On Friday morning, JoAnn Spicer qualified to run the Tift County Tax Commissioner post. Spicer will run on the Republican ticket against the Democrat incumbent Gene Goode.

Spicer has been employed as the Chief (Tax) Appraiser for the Lowndes County Board of Assessors since January 2, 2001. “I’ve commuted every day,” Spicer said. “I’ve always lived in Tift County.” Spicer said she was appointed to the position “by the only county in the state that has chosen to elect their members of the board of assessors.”

“I’ve always wanted to come back home,” she said.

Spicer had been working as the full-time Chief (Tax) Appraiser in Tift County when she was recruited by Lowndes County. She was in that Tift County position from 1995 until December 31, 2000.

In 1983 she was employed as “the ex-officio sheriff in charge of tax collections” in Tift County. She continued in that position until she accepted the position as Interim Chief (Tax) Appraiser for the Tift County Board of Assessors.

“My first job after high school was in the tax commissioner’s office,” Spicer said. She began work there as a clerk in 1967 and remained in that position for three years.

“I’ve always wanted to serve the people of Tift County,” Spicer said. “All of my experience is in the tax commission office.” Spicer said she had always enjoyed her work. “I have always tried to make everyone feel welcome and treated them with the utmost respect and compassion,” she said.

Spicer said she felt her many years of experience in the two tax commission offices gives her “more than sufficient experience and knowledge” to perform the duties of tax commissioner.

She is married to Billy Spicer who just retired after serving 28 years with Tift County as the Building and Grounds Director. They have been married for 38 years. The Spicers have two children and four grand-children. Their son, Mike Spicer, is employed as a commercial truck driver and their daughter, Kim Spradley, is a member of the Fitness One Consulting Team with Body Plex.

To contact reporter Jana Cone, call 382-4321, ext. 208.