The volleys continue between 9th District Congressman Doug Collins (R-Gainesville) and the IRS over an understaffed IRS office in Gainesville.
Collins this time took issue with the budget cuts that IRS spokesman Mark Green cited for the lack of staff at the Oak Street Office, which has one employee and one security guard.
"While the IRS may have experienced budget cuts, I fell it is necessary to point out that Congressional offices under House Republicans have cut their own budgets 20 percent and still manage to provide thorough and timely constituent services," Collins wrote.
Green stated in a prior response to Collins that taxpayers have other options for solving problems with the IRS that would not require them to meet a representative in person.
"This is valuable information. Unfortunately this information does not appear to be widely known by taxpayers. Additionally, it does not solve the problem of lack of staff," said Collins, who stated the issue is more a matter of asset management than anything else.
Green estimated that half the visits to the IRS office could be handled online or over the phone.
Collins, citing numbers provided by the IRS, said the agency employs more than 4,300 people across the state, yet has only one employee for the 700,000 residents of Northeast Georgia.
"The IRS has been too concerned with political gains with political gaines than they have been with actually doing their job," said Collins in a phone interview.
He asked in his letter the IRS to provide a "full accounting of the roles IRS personnel in Georgia currