Although no one really likes to think about paying taxes, everyone can agree it's important to understand them. With this in mind, Hinesville Rotarians invited Liberty County Tax Commissioner Virgil Jones to their Tuesday meeting to discuss issues, provide information and answer questions.
Jones began by helping citizens better understand where their money goes when they pay taxes. He said the collected annual lump sum, which reached $38 million last year, is divided and distributed to six entities. They are the Liberty Board of Education, the state, Hinesville, Liberty County, the development authority and the hospital authority.
Jones then ran through a list of recent accomplishments and improvements, which includes providing citizens with the ability to register vehicles online, pay property taxes online, gain access to property records online and the opening an office on Fort Stewart for vehicle registration.
As for the future, the commissioner plans to further improve the office and its functionality.
"We're going to keep training, keep learning, keep getting better at what we do day in and day out," Jones said. "We try to make a good relationship with those we serve."
In closing, Jones said they are also working to get upgraded computer systems to better handle the workload which is consistently growing with city growth.
"Our responsibility keeps growing because our county keeps growing," Jones said.