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COLUMBUS, Ga. — From how to appeal your property valuation and fight back against the city’s proposed property tax increase, to how the United Way is forcing local non-profits to ask children about their sexuality or lose their funding, to a local teacher being named the Runner Up for Georgia Teacher of the Year, 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.
HERE’S HOW TO APPEAL YOUR PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT
This story was originally published on June 12, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — If you’re like most real property owners in the Fountain City, you probably had quite the sticker shock upon opening your annual property tax assessment notice.
Though the county now has the option to lower the millage rate and still earn the same revenue it did last year, city officials are instead moving to keep the rate just as high and garner an estimated $10 million more from the pockets of residents anyway.
As we broke down in detail last week in our Deep Dive Into The Columbus Property Tax Increase, the millions in additional taxes are alleged to be coming from so-called “reassessments” of residents’ properties that are said to have appreciated in value. When added together, the total value of all taxable property in the Muscogee County tax digest is alleged to have increased by an ungodly 11%.
The extremely-sharp increase also follows an additional 7% increase just the year before.
Many residents have since reached out to us at the Muckraker expressing concerns of the city’s gross overvaluation of their properties. For some, the increase in their tax bills on a single property were in the tens of thousands of dollars per year.
When property taxes are increased, owners typically have no choice but to pass that increase along to tenants by raising rents. Being able to keep property taxes as low as possible doesn’t just save the owner money, but prevents rents from increasing throughout the entire county; it keeps more of everyone’s dollars in their own pockets. It affects everyone.
Fortunately, even the smallest real property owner can file an appeal with the Columbus Tax Commissioner’s office and contest their “newly-assessed” property value.
Even the city’s Chief Appraiser, Suzanne Widenhouse, says she understands that mistakes are often made when providing property tax assessments.
“I mean, we like to think that we're perfect and we get it all right, but we know we don't,” Widenhouse said during the May 23 city council meeting. “There are times where appeals are absolutely the avenue to take.”
Residents are now within a 45-day window to file their appeals, which began on May 30 and concludes on July 14. Appeals must be filed before the July 14 deadline.
It really isn’t all that difficult to put together an appeal and file it, though it is important to remember that you’re on a strict deadline to get it done.
Explore the full story to see how you can potentially save thousands on your tax bill.
UNITED WAY FORCING COLUMBUS NON-PROFITS TO ASK LOCAL KIDS ABOUT SEXUALITY OR LOSE FUNDING
This story was originally published on June 13, 2023.
Residents may voice their concerns with the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley’s demand for local organizations to either collect data on local minor children’s sexuality or lose their already-approved funding by contacting their respective city council members.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The local United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley is forcing local non-profits to either collect data on the sexuality of local children or lose their already-approved grant funding.
The absolutely outlandish data requirement was not part of the non-profits’ already-approved funding agreements with the United Way.
Many large non-profits who receive funding from the local United Way are now voicing serious legal and moral concerns about the United Way’s extortionary request.
To be absolutely clear: the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, under the direction of Ben Moser, President; and Erika Cottingham, CFO/COO; is requiring post factum that large area non-profit organizations must now provide UW with data on the sexuality of the minor children their organizations serve, or else they will pull their funding entirely.
Several employees from several large area non-profits have since reached out to the Muckraker expressing the insanity of the United Way’s demand.
Not only does the UW’s disgusting request raise serious moral concerns for having anyone ask kids about their sexuality without parental consent, but it also places an extreme burden of financial, ethical, and legal liability for the organizations and their own donors.
By complying with the United Way’s likely-illegal request, the organizations are absorbing liability that the United Way is conveniently escaping themselves. Furthermore, the local organizations have their own reputations, independent agendas, and financial obligations to uphold to themselves, their donors, and those they serve in the community.
Being extorted to ask minor children about their sexuality wouldn’t even fly on a job application, let alone as a back-door requirement for grant funding that has already been approved.
Explore the full story for the insane details of how the United Way now demands the sexual data on local children or they will pull their funding.
FUNNY VIRAL VIDEO SHOWS WHY COLUMBUS ‘tOuRiSm’ IS A JOKE
This story was originally published on June 14, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Another viral online video sent to us by local residents perfectly depicts the tone-deaf and disingenuous nature of city officials’ claims of ‘tourism’ saving the Fountain City.
The video accurately depicts how the public mocks the so-called ‘tourism’ efforts of local governments who are too high on their own hot air to see how atrocious their toxically-optimistic and incompetent efforts really are.
Though the video itself is about Cleveland, it depicts the exact same incompetence that has continued to lead Columbus further into urban decay for over a decade.
With over 15 million views, the video seems to prove that the rest of the world seems to ‘get it’ — even though our own local officials clearly don’t.
It doesn’t exactly take a Master of Business Administration to understand that trying to build a local economy on ‘tourism’ in a city with a rampant homicide problem, record-setting crippling poverty, and increasing homelessness — all while not having a single product differentiator demonstrably valued by the market — is a really bad idea.
Because the public is in fact not as dumb as CCG wishes they were and can in fact see and think for themselves, CCG’s laughable efforts to place an absolutely crap product in even more poorly-designed shiny new packaging continues to make our city the laughing stock of the Southeast.
Not to mention, have you seen our city’s so-called ‘logo’?
