Habersham tax assessors seat remained vacant after Church appointment effort stalled

A vacant seat on Habersham County’s Board of Tax Assessors was still unfilled on April 19, 2021, when Commissioner Tench’s motion to appoint Chief Appraiser Joan Church received no second and was automatically tabled. The commission minutes say no majority appointment had been made at the March 15 meeting, leaving the seat vacant at the time of the April action.

The unresolved appointment concerned more than a single opening. The Board of Tax Assessors is part of the county’s property-assessment system, making its membership consequential for taxpayers and property owners across Habersham County. Commissioners also raised a governance question over whether the county’s chief appraiser could serve on the board involved in tax-assessment functions.

The dispute first surfaced in the February 15, 2021 commission meeting, when Tench nominated Church for the board. With no second to the nomination, commissioners unanimously tabled it, requested a legal review and said Church would need to apply under county policy before the matter could be considered. By April, the commission minutes described the seat associated with Phil Neeley’s expired term as still vacant after no majority appointment at the March 15 meeting; Tench’s renewed motion again lacked a second.

Tench pressed for Church’s appointment, first through a nomination and later through a formal motion. Other commissioners did not provide the second needed to move either effort forward. The February minutes reflect commissioners’ concern that a legal review was needed and their position that Church should apply under policy; they do not record a county attorney opinion or a final determination that she was eligible or ineligible to serve.

What the minutes establish is two tabled appointment efforts, not Church’s appointment and not a ruling on her eligibility. The April 19 motion was automatically tabled after receiving no second, and the minutes then described the seat as vacant. The record does not identify a later vote, another applicant, a replacement for the expired term or a final disposition of the vacancy.

No later official action or scheduled public step is documented after the April 19 meeting. Any future commission agenda item, application process or legal opinion could clarify whether the seat was filled and whether Church could be considered, but neither outcome is established here. A separate minutes entry repeats the February tabling action but does not state its own meeting date.