COVINGTON, Ga. — Newton County’s coroner and tax commissioner recently unveiled plans to realign their offices with new staffing and equipment.

Coroner Dorothea Bailey-Butts and Tax Commissioner Marcus Jordan told the Newton County Board of Commissioners recently they needed more staff and new equipment to do their jobs in the best ways possible.

Both came to office Jan. 1 after ousting their predecessors in the November 2020 election.

A budget document showed Jordan requested an increase in the 2022 budget of about $112,000 from his office’s current $1.249 million budget to do a number of changes.

Jordan said during a Board budget workshop April 14 he wanted to add five new positions to realign the tax commissioner’s office both for efficiency and to collect millions in back taxes owed to the county.

“If we have to lay off two to three positions to get what I want, that’s what I want,” Jordan said during the workshop.

He said he wanted to hire a deputy tax commissioner whose sole focus is collecting unpaid taxes.

Someone now does that job along with other office functions, he said.

“We’ve outgrown the current structure,” Jordan told commissioners.

He said adding additional managers in the department “will create a second level of checks and balancing disbursements accounts.”

Jordan also said he wanted to upgrade its computer system, and redesign its website to make it more “customer-friendly.”

“The new website will migrate with both property and motor vehicle programs which will meet the needs of the public by providing ad valorem tax information and updates,” Jordan wrote in information given to county officials.

He said his top priority in the 2022 budget year is improving the office’s efficiency by upgrading the current property tax software to a Windows-based system.

“These technology upgrades will enhance the online payment options and allow for future expansion of various county services,” Jordan wrote.

County Manager Lloyd Kerr said he was only recommending one of the five positions be filled.

Commissioner Demond Mason said he believed Jordan had a “great plan.”

“But we only have a certain amount of money,” he told Jordan.

Bailey-Butts wanted to increase the coroner’s office budget from its current $88,000 to $237,000 for such items as training, travel, contract labor (deputy coroners), uniforms, fuel and small equipment, a budget document stated.

She told commissioners she wanted to increase her office’s staffing levels and training; seek accreditation for the office; and increase the office’s supplies and upgrade its infrastructure.

She introduced consultant Blaine Ross, a former Cherokee County deputy coroner, who presented Bailey-Butts’ plans for the office to the commissioners.

He said she had two deputy coroners now but wanted to create positions for a chief deputy coroner, four deputy coroners, a clerk and a coroner’s technician.

Ross, who Bailey-Butts said was a state coroner training instructor, said the chief deputy coroner would perform such tasks as procurement and work on complex cases. A clerk position would provide support for the other staff members as well as serve as a public information officer.

He also said the coroner’s office also would like to upgrade the current morgue facility in downtown Covington.

Bailey-Butts also was requesting a $60,000 salary based, in part, on her declining the county’s health insurance, he said.

The finance office’s recommendation, though, was for the office to have a $110,000 budget and for Bailey-Butts to continue with a $35,000 salary.