Steve Brown (“Brown”) is a former Mayor of Peachtree City, served two terms on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, and is now a regular contributing journalist to The Citizen Newspaper (“The Citizen”).
Based on a tip from a “Republican Leader” in the community, [Brown] released an article, but did he engage in poor, faulty and dishonest journalism when he falsely accused the local Democratic candidate for Tax Commissioner of being unqualified and failing to pay property taxes, without getting her side of the story? You be the judge.
Here are the FACTS: On September 25, 2024, Brown and The Citizen published an article falsely accusing Democratic candidate for Tax Commissioner, Angela Haynes, 67, of failing to pay her property taxes and thereby asserting that she is not qualified for the position. No one contacted Haynes to request a comment prior to publishing the article.
The allegation against Haynes is a blatant lie. Haynes has lived her home in Fayette County, a bedroom community 30 minutes south of the Atlanta airport, for twenty-four (24) years. She paid all of her property taxes that she has owned on the home.
For about the last nine (9) years, Haynes has paid her taxes in or around March rather than in November, and she also paid any penalty and interest fees she incurred for paying after the regular due date. Why?
Haynes is a regular person. She has a regular job, and she has regular living expenses. From her work, she earns a salary bonus, which is paid out in March.
Haynes does not carry an “Escrow” with her mortgage. She pays her own taxes, rather than have a mortgage company hold her money for months, interest free, and pay the tax bill in November – a feat that only a small percentage of financially savvy U.S. homeowners enjoy.
It is very smart financial move if one takes advantage of it and manages her finances well — Haynes is one of that few.
For over 20 years, Haynes has managed her property and applied her financial wisdom. Now she wants to bring her financial expertise to both the Tax Commissioner’s office and share her financial acumen and information with the Fayette County voters.
Had Steve Brown bothered to “just ask her,” his article could have been a well-rounded piece of crucial journalistic work, but failed to just ask.
He did not ask, and he got it all wrong. Haynes will get it right. She submitted a rebuttal to Brown and to The Citizen newspaper. It was not published.
One commentor’s reliance on the inaccurate article, contended that she was voting for Haynes’ opponent. Haynes wants to win over that voter with the FACTS and with TRUTH. Haynes will be the fair, honest and accurate Fayette County Tax Commissioner in November 2024!
Haynes is one of several African-American female Democratic candidates running for political office for the first time in Fayette County.
They were up for election before Kamala Harris was named the Democratic Presidential candidate, but Haynes and others certainly hope that their candidacy will be beneficial to each other in the upcoming election.
Angela Haynes
Candidate for Fayette County Tax Commissioner
https://www.electangelahaynes.com/
It doesn’t seem like a good quality to not pay your taxes on time being a candidate for an office. Just saying….
When did “regular” people stop paying their taxes on time? Sounds delinquent to me.
I’m not so sure this makes sense from the article: “It is very smart financial move if one takes advantage of it and manages her finances well”.
When it previously states: “she also paid any penalty and interest fees she incurred for paying after the regular due date”
Don’t the penalties and interest costs exceed just having the mortgage company hold it in escrow and pay it on time? What happens when her job is outsourced and the March bonus doesn’t come anymore?
Just sayin’…
I assume that Ms. Haynes is using a financial strategy to invest the money that would have gone into escrow. I also assume that she has discovered that her invested money pays a higher dividend than the interest and penalties she accrues from paying her taxes late.
It is not a strategy that I would use, but if she pays the interest and penalties every year, I have no problems with her strategy. Fayette County gets more money from this arrangement.
Discovering that Steve Brown made a disingenuous statement from his partisan political perspective is “news” on the same level as discovering that sea water is salty.
Except that it states she doesn’t have the money to invest. She receives the bonus payout in March each year and then takes care of her tax bill including penalties and interest…Yes, thanks for the additional $$ to the Fayette County coffers! I too am a bonus recipient from my employer but it’s not guaranteed and I wouldn’t EVER depend on it to be there to pay my property taxes! Just sayin’
I agree that paying extra doesn’t sound like a promising strategy, but apparently it works for her, and she pays all the taxes and fees each year. To each her own.
you called him a journalist? That is the only untruth in your letter, opinion.. 😂😂
At least our Presidential candidate is not a convicted felon.
You’re right he’s not. In a Democrat court made up of BA lies. But you believe anything they tell you. 🙄
Too bad your a democrat.
you’re*
You know, it’s ironic for a group that foams at the mouth for others to “speak English,” y’all show you have no grasp of the English language.
Thnk u
You’re welcome. I enjoy helping those with special needs. You keep fighting, buddy.