After 22 years of service in the Forrest County tax collector’s office, former chief deputy collector Malcolm Berch is seeking a return to that venue – this time, for a stint as the county’s newest tax collector.
That seat will become vacant later this year, as Barbara Hudson – who was recently sworn in to fill the remaining term of her husband and former tax collector, Billy Hudson, who recently passed away – has announced she will not seek election for the spot. Berch, a Republican, filled out qualifying paperwork for the position on January 3, the first day of the qualifying period.
“I worked in that office for 22 years under (former tax collector Delbert) Dearman, and my motivation is that I love that job – helping the people of Forrest County,” Berch said. “(I enjoy) just working every day to protect the public funds of the taxpayers of Forrest County, and to make sure everyone paid what they were supposed to – but also to make sure that people weren’t paying more than they were supposed to.
“To have people come in every day and need help with an issue, with a property issue or a motor vehicle issue … all these things that I did there, I kind of miss it. I’m a people person, and I like to be around people and I love helping people, and resolving problems for people that need help.”
Berch grew up in McComb before moving to Hattiesburg to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting. In addition to his 22 years at the Forrest County tax office, he also has worked at Horne CPA.
For the last three years, he was worked for the City of Hattiesburg, for which he is now the acting chief financial officer.
“Obviously, (I think) the experience (makes me the best candidate) – I did the job for 22 years,” Berch said. “The last few years I served in that capacity, Mr. Dearman had cancer, and my responsibilities grew quite tremendously to make sure everything in that office got taken care of.
“The second thing is, is that I have an accounting degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, and that goes a long way in being able to make sure you (funds) are balanced. That’s a very complicated job, and I don’t think it’s something to be sneezed at, because that’s public funds and every penny needs to be accounted for, and that’s what was happening when I was there.”
Berch said if elected, he would immediately focus on continuous training for the office staff, among other measures.
“I know (that cutting down wait time has been mentioned), but I think a lot of that has to do with COVID and people finding alternatives like paying online and using the drop box and things like that,” he said. “People don’t want to go stand in line with a lot of people, but as we come out of that pandemic, if the lines start becoming a problem again, we don’t need to increase and go back to the old ways of wait times.
“We need to make sure that people don’t have to wait in line for an extended period of time to pay their taxes.”
The qualifying period for county offices will last until 5 p.m. February 1. The primary election will be held on August 8, with a primary runoff election on August 29 if none of the candidates receive the necessary 50 percent of the vote plus one vote.
The general election will be held November 7.
Along with Berch, David Hogan and Zac Howell also have qualified for the tax collector position.
