A retired Coca-Cola Co. attorney will lead the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation for the next three to six months as it addresses a financial shortfall and plots a new long-term direction.
The citizen watchdog group is struggling to raise another $50,000 by the end of this month to stay in business. But Jim Honkisz, the new president and board chairman, said he believes it will remain open, “at least for the short term.”
Honkisz said the foundation may drop or scale back its property tax appeals services and focus more on government watchdogging. He said those services haven’t generated much revenue for the foundation.
That wouldn’t sit well with outgoing President John Sherman, who sees the property tax appeals service as one of the foundation’s key accomplishments.
“There’s no reason why it should not be continued,” said Sherman, who will become president emeritus.
The board of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation named Honkisz president and chairman on Wednesday.
The foundation has long crusaded against waste and corruption. Among other things, it has made its voice heard in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, the city’s pension crisis, the Beltline project and last summer’s failed sales tax referendum.
It has taken a special interest in property taxes. It sponsors appeals classes for people who think the county has overvalued their property for tax purposes and handles hundreds of appeals each year for a fee.
But the foundation must plug a $50,000 budget hole. Foundation officials cite a decline in contributions and a leadership vacuum as Sherman, 89, suffered recent health problems. Sherman also blames overspending by the foundation’s former executive director, who was recently laid off along with its only other employee.
It now falls to Honkisz to lead the foundation to solvency. A longtime board member, he agreed to become the unpaid interim president for three to six months. He said that will give the foundation time to right itself and find a permanent replacement for Sherman.
The foundation board also must decide whether it can afford to continue offering property tax appeals services. Honkisz said the service hasn’t generated as much revenue as the foundation had hoped and may not be worth continuing.
Sherman disputes that. He said the program generates sufficient money, attracts new members and benefits existing ones.
Sherman will remain active in the foundation. And despite their differences of opinion, Sherman praised Honkisz as “a fine man” with a good heart.
Honkisz, 64, spent 23 years as an attorney for Coca-Cola. He retired in 2003 as senior counsel for the company’s Latin American Group and later taught business and international law at Kennesaw State University.
He credits Sherman with making the foundation influential in local politics.
“Those are tough shoes to fill,” he said.
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