Thumbs up, down

Thumbs down to the Madison County Board of Supervisors for its handling of the switch to semiannual taxes approved at its Dec. 17 continued meeting.

While we are not opposed to twice a year taxes per se, we question the haste in which the change was enacted. There may be valid reasons why supervisors thought it was necessary to rush to a vote before they had clear answers to basic questions, such as if it would actually improve county cash flow to collect taxes semiannually.

Some thought it might end up costing more, when one factors in the cost of added staff needed to process the new June collection.

If there were valid reasons to vote before this was solidly answered — for example, in order to meet some sort of legal deadline — supervisors should have more clearly revealed this to the public.

Why the rush to vote on this?

We do agree, however, with Supervisor Bill Crigler, who cast the lone dissenting vote on the switch. He said, “I would like to have [Commissioner of Revenue
Gale Harris’] endorsement.” (She didn’t attend the meeting.)

Thumbs up to folks who properly recycle their Christmas trees. The Madison County Transfer Station will grind your old tree into environmentally friendly
mulch for free if you are a county resident. In this way, its organic matter can return to help nourish the earth from which it sprang as a seedling a decade or so ago.

Traditionally, the transfer station has saved this mulch and given it out free to county residents in the spring, although it didn’t last year because it was needed for construction of the county’s sprawling 11-field Hoover Ridge athletic complex.

(No announcement has been made yet on this year’s mulch availability.)

The transfer station is off Route 662 in Shelby and its regular hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. (It has more limited holiday hours.) Its phone number is (540) 948-3938.

Next year, why not consider getting a living, “balled and burlapped” Christmas tree that can be replanted after Christmas? A limited number are available at
Madison-area nurseries and these businesses would carry more if the public helped make them bigger sellers.