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COLUMBUS, Ga. — From leaked documents proving the United Way is extorting the sexual data of local children from area nonprofits, to city council rolling back the property tax millage rate saving taxpayers $7 million, to the city wasting countless resources so 24 people can drive golf carts across Veterans Parkway, here’s all the muck that’s fit to print from the Columbus, Georgia area, along with a look at what to expect in the week ahead.
LEAKED: DOCUMENTS PROVE UNITED WAY IS FORCING ORGS TO ASK LOCAL KIDS ABOUT SEXUALITY OR LOSE FUNDING
This story was originally published on June 26, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Leaked documents including funding contracts now undeniably prove that the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley is forcing local Columbus nonprofits to either ask local children about their sexuality or lose the United Way’s funding.
The documents were obtained by the Muckraker from local Columbus-based nonprofits that exclusively serve children.
Back on June 13, we broke this story after hearing compelling evidence from several of those local nonprofits. The corroborated accounts all included the same descriptions of how a new funding contract from the United Way was now forcing them to collect data on the sexuality of the children they serve. If those local nonprofits did not provide the United Way with the data, the United Way would no longer fund the local nonprofit organization, effectively extorting them to either provide the data or go broke.
As a result, many of those local nonprofits turned to the Muckraker in hopes of shedding light on the problem for them. We were — and are — more than happy to oblige.
Before we dive into the documents, it is important for the reader to understand that the United Way has already embarrassingly been caught in an outright lie by denying their requirement of the data.
You can read more towards the end of this article about how the local United Way flat-out lied to city council’s face — on camera — for the entire world to see.
First, here’s the proof. It really helps paint a better picture of how despicable the UWCV’s cover-up was as they knowingly lied to city council’s face in hopes of no one finding out about this.
Lucky for them, we at the Muckraker happen to specialize in exposing such malevolence.
Explore the full story to see the documents for yourself, along with how the United Way knowingly lied to City Councilors’ faces in an effort to cover it up.
TAX ASSESSOR BASED PROPERTY VALUES ON OLD DATA; RIGGED HIGHER VALUES DESPITE LAW
This story was originally published on June 27, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Muscogee County’s Chief Appraiser, Suzanne Widenhouse, openly admitted to using market data that was up to three years old when developing property tax assessments for the current tax year, despite state regulations requiring property values to be calculated based on the conditions in the year they are to be taxed.
The admission was made several times — on camera — during a line of questioning from city councilors during the city council meeting held on June 20.
During the council meeting, several city councilors began to ask Widenhouse very blunt questions regarding the methodology of how her office arrived at such inflated property values for so many property owners here in the Fountain City.
Through that line of questioning, Widenhouse brazenly stated that her office never “catches up” on current market conditions to make property valuations, but instead uses data that is between one and three years old.
Explore the full story to see how your property tax assessments have been rigged using data from the peak of the pandemic so that the city manager can use the inflated value to put more of your money into his budget.
CITY COUNCIL ROLLS BACK PROPERTY TAX RATE; SAVES TAXPAYERS $7 MILLION
This story was originally published on June 28, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — “Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things.” — Adam Smith.
Columbus residents can rest a bit easier now that city councilors have unanimously voted to lower property taxes throughout the Fountain City.
During the city council meeting held on June 27, the Muscogee County property tax millage rates were lowered to keep a grand total of $7 million in the pockets of taxpayers, as follows:
The reductions equate to annual savings for every homeowner throughout the entirety of Columbus.
According to Finance Director Angelica Alexander, the average $375,000 home in Urban Service District 2 would see an annual savings of $170 per year while slightly smaller $200,000 homes in Urban Service District 1 would save $70 per year.
While those numbers may seem small for the average homeowner, it makes a big difference in keeping rents from skyrocketing throughout the city — which would otherwise greatly contribute to increased poverty, crime, and blight.
That same millage rate decrease is a much bigger relief to commercial property owners and landlords who were recently slammed with huge valuation increases, as the reduction now saves them — and their renters — amounts in the tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in property tax bills.
With lower taxes, landlords aren’t forced to increase rents for their tenants, who in turn keep more of their own money in their own pockets. That, in turn, leads to fewer evictions, greater stability, less crime, and fewer dilapidated buildings.
Explore the full story to see how tactful civic engagement just moved our government to voluntarily keep $7 million in the hands of taxpayers.
WATCH: CCG TAX APPRAISER SAYS QUIET PART OUT LOUD IN HEATED UNFILTERED COMMENT
This story was originally published on June 29, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — A heated and unfiltered moment of stress led to a wildly-revealing and disturbing series of comments from a city official during the recent city council meeting held on June 27.
During a fiery debate regarding council’s move to lower the property tax millage rate — which ultimately kept $7 million in the pockets of taxpayers — CCG’s Chief Tax Appraiser, Suzanne Widenhouse, revealed her true feelings about tax exemptions here in Muscogee County.
Tax exemptions are a well-needed and long-established staple of our local economy that provide relief to the elderly, surviving spouses, disabled veterans, and many others. You can read more about our county’s property tax exemptions through the Tax Assessor’s Exemptions website here.
Nonetheless, Widenhouse let her true colors bleed through when placed on-the-spot by council to provide answers she quite clearly did not want to provide.
