Julia Pierce | July 20, 2026

This publication will be short, sweet, and direct.

On August 13, 2024, Phyllis Blocker, Marion County, Georgia’s recently retired Tax Commissioner, requested that the Board of Commissioners approve her request to “void remaining unclaimed [tax] refund checks.” It is noted that the majority of those checks was $5, but that does not mean that they were all $5. The amount of those unclaimed property tax refund checks was $10,187.99.

Take note that there was no public agenda and there was no public attendance noted.

Marshall Fontaine was the first commissioner to motion to accept Phyllis’ request. Shane Grier was the second to motion to accept Phyllis Blocker’s request, and then Commissioners Fontaine, Grier, and Matt Gunnels all approved her request. Commissioner Norman Royal was absent and George Neal said nothing.

Why is this a problem?

The Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (O.C.G.A. 44-12-190) requires that all unclaimed property being reported to the Department of Revenue. O.C.G.A. § 44-12-227 provides that the penalty for not doing so is stated as:

• (a) A person, firm, or corporation who willfully fails to render any report or perform other duties required under this article shall pay a civil penalty of $100.00 for each day the report is withheld or the duty is not performed, but not more than $5,000.00.
• (b) A person, firm, or corporation who willfully fails to pay or deliver property to the commissioner as required under this article shall pay a civil penalty equal to 25 percent of the value of the property that should have been paid or delivered.
• (c) A person, firm, or corporation who willfully refuses after written demand by the commissioner to pay or deliver as required by this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or by imprisonment not to exceed six months or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Phyllis Blocker did her duty to report the unclaimed property to the commissioner, so she did part of her job, but where she went wrong is asking them to void the checks, which then allows the county to keep the funds that are legally not theirs to keep. Where she also went wrong is not reporting the unclaimed tax refunds to the Georgia Department of Revenue. Did she not know that the law required her to do so or did she know she was supposed to and just not care?

Where the commissioners went wrong is when they approved for those checks to be voided AND where they refused to report the unclaimed tax refunds to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

O.C.G.A. 1-3-6 states that after laws “take effect, the laws of this state are obligatory upon all the inhabitants thereof. Ignorance of the law excuses no one.”

Questions that Need Answers

• Why did Phyllis Blocker request the Board of Commissioners to void tax refund checks if the law required her to report them as unclaimed property to the Georgia Department of Revenue?
• Why did Fontaine, Grier, and Gunnels approve her request if the law required them to report the tax refund checks as unclaimed property to the Georgia Department of Revenue?
• Why was Norman Royal absent?
• Why was George Neal silent?
• How many actual checks were there?
• What did they do with the money?
• Where was the public when this was being requested?

What do you think?

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