Payments sought from DeKalb commissioners
Two DeKalb County commissioners were recently asked to pay personal debts through their government salaries, according to Channel 2 Action News.
The county's payroll office received a request Feb. 4 to garnish $157,238 from Commissioner Stan Watson. The money is being sought by two women who won a $150,500 verdict against Watson last year after he falsely accused them of stealing his wallet.
Watson declined to comment to Channel 2.
In a separate case, the IRS gave notice of a levy on Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton’s salary in early February, and then the IRS released the levy Feb. 10. An IRS levy allows the government to seize property to satisfy a tax debt. Tax documents don’t say how much money was owed to the IRS.
Sutton said the levy was cleared after a “miscommunication of a document.”
“I contacted my attorney who contacted the IRS, and the issue was resolved,” she wrote in a statement to Channel 2. “This was a minor issue that was swiftly and easily resolved.”
DeKalb commissioners are paid salaries of about $40,000 a year.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
