Lee County Tax Collector candidates see different futures for office
Jul. 5—TUPELO — With the retirement of long-time Lee County Tax Collector Leroy Belk last November, the stage is set for a three-way Republican battle to decide the future of the seat.
As the name of the position suggests, the tax collector's job is to collect ad valorem taxes on property, including personal property, mobile homes, automobiles, motorcycles, motor homes, trailers, airplanes, vending machines, business licenses and more. The tax collector is also charged with distributing the taxes to the proper entities in state government.
Three candidates seek the seat, all Republicans: Tupelo Ward 2 Councilman and council President Lynn Bryan, Interim Tax Collector Crystal Heatherly, and accounts payable for the Lee County School District Robbie Montgomery.
With no Democrats running for the position, the election will be decided in the Aug. 8 primary election.
Bryan hopes to push office forward technologically
Bryan, 60, is serving his third term as Ward 2 councilman in Tupelo, where he currently serves as the council president. If elected, Bryan will have to vacate his council seat, triggering a special election.
Bryan also owns Lynn Bryan Construction.
"I've been successful at everything I've done. That doesn't mean that we haven't had pitfalls. That's just life," he said. "This job doesn't have an heir apparent. That's why we have an election. We've got to put a fresh set of eyes on (the office)."
He said there are a handful of changes he would like to see at the tax collector's office, and Byran said he believes he is the person to accomplish those changes. The line, online billing and the location of the office are chief among the issues Bryan sees for the office.
"I think that it could be better," he said. "It's 2023, and we still have a line out the door ... everybody uses debit or credit cards, and we are paying high fees. We shouldn't be running this thing like it's 1970."
To Bryan, the tax collector's website needs updates and upgrades, adding he believes paying bills online is currently too convoluted. Long wait times at the tax collector's office are an issue Bryan hopes to solve through technology upgrades that incentivize paying bills online.
"They can have a safe, secure payment form online and shop the fees around for as low as they can get them," he said. "It's there; We just need to take advantage of it. ... The tax collector works for the taxpayers. We need to make it easy to pay."
Bryan also believes the tax collector's office should be moved out of the old court building, noting that there isn't sufficient parking for the volume of citizens who need to use the office each day. He also hopes to move garbage collection fees from the Justice Center directly to the tax collector's office.
Heatherly wants to build upon her predecessor's legacy
Over nine months into taking office as the interim tax collector, Heatherly, 43, said she is confident she's a perfect fit for the position.
Heatherly began working at the tax collector's office about 12 years ago. Before that, she worked in dentistry, where she found a love for helping people.
"This really is about serving our community, and my passion just grew around it," she said. "The more I learned, the more I began to love it. I really have enjoyed being able to come up with ideas to better serve the community."
At its heart, the tax collector's job is public service, Heatherly said. She said it's important to bring a positive energy to the table on both sides. She said when she first took over, her primary goal was to shift the culture within the office to a happier disposition, and she said she believes she accomplished just that.
"No one wants to pay taxes. I'm in their boat as well, so what can we do to make their situation better?" she said. "I wanted to change the morale in the office. ... We had some attitudes that needed to change. That has made a huge difference."
She said when she first got appointed, she sat down with all the employees and asked what she could do to make the office a better work environment. Heatherly said she made a smattering of behind-the-scenes changes to help the employees. This morale improvement, she said, led to more productivity.
"We basically eliminated our backlog with mail collections," she said, noting that by Feb. 1, the office has a two- to three-week backlog that caused friction. This year, however, they have no backlogs in mail payments.
The wait time and line, she said, has long been the greatest issue facing the office, and she has already taken some measures to speed it up. Another addition to the office Heatherly made was adding multiple kiosks through which people can pay their taxes without waiting in line.
By next tax season, Heatherly hopes to install an intercom system to help further ease long lines. She likened it to a doctor's office, where a person will sign in on a tablet with their phone number and wait to be called by name over the intercom. If the person does not answer, the clerk will call the phone number.
"I can't hire employees," she said. "I don't have room for them, and we don't have the budget for more employees. We have to work with what we've got. ... it will be more of a waiting room-type setting than standing in line. A lot of people will come in and see the line and leave. They don't realize that line is moving."
Montgomery sees office in need of change
Montgomery, 43, who works for the Lee County School District, previously worked at the tax collector's office for over two decades.
She said though the school district has been wonderful to her, she believes she could be a great asset to the office and the people of Lee County.
She said when she moved to the Lee County School District specifically to be closer to her children, one of whom has dyslexia and was having a hard time in school until this year.
Her favorite aspect of her former job at the tax collector's office, Montgomery said, was helping individuals. She said she hopes to get back to a more public-facing job.
"I absolutely love those customers," she said. "I can help people at the school district, just not at that level. I love to make people happy."
Like Bryan and Heatherly, Montgomery, if elected, plans to do something about the long lines at the tax collector's office. She said the line has been an issue since even before she started working there at 19, noting there are many ways to alleviate the problem.
"No one likes to wait," she said. "I've been there, and I know some things that work. It worked while I was there ... On busy days, we had to utilize every person there. It takes everybody."
She also said she would like to open at least two of the three doors that were first locked during the height of the pandemic, noting she thought only having one way in and out of the building was unsafe.
Montgomery said technology updates are important, pointing to the kiosks placed in the office. Though she believes technology can be a helpful tool, she said the reality of the situation is that, more often than not, people who go to the office directly would rather speak to someone in person rather than a kiosk.
"I'm old-fashioned; I don't like kiosks; I don't like machines," she said. "I want a face; I want a person helping me, and I think you need a little more of that. I'm not saying kiosks are a bad thing. I don't ever want it to be all that's there to help you. You need to see a smile."
