Ladies Enjoy Work at Tax Office
(Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of meeting the community’s public service employees who take care of the residents and businesses in Jasper County and the city of Monticello. This week, Kim Joris introduces us to some of the folks at the Jasper County Tax Commissioner’s O?ce.)
Janna Coe, the newest hire, graduated from Jasper County High School (JCHS) in 2019 and started working at the tax commissioner’s o?ce shortly thereafter. Three years later and Janna happily comes to work every day to her job.
“I love living in a small town and knowing everybody. It’s all about the community.” Coe shared. Janna lives at home with her parents Steve and Donna Coe and her older sister Kaitlyn and she claims her grandmother Mary Brooks as one of her best friends. Attending JCHS a?orded Janna the opportunity to participate in Future Farmers of America (FFA), showing pigs and cows in county wide and state shows, winning first place with her cow during her senior year.
Janna still has Oakley, one of her two show pigs, who at six years old “pretty much just hangs around the yard,” said Coe.
Janna describes her job as very relaxed, with their busiest time being during property evaluation season. Her favorite thing at work? “When the customers are nice to us,” she said, which according to Janna is most everyday. She and the other clerks share almost identical job duties, dealing with all things related to motor vehicle and property taxes, managing the payments for tags and titles and Janna said, “doing lots of filing, both old school and modern ways .”
Her weekends are filled with walks along Dauset Trails, kayaking on the Ocmulgee and Yellow Rivers and hunting with her boyfriend. She’s looking forward to an upcoming mountain camping trip in the north Georgia mountains, but her wish trip is a trip to the Okefenokee Swamp, one where she not only canoes in the gator filled swamp but she also camps.
A favorite past time also includes floral arranging, another skill Janna learned through FFA and her agriculture teacher. She is excited to be providing the floral arrangements for her cousin’s wedding.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot about computers and a lot about property while working here. I’ve learned about mortgages and escrow and car title paperwork and how to buy a car,” Janna told me, a skill set she knows she can use when she purchases her first home and car. She tells me a happy surprise of working at the tax commissioner’s o?ce is growing relationships, especially with the older people who come in. “I feel like many of them have become like my grandparents,” she said smiling.
Another familiar face at the tax commissioner’s o?ce is Kyelah Stewart. A life long city of Monticello resident, she first came to work as a tax clerk six years ago after her mother told her about a job opening. A JCHS 2014 alum, she shares her home with her boyfriend Donterio, their two year old daughter Layla Star and Kyelah’s younger brother Jordan.
Sharing the duties of the other clerks, Kyelah’s responsibility with motor vehicle titles also includes reviewing each motor vehicle title that is processed in the o?ce and then scanning it, making sure to forward each title to the state of Georgia. She spends her days collecting payments, answering questions on the phone and in person about property taxes and motor vehicle tags and helping folks make sure they have the proper paperwork for the proper vehicle.
“I get to meet people all day long. They’re having to give us money for their taxes but they know we have to pay our taxes too so they’re usually pretty nice,” Kyelah told me. “I love meeting a person and remembering their names for their next visit. I think it’s important to take care of them. It’s like we’re one large extended family,” she said.
Kyelah does not think of living anywhere else, mostly because she loves being around family. “My two year old daughter has never had to spend a day in child care thanks to my family helping out,” adding that Layla Star spends her days with Kyelah’s mom or Auntie when Kyelah is working.
Though she loves to cook, a favorite activity for Kyelah is eating out. She follows restaurant reviews on Tik Tok and frequents Atlanta area eateries and events on weekends. She also does make up for folks, telling me she was providing the bridal make up for an upcoming wedding.
At the helm in the o?ce is Angela Walsh, Jasper County Tax Commissioner. Currently in her third elected term as Jasper County’s Tax Commissioner, she must qualify to run for reelection for her o?ce every four years. Her position is classified as a constitutional o?cer position, meaning in part that her job is required by Georgia state law and its duties are spelled out by the Georgia Constitution.
Duties that include collecting taxes and disbursing those taxes bi-monthly to the appropriate city, county and state o?ces—the city of Monticello, the county board of commissioners, the Board of Education and the state of Georgia.
Duties that do not include setting any value on your property, or as she told me while pointing to the hand painted sign on the back wall of the tax commissioner’s o?ce: “Your property values we don’t appraise, nor your value do we raise. We don’t set the county mil, All we do is send the bill.”
A Jasper County resident since she was 10 years old, a JCHS 1995 graduate and a graduate of Georgia College and State University (GCSU) with a degree in history, Angela lives with her husband of 22 years Michael, a native of Jasper County, their 19 year old daughter Laura and 14 year old son Tyler, their two dogs, a cat and cows.
Prior to being elected Angela worked for many years at a local insurance o?ce, confessing she has a fondness for many of her former insurance customers. “One of the things I love about my job here is I can still take care of my insurance customers,” Walsh said telling me she loves the customer service aspect of her work. During our interview Angela stepped away from behind her desk more than once to assist customers at the window and welcomed one of her long time customers back in her o?ce for a visit, being sure to ask him how he’s been and checking in on his family.
“I like my job. I love my community and I’m thankful to be able to serve the people of Jasper County. My favorite thing is when we can work with folks and help them out with payment plans when they need help paying their taxes,” Walsh said.
Away from work Angela loves nothing more than traveling through time by delving into a good historical fiction novel, telling me she currently has 10 books in her Pines Library Libby e-book que. She has an equal love for music, hosting over 1,300 songs in one of her online music library. Alternative is her favorite genre naming The Revivalists as her current favorite, followed immediately by Mumford and Sons, and she is excited about attending her first Ed Sheeran concert soon.
When she’s not reading, she’s volunteering at her church with her Girls in Action program or singing in the church choir and she loves going camping with her family and helping her husband with the cows.
The Jasper County Tax Commissioner’s O?ce located in the court house at 126 W. Green Street, Monticello, is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The office can be reached via phone at 706-468-4902.
