Hundreds of people owe money to the Town of Dobbins Heights.

Mayor Pro Tem Gracie C. Jackson wants it clear she isn’t one of them.

The town has run advertisements in the Richmond County Daily Journal and posted the list of delinquent taxpayers on the town hall doors in effort to recoup the money. Somehow Jackson’s name got on the list for the overdue sum of 10 cents.

Jackson isn’t laughing.

Thursday night, Jackson showed up for the town board meeting with a sandwich bag full of nickels and dimes.

“I brought rolled change here today and if anyone owes 10 cents or five cents, you can use this as payment,” Jackson said. “I always pay my taxes on time.”

The town had been using an old system that used Microsoft DOS. The town is upgrading to a new system.

Tax Collector Kathryn Adams assured Jackson that it was a computer error and not a joke and nothing was done intentionally or personally.

“I would like to thank everyone who is paying their taxes, and are going to pay,” said Mayor Antonio Blue. Blue however told Jackson that she couldn’t pay the taxes for someone else.

So far the town has collected $53,411.26 from taxpayers, according to Adams. The town had budgeted for $48,280, but was owned more than $100,000 from years past.

In other action:

Mayor Blue said there is some new information that is being looked into in regards to 13 recent fires in the town. Rewards are still available through Crimestoppers and the North Carolina Arson Awareness Council.

The council agreed that some of the funds that were left over from the 2009-10 budget would be used to have sewer lines placed on Rose Street. That section of town is still using septic tank systems.

“This should happen in the next two months,” Blue said.

The sanitation service will be starting new service hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and new garbage cans may be purchased by citizens. “These new cans will be able to be picked up by the garbage trucks and they are available in size medium and large,” Council Member Mary Ann Gibson said.

Jackson informed the council that one of the street workers, due to his health, needed to change his shift to earlier in the morning so that he could still get the job done but stay out of the heat at the same time. The bushes on the street corners have posed a problem for citizens and travelers and that is being addressed.

Council Member Charles R. Jones Sr. is working on getting some softballs teams together for the community. According to Council Member Angeline David the Dobbins Heights park is being continuously worked on to accommodate programs in the upcoming summer months. “I’d like to thank Joe Young, for all the volunteer work that he has done at the park,” David said.

The council approved the use of the park by Mirror Image Tabernacle of Faith for their Harvest Fest on Aug. 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Hollie Nivens can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or by e-mailing at hnivens@yourdailyjournal.com