Explore the full story to see a hilarious video that perfectly depicts CCG’s incompetent stupidity.
HOMETOWN HERO: LOCAL TEACHER NAMED RUNNER-UP IN GA. TEACHER OF THE YEAR
This story was originally published on June 15, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — A local Fountain City educator’s exceptional teaching abilities have been formally recognized by the State of Georgia, naming her as the Runner Up in the Georgia Teacher of the Year competition.
Vanessa Ellis, a Columbus native with a lifelong passion for education, inspires the future of our city each and every day in her eighth grade social studies classroom at Veterans Memorial Middle School — go rangers!
Born in Jamaica, Ellis moved to the Fountain City at a young age and became a proud product of the Muscogee County School District.
After graduating from Jordan Vocational High School, Ellis received both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Columbus State University. Ellis was later named a Harvard Fellow in 2018.
With a knack for community service, Ellis also serves on the Georgia Public Broadcasting Teacher Advisory Group, as well as on the Springer Theatre Academy Education Committee.
Ellis brings all of her experiences and background to bear in her classroom each and every day for her students. With a focus on developing ‘the whole child,’ her proven track record of nurturing the minds and futures of her students led to her being named the 2017 Georgia Economics Teacher of the Year.
As she continued to hone-in on her students’ success, Ellis was recognized again as the 2022 MCSD Teacher of the Year.
That tremendous list of achievements grew to include Ellis being named as a finalist for the Georgia Teacher of the Year — and local officials took note.
Back on April 11 of this year, the Columbus City Council recognized Ellis’ outstanding work. Council Judy Thomas (District 9) read a resolution into the record naming April 11th as “Vanessa Ellis Day.”
Now, Ellis has since gone on to win the title of Runner Up in the Georgia Teacher of the Year competition.
Explore the full story to see how you can help support outstanding teachers like Vanessa Ellis as they continue to develop the bright future of our city.
LANDLORDS SPEAK AGAINST PROPERTY TAX INCREASES TO PROTECT THEIR TENANTS
This story was originally published on June 16, 2023.
Residents are strongly encouraged to attend the upcoming public hearings on property tax in Muscogee County so their voice may be heard as a citizen and may also contact their respective city council members.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Several local landlords, residents, and tenants spoke against the city’s proposed property tax increase in hopes of protecting Columbusites from rises in rent.
The conversations happened during the first of three public hearings on the subject, which was held during the city council meeting on June 13.
Local property owners John Anker, Frank Lumpkin, Charles Mordic, and Louis Robinson were accompanied by Columbus resident Madeline Burns and others. Each spoke independently to voice their own individual concerns about how the county’s rising property taxes will negatively impact our community.
Explore the full story to see what they each had to say in their own words.
Roll back the millage rate.
HERE’S THE OATH SWORN BY CITY COUNCILORS TO UPHOLD OUR LAWS
This story was originally published on May 23, 2023 and was republished on June 17, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — “Truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light.” — George Washington, in a letter to Charles Thruston, August 10, 1794.
Before we dive in, it is important that the reader first understands the significance and brief story behind the quote from George Washington printed above.
The quote from Washington is from a letter he wrote in reply to Charles M. Thruston, a delegate from Frederick County, Virginia. Thruston had first written to Washington to warn him of small factions of the neighboring Kentucky government that were censoring and withholding information from the public in hopes of nefariously achieving political ends to undermine their newly-formed representative government and return to the monarchical control of Great Britain.
Washington responded to Thruston’s warning by reminding him that “truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light,” empowering Thruston to take the action required to expose the truth to the public. Washington knew the public would make good use of it to secure the sanctity of their own government — and he was ultimately right.
So, too, will be the future of our city of Columbus, Georgia — if and only if our elected officials honor their oaths and take such pains to bring uncensored truth to light.
In recent months, there have been several instances of our city councilors appearing to the public to be idly standing by while other officials — both elected and appointed — are permitted to make a mockery of our City Charter and our representative form of government.
According to sources close to the Muckraker, these actions have been outwardly permitted to persist — entirely unchallenged — out of city councilors’ fear of taking action; fear of how some members of the public may perceive them if they were to take the appropriate actions to uphold our city’s laws.
However, what some councilors may not be considering is how their inaction ironically causes the very effect they are trying to avoid: a negative perception of council’s weakness by its constituents, ultimately resulting in the public disdain they are fearful of in the first place.
Should council discover the irony of this reality, they may come to actually embrace the responsibilities they are empowered to uphold instead of shying away from them — and there is nothing more their constituents would value from their elected officials than that.
Those responsibilities which council members are empowered to uphold are enumerated in their oaths of office. Their constituents don’t merely legally require that their oaths are upheld, but they need them to be as a People: both for their own good and for the good of our government.
The future of our city depends upon it.
Explore the full story for a detailed look at the full oath of office sworn by our city council members.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Columbus City Council is scheduled to hold a consent agenda/work session meeting on Tuesday, June 20 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.
The third public hearing for the city’s proposed property tax increase will be held during the meeting on June 20. Residents are strongly encouraged to attend and speak publicly so their voices may be heard as citizens.
The council is also expected to vote on several items of significance during the meeting to include the city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Some of the items council is expected to vote on include:
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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