MARBLE HILL ISSUE ON BALLOT

MARBLE HILL -- Voters in Marble Hill will go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to make the city collector an appointed position.

A simple majority is needed for passage.

The job is an elected position. City officials want to make it an appointed position.

City Administrator Rick Jones said an elected city collector doesn't have to have accounting or computer skills. "Anybody could be elected to it," he said.

City officials argue that computer and billing skills are essential for an effective collector.

The elected city collector, Brenda Hughes, quit this fall to move to Georgia. The Board of Aldermen appointed Carla Watt to fill the vacancy after their first candidate for the job had to leave for family health reasons.

Watt has accounting and computer experience, Jones said. But she wouldn't be able to run for a full term in April because she doesn't live in Marble Hill. As it currently stands, a person can't run for city collector unless he or she lives in the city.

If voters make the position an appointed one, Watt could keep her job, Jones said.

The city administrator said the proposal makes sense. "We are handling city taxpayer dollars," he said.

The person who handles tax collections for the city shouldn't be there because he or she won a "popularity contest," Jones said.