|
|
|
Fire And Ambulance Fees Remain Hot Topic In Lamar County
Exclusive Audio Coverage Greg S. Williams - February 23, 2012 Almost two years after their institution, nearly 20 percent of Lamar County�s ill-fated 2010 fire and ambulance fees may remain uncollected. On Tuesday night, several citizens brought their frustrations over the unpopular fees, billing errors and threatening letters to the board of commissioners.
�It's been something, a challenge,� Commission Chairman Jay Matthews said. �(And) it challenges my patience when somebody brings me a check that says �go to hell� on it.� �I understand people�s frustrations with it � believe me, we�ve been frustrated with it,� Commission Chairman Jay Matthews said. �The implementation was terrible and we take � I take � we take full responsibility for that. We didn�t oversee it and make sure it was implemented correctly. I was hoping to have it on the tax bill as a one line item like other counties have done, and that didn�t happen so we had to scramble at the last minute to get a billing system in place that we subbed out to a private company. The information from there went down hill and I agree that we�ve been playing catch up since day one with it.
�When it went out the first time erroneously, the bills � over 9,000 of them � it was tough to recover from that; we�re still trying to recover from that - to get it dwindled down.� Milner resident John Samek was one of several citizens who questioned the status of outstanding bills. Commissioner Jimmy Hearn also addressed the issue. Audio from each appears below:
�
Comments by�John Samek:�
�
Comments by Commissioner Hearn:�
|
|
|
|