Ferdinand v. Board of Comm'rs of Fulton County

On March 4, 2005, Arthur Ferdinand, the Fulton County Tax Commissioner, sent a memo to Fulton County’s Personnel Director indicating his intent to raise the salaries of his chief deputy, six subsidiary deputies, and two administrative assistants. The Director refused to implement the raises, citing Fulton County Personnel Regulations that restricted Ferdinand from adjusting the salaries of civil service employees. Ferdinand filed a declaratory action seeking a ruling that his employees are not Fulton County employees, and therefore, are not a part of the Fulton County civil service system. Both Fulton County and Ferdinand moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted Fulton County’s motion and denied Ferdinand’s. 1. The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the employees of the Fulton County Tax Commissioner’s office are included in the Fulton County civil service system.1

Pursuant to a 1939 amendment to the Georgia Constitution “the 1939 Amendment”,2 the Georgia General Assembly enacted a law in 1943 creating a civil service and/or merit system for Fulton County. 1943 Ga. L., p. 971 “the 1943 Act”. By expressly stating that the deputies and employees of the Tax Receiver and Tax Collector’s offices fell into the category of “classified service,” the 1943 Act included these employees in the Fulton County civil service system. Id. at 980, § 5 2.