Jones touts tax cuts, fire department expansion in bid for reelection

Published 3:23 pm Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Greg Jones, a Republican who represents District 4 on the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, says one of the things he is most proud of is that the commission has cut the county’s maintenance and operations property tax rate in each of the past three years.

In 2019, commissioners set the rate at 8.812 mills, down from 9.561 mills in 2016. A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.

Jones faces retired law enforcement officer Dan Lewallen in the June 9 Republican primary for District 4. No Democrat qualified.

Jones is a farmer and excavating contractor. He has served in the District 4 seat since 2017 and previously held that seat from 2007 to 2012.

“I’m very proud of our fire service and what we have done with it,” Jones said.

In 2017, the Insurance Services Office (ISO) lowered its rating for the Whitfield County fire department from 5 to 3. ISO rates fire departments on a scale of one to 10, the lower the better. Insurance companies use those ratings, in part, to determine homeowners’ insurance rates.

Since then, the county has opened a new fire station in Cohutta and another in the south end of the county, bringing the total number of fire stations to 12. The fire department has also added almost two dozen firefighters to man those stations.

Jones points out that commissioners helped diversify the county’s economy by helping bring the Hanwha Q Cells solar module manufacturing plant to the Carbondale Business Park. The plant opened in January 2019 and employs more than 700 and is one of the 15 largest private employers in the county.

“Those are jobs that are not carpet related, making us less reliant on one industry,” Jones said.

He said commissioners have also expanded recreational opportunities, including opening the community center at Edwards Park three years ago.

Jones said the big challenge facing the county is the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the shutdown of the economy to battle it.

“I hope we will recover faster (than from the 2008 recession),” he said. “There’s still some businesses that aren’t at 100%, some that haven’t really reopened yet. Most of the big companies are still operating. It’s the small businesses that have really been hurt. But things aren’t as bad here as they are in some other places.”

Early voting is underway in the elections office in the county courthouse from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through June 5. Early voting will also be held this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.