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Lawmakers' pay garnished for taxes
Al Williams Mag
State Rep. Al Williams
State Rep. Al Williams of Midway is among a handful of Georgia legislators who have had their state paychecks garnished because of delinquent income tax.  
The Georgia Department of Revenue confirmed two liens, one totaling $107,684 and another totaling $73,049, have been issued against property Williams owns in Liberty County. A third lien was also issued in Clayton County, but details of that levy have not been confirmed.
According to Robyn Underwood, fiscal officer for the Legislative Fiscal Office, the garnishment on Williams’ state paycheck is only effective for six months, but GDOR could re-file a garnishment claim every six months.
Despite repeated attempts to reach Williams by telephone and email, he has been unavailable for comment.
The legislator was placed on the delinquent taxpayers list in December when GDOR officials said he owed $44,617. He adamantly disagreed with the amount of the bill.
“It is definitely not an accurate number. If it were, I would have already paid it,” Williams told the Courier at that time.
Williams said then he was not sure what he owed but said it was less than $44,000.
He said he did not ignore notices from GDOR of the discrepancies and had been working with certified public accountant Larry Golden to resolve the matter.
“We’ve been in constant conversations with the Department of Revenue. From all we can gather, they based this on estimated and past income which changed significantly when I closed my transportation business,” Williams said. “My CPA and I have been working for several months to get to the bottom line. We’re contesting the amount because I’m certain it is incorrect.”
Williams said there “have been thousand of dollars” he was not given credit for paying, but acknowledged it was up to him to prove his case.  
“The burden of proof rests with me to prove that I don’t owe that money,” he said.
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