Franklin IBA Continues Efforts to Clear CUVA Breach Confusion

Members of the Franklin County Industrial Building Authority have voted to authorize their attorney to enter into litigation with the Franklin County Tax Commissioner’s office regarding the Commissioner’s request that members sign an affidavit regarding a 2019 CUVA breach payment.

At their February meeting, the IBA Board said they had no knowledge of who had paid over $80,000 in CUVA Breach taxes on property sold five years ago to a Florida Trucking Company.

LandStar Transportation of Florida purchased parcel #012016C, which is listed as 20 acres of a 36-acre land tract on JF Shirley Road at the corner of Old Federal Highway and I-85 originally owned by Abe Padgett.

LandStar had planned to build a warehouse on the property but it never happened.

According to the Franklin County Tax Assessor’s office, LandStar Transportation still owns the land.

However, the Tax Commissioner’s office lists the IBA as the owner of the property and the entity that has been paying the CUVA Breach for the past five years.

To have the IBA taken off the tax records as the property owner, Commissioner Bobby Martin has requested IBA Board members sign a document stating they do not own the property nor did they pay the CUVA Breach.

However, IBA Board members voted in February not to sign the document because except for Board Chair Lee Moore, none of them were on the IBA in 2019 and had no knowledge of who was there when LandStar closed on the property nor where the annual CUVA Breach payments have come from.

At Wednesday’s meeting Martin said that on the advice of counsel, he would not remove the IBA from the tax records unless all members signed the affidavit.

Lavonia Mayor Courtney Umbehant said again he would not sign a document regarding a matter he had no knowledge of, and Royston Mayor Keith Turman agreed.

Umbehant then asked Martin what else could be done to clear the matter.

Mayor Turman added that he did not know how or why the situation occurred.

Martin said in 2019 former IBA Chair Harris Little told him that the CUVA Breach would be paid even though the LandStar never built their facility on the property.

After hearing from Martin, the Board voted to authorize attorney Andrea Grant to pursue litigation to clear the matter.