Ellis honored by commission for reinstating waiver valuations
Representative Corley Ellis was recognized by the Shelby County Commission for his dedication and service to county government in Alabama through his house sponsorship and passage of Act 2019-234 that reinstated the utilization of waiver valuations to save counties time and money on right of way acquisitions.
During the Dec. 23 Shelby County Commission meeting, Councilman Kevin Morris said that through Ellis’ efforts, the state law was amended and adapted to include an evaluation process.
“What this does for most counties is saves time and energy when getting property values and appraisals on land,” Morris said.
Ellis was presented with a plaque from the Association of County Commissions of Alabama.
County Engineer Randy Cole said that Alabama was the only state in the country that had verbiage in the law that did not allow for the use of property waiver evaluations.
“I went to the ACCA staff and wrote a law consistent with the other 49 states and D.C.,” Cole said. “We were paying $5,000 on average for appraisals. When Corley saw what we were paying, he joined in and was able to get unanimous approval in the house and senate.
He has saved counties untold millions of dollars through years and we appreciate that.”
The commission approved the reinstatement of two part-time positions (32 hours per week) in the Property Tax Office to have employees in training to fill possible vacancies due to the probability of retirement of eligible staff within the next 18 months.
It was also announced that Sheriff John Samaniego was named the Metro Birmingham Crimestopper of the year and will be honored at a luncheon on Feb. 19.
Several resolutions were approved including:
- A bid for liquid aluminum sulfate to Southern Ionics Inc.
- A bid for janitorial services to Charles Dixon Industries for the courthouse complex and Eagle Cleaning Services for county buildings in Columbiana and outlying buildings.
- A resolution for the commission to make a grant application for the Office of Violence Against Women to provide up to $550,000 over three years for the Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Program for Domestic Violence Court.
The next Shelby County Commission meeting will be held Jan. 13 at the Shelby County Administration Building in Columbiana.