a few minor changes on their tax bill.
The address for the sheriff’s office website, www.gcsheriff.net, is now printed on the tax bill so that citizens may pay their property taxes online, and not have to physically come into the office to pay them, according to Chaffins.
Chaffins said, “The website may also answer questions citizens may have about their tax bill, as well as provide information on the discount, face value and penalty dates of collection.”
Illustrating the importance of the voluntary $40 fire and rescue dues that are listed on tax bills, Chaffins notates several key reasons why remitting the $40 payment is important to Grayson County’s firefighters and all citizens living in the county.
“One thing not printed on the tax bill is how their fire and rescue dues will be used,” Chaffins said. “As a taxpayer, there are two entities in this county that I would want to have the best equipment available to them to do their job and that is the fire departments and the police. I would hate to know that first responders did not have the necessary equipment to save a life, especially if someone in my family was involved in an injury crash. What would we do if the equipment could not be updated, and prevented a life-saving measure from being taken because it was broke down? Lives could be lost. We always hope that we or a loved one will never be involved in a critical life threatening incident, but if it does happen, minutes and even seconds matter when it comes to saving lives.”
Chaffins continued by saying, “Many taxpayers do not realize that our local volunteer fire departments receive zero dollars from our Fiscal Court for equipment. These fire and rescue dues are used to benefit every Grayson Countian, not just in the case of a fire on their property, but in the event that you or someone you love are involved in a collision which may require life-saving equipment at the scene.”
“For example,” Chaffins said, “the Leitchfield Volunteer Fire Department purchased new extrication equipment which replaced the old set that was 30-plus years old; they purchased a Chevrolet Suburban, which serves as a personnel carrier and is also capable of transporting rescue boats or the hazardous materials trailer; and they were able to purchase a new Rescue Pumper, which is also 4WD, and holds 800-plus gallons of water (and foam) and will carry five firefighters to and from the scene.”
Chaffins additionally said Leitchfield firefighters have new hand-held, water proof radios, which allows firefighters to communicate inside a burning structure without failing.
“Hoses, nozzles, adapters for hydrants, and turnout gear (outfit used to enter a burning building) have been purchased with fire and rescue dues from our citizens,” Chaffins said.
Chaffins stresses that all of the county’s fire departments are “held accountable by Fiscal Court for every piece of equipment purchased and each respective Fire Chief welcomes any citizen in the community to tour or visit their Fire Department to see for themselves where their fire and rescue dues are being spent.”
“To be transparent, the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office also receives zero dollars from Fiscal Court for purchases,” Chaffins added. “We are funded through commissions from property taxes we collect from the taxing entities in Grayson County (library tax, school tax, etc). The commissions we collect are used to pay our Sheriff and Deputy’s salaries, purchase police vehicles, office equipment, and uniforms and supplies for the deputies working the road. Any monies not spent by January 1 of the new year MUST be turned over to Fiscal Court, whether there is money left in the budget or not. However, Fiscal Court has the option to contribute that money back to the Sheriff’s Office to allow us to continue to operate within the budget they approved, so that we may also upgrade or purchase equipment or possibly even hire an additional deputy or two.”
Chaffins ended by saying that, “In the past, Fiscal Court has not contributed unused budget money back to the Sheriff’s Office. We, too, welcome any citizen to visit our office with any inquiries into how and where their tax dollars are being spent.”
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
