I’m very grateful for all of our public servants and elected officials, but I’m especially grateful for those in our County who go above and beyond. In this instance, I’m speaking about Kasey Lee, the Fulton County Assessor, who recently hosted a class about tax abatements. This class drew a crowd from the public and government sectors, with some in attendance from as far out as Morgan County (Martinsville). I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t understand everything, regardless, I took quite a bit away from that class and I’m glad I took the time to attend.
Abatements are a great tool counties can use to entice new businesses into our community, or assist current businesses who may be looking to grow. We have to be smart about passing them out, though. Just last Tuesday, the Fulton County Council approved an abatement request from Ramco Supply. Ramco already employs around 100+ employees and are hopefully going to continue to do good things in Fulton County, and these are the types of businesses that should receive the benefit of abatements. If they have the capability to expand, they will almost definitely need to increase their workforce. They win, Fulton County wins, people earn a paycheck – This is how it’s supposed to work. An abatement is a County investing in the growth of a company, but there MUST be a return on that investment. Passing out abatements with no benefit to the community is a surefire way to bring a county to its knees.
Those entrusted to make decisions like this owe it to the communities they work for to be as educated as possible. Thanks, Kasey, for going above and beyond to offer classes like this to help broaden knowledge!