Widenhouse’s disturbing comments were as follows as she yelled at council members in an obvious moment of unfiltered stress:
“I’m not a fan of tax exemptions,” said the county’s Chief Tax Appraiser. “Personally, if it was up to me and I had my way, there wouldn't be a single exemption available to anybody; it’d make my life a whole lot easier.”
Fortunately for the citizens of Muscogee County, Widenhouse doesn't get her way. Her comments, however, revealed on their face her viciously-vehement personal bias against property tax exemptions.
Explore the full story to watch your Chief Assessor say just about the one thing a tax assessor shouldn’t say on camera.
CCG CONFIRMS: MAYOR LACKED AUTHORITY TO APPOINT POLICE CHIEF WITHOUT COUNCIL’S VOTE
This story was originally published on May 25, 2023 and was republished on June 30, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Columbus Consolidated Government just confirmed that Mayor Henderson has indeed overstepped his legal authority by unilaterally appointing a chief of police without first receiving a vote of approval from City Council.
In an email thread with CCG, we asked point blank what section of the City Charter provides the Mayor with the authority to appoint a chief of police.
The answer we received from CCG cited the exact scenario we previously published: that pursuant to Section 4-201, paragraph 15, the Mayor can only appoint a chief of police if City Council has given their approval through a majority vote of six council members.
In CCG’s own words, as shown through their own provided citations of the city’s Code of Ordinances in the email chain below, CCG is well aware that Mayor Henderson did not have the legal authority to unilaterally appoint a chief of police — for any length of tenure — without first receiving an approving vote from City Council.
Without the approval of City Council, no appointment of a chief of police can be made. Since no vote was ever recorded, there technically is no current police chief for our city, creating a massive legal liability for any action taken by Stoney Mathis on behalf of the office.
Despite city council members’ known frustration with the Mayor’s tyrannical overreach, no member of City Council has taken any public action to correct the matter nor to hold the Mayor accountable.
Explore the full story to see the entire email thread for yourself in CCG’s own words, proving our city currently does not have a legally-appointed police chief.
CCG WASTES RESOURCES; PASSES LAW SO 24 PEOPLE CAN RIDE GOLF CARTS ACROSS VETERANS PKWY
This story was originally published on July 1, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — After frivolously dedicating hundreds of hours of time and countless resources from several key city departments, the city’s small number of registered golf cart owners will now be able to cross Veterans Parkway at its intersection with 14th Street. The vote occurred during the city council meeting on June 27.
After eight years of encouraging the use of golf carts throughout the downtown area, there are still only 24 individual people with registered golf carts throughout the entire city.
The city’s recent push to make golf carts a ‘thing’ despite eight years of the market overwhelmingly rejecting the notion is allegedly geared toward ‘connecting’ the downtown area with the expansive efforts that have taken place across the state highway.
All but one city councilor voted to approve the ordinance. Councilor Judy Thomas (District 9) held firm to her weeks of strong opposition to the idea and firmly cast her proud vote of no. You can read more about Councilor Thomas’ rational and diligent reasoning later on in this article.
The ordinance states that registered ‘personal transportation vehicles’ (golf carts) may be driven only on the following public street segments, which explicitly prohibits travel on 13th Street. We’ve placed the city’s provided map below the bullet list for clarity.
Why the city believes having 24 individual local residents occasionally drive their golf carts across a state highway will somehow benefit the region remains unclear — and that’s probably because it clearly absolutely won’t. Not even a little bit.
For a greater context of how ridiculous the city’s level of misprioritization is:
More people have been shot to death in Columbus so far this year than the number of registered golf carts.
Explore the full story to see the laughable backstory behind council’s vote for the gain of a privileged few in the Historic District as the rest of the city crumbles around the microscopic downtown area.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Columbus City Council is not scheduled to meet this week. The next regularly-scheduled meeting is set to be held on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. on the second floor of the C. E. “Red” McDaniel City Services Center located at 3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, GA 31906.
City offices will be closed in observance of Independence Day with various departments either shut completely or using an alternative schedule from July 3-4. The closures are as follows:
A Look At Personal Safety
As the Columbus Police Department continues to unify under its new leadership model, violent crime is still likely to exist at higher levels than we would all like — even in what have previously been thought of as the “safer parts” of our city.
We at the Muckraker want to encourage our readers and their loved ones to remain hyper-vigilant as they go about their daily lives.
Based on lifetimes of experience and the combined professional careers of us at the Muckraker and our associates, here are what we consider to be the most important ways Columbusites can make themselves “hard targets” to avoid becoming a crime victim:
Back Our Blue
In closing, we at the Muckraker would like to thank the outstanding men and women of the Columbus Police Department who continue to shell out for the safety and well-being of our city each and every day, despite the abhorrent temporary conditions they are currently forced to work within.
“All police officers are entitled to outstanding leadership.”
Our city cannot thank you enough for what you do for us.
If you’re out and about throughout the week and see one of our city’s brave and valiant police officers, be sure to thank them. We’d bet it would mean an awful lot to them.
Residents are strongly encouraged to express their concerns and condolences for the brave men and women of the Columbus Police Department by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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© 2023 Muscogee Muckraker. All rights reserved.
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