Interim Tax Appraiser Enters Through Gilmer County’s Revolving Door

With yet one more turn of events, the revolving door on the Gilmer County Tax Appraiser’s office spins again. Last month, Chief Tax Assessor Stan King resigned to accept another opportunity. Before Mr. King, Dawn Pruett held the position. She was dismissed in May. Now, Richard Lamb has the interim position. Hailing from Macon, Georgia, Lamb brings over 40 years of experience to the table. After returning from the service, he worked for the Macon-Bibb County Tax Assessors’ Office for five years. He then was employed as an appraiser with a Federal Savings and Loan association, where he later earned a management position. Lamb ended his career as a Senior Vice-President with a major financial institution in 1999. In 2001, he came out of retirement to work with the Gilmer County Tax Assessors Office for five years, leaving in 2006. He has been married to his wife Patricia for 35 years and has two children and four grandchildren.

Lamb comes to the Gilmer County post in the midst of a recession, at a time when Georgia’s unemployment rate is 9.9 percent, when Gilmer County residents face an inevitable increase in millage rate, and at a time when citizens are concerned with the declining value of their property. In this climate, residents are watching every penny with a careful eye on their property value.

The Board of Tax Assessors approved Lamb as interim tax appraiser Thursday at its regular monthly meeting. However, while receiving a warm welcome from board members, Lamb seemed to get a glimpse of some of the challenges he will face, when several citizens aired their grievances. In addition to these grievances, the county must render 229 appeals, all in the light of a crippling economy. As such, Lamb will have to rely on his years of experience to keep the operations running smoothly until the door of the tax assessors office revolves once again.