Sheriff, Clerk square off

Posted on August 3, 2018

What is traditionally a routine, five-minute meeting held each year to set the county commission’s proposed millage (property tax) rate for the upcoming year turned into a tense, and sometimes contentious, 90-minute affair punctuated by Sheriff Wayne Padgett angrily accusing Clerk of Court Annie Mae Murphy and the board of putting him “on trial” over his budget, hammering the podium and issuing a challenge to “Let’s get it done!”

In the end, county commissioners narrowly decided – in a split 3-2 vote – to set a proposed millage rate reflecting a nearly 7% property tax increase, after hearing from a number of locals who packed the board room to speak in favor of paying higher taxes rather than cutting the sheriff’s budget.

PHOTO: While banging his hand on the podium, Sheriff Wayne Padgett told Clerk of Court Annie Mae Murphy, “You are not a county commissioner. You don’t have no right to ask me no questions.”

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