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The Covington County Commission considered action on six topics, including approving an insolvent tax list for unpaid properties and updating a policy in the public transit department at a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

The commission approved a request for insolvents, errors, and tax litigations for 2021, upon the request of Revenue Commissioner Chuck Patterson.

“Every year, we have an insolvent list of business and personal property that is not paid. We will advertise those in the Andalusia Star-News soon. We have to have County Commission approval of these insolvents prior to advertising. We’re at $2,280.98 uncollected and will continue trying to collect these and reach out to businesses as well. With the ad valorem tax in the county, we’re down to about $40,000 uncollected on 120 parcels. We’re having a tax sale Wednesday, May 18 at 10 a.m. on the courthouse steps. I hope I have none to sell, but normally every year, we have a few,” Patterson said.

The commission adopted a resolution updating the Title VI Act policy for the CATS Department. This is a non-discrimination policy for the public transit department to comply with updated federal rules.

“This has not been revised since 2016, and the state wants it updated with the 2020 Census,” stated CATS Director Tami Baxley. “I hired a new driver, and we are in the middle of training. We are running four full-time drivers. Everything is going really well. We are waiting on two new vans that have been ordered and are hoping they arrive within six to nine months. We are trying not to go up on rates, which have not been updated since 2015. We could really use the two new vans and two more full-time drivers right now. We are having to turn riders down and getting a lot of complaints on that, but hopefully that will improve by the end of the year.”

In other business:

• The commission unanimously approved the reappointment of Thomas Huggins, Cory Spurlin, and Sonny Bedsole to four-year terms on the Covington County E911 Board. Each member’s current term expires May 31, 2022.
• The commission approved the purchase of an additional Ford Explorer for the Covington County Sheriff’s Department out of the Sheriff’s discretionary funds.
• The commission approved discussion for the county’s current Internet provider to discuss services with a successor provider.
• The commission awarded bids for glass beads used on highway striping to Sherwin Williams and Potters Industries LLC.

The next meeting of the Covington County Commission will be held Tuesday, May 24, 9 a.m., at the Covington County Administration Building. The public is invited to attend.