BRANT MEADOWS FORCED TO PAY BACK TAXES

ELECTION BOARD WILL ASK TOUGH QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS ELIGIBILITY

CUMMING- Brant Meadows wants everyone to pay their fair share of taxes- everyone, that is, but Brant Meadows.

Pete Amos' opponent in the race for the District 1 seat on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioner has been double dipping on his homestead exemptions for the last seven years.

Meadow, who claims on his campaign website to want everyone to pay their fair share of taxes, has received one homestead exemption for a residence at 7002 Bennington Lane and another at 794 Timber Lake Trail since 2003.

With the exemptions, Meadows was able to avoid paying over $1,700.00 in taxes owed to Forsyth County. But he won't be able to dodge them much longer. The Tax Assessor's office confirmed Monday morning that Meadows has been billed for the back taxes and could face a stiff penalty plus interest for his inability to manage his own finances.

And, there was more bad news for the Meadows campaign. On Monday, the Board of Elections voted unanimously to conduct a formal hearing into this eligibility to run for county commission in District 1 until it can be determined which is his current address. The Timber Lake Trail address is outside the boundary of District 1 and inside District 5.

That hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on June 17 in the Board of Commissioners conference room at 110 East Main Street in Cumming.

"This appears to be more than just an innocent oversight," Amos said Monday. "One year, maybe. But how does someone who is asking voters to entrust him with millions of their tax dollars gain the benefit of two separate homestead exemptions for seven years and not notice it?"