HCFA Lauds Accounting Assistant in IRS Battle

By Will Johnson                                                                                                                                                       Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY – Sometimes persistence pays off. Seldom does it happen when a group goes up against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but every now and then, the outcome is favorable. When that rare moment occurs, the person responsible for the victory deserves to be recognized.

Such was the case during the Houston County Fair Association (HCFA) meeting held on Thursday, Aug. 10. Shortly before a motion to adjourn, HCFA Secretary Beverly Moore commended accounting assistant Martha Sims for her efforts in protesting a penalty levied against the HCFA by the IRS.

“If you remember,” Secretary Moore said, “We had an IRS penalty of $160. Martha was kind enough to pay it out of her pocket and then she wrote appeal letter after appeal letter. Well, we got a refund, plus interest. Part of a recent deposit was $162.20 and we need to pay Martha back, obviously.”

HCFA President Scott Moore commented, “That was nice of her to do that and write letter after letter.”

“I can tell you,” the HCFA Secretary added, “she wrote a letter about every three weeks. I received a letter from the IRS about every two weeks which stated ‘We received your appeal letter and we will let you know the outcome within 10 business days.’ Then, we would never hear anything until we got this check.”

Sims is employed by the accounting firm of Nesmith and Co., LLP and assists the HCFA with tax filings as well as other tax related matters.

Prior to the IRS discussion, the minutes of the HCFA’s meeting held on June 1 were approved as read, as was the association’s most recent financial report. Once the reports were approved, President Moore addressed the amount of new judges needed for the 2017 Houston County Fair and Youth Livestock Show.

It was determined two new judges would be needed for the ag mechanics category, two new judges would be needed for commercial heifer category and one new judge would be necessary for the steers and heifers.

President Moore requested Bubba Erickson to head up the judges’ committee “… and get some people confirmed.”

In a related matter, a discussion was also held about the schedule of the 2017 fair. It was determined the event would be held the week of April 3-7 and tentatively decided to leave last year’s schedule intact. The reasoning was to be able to give potential judges a definitive time and date for their services.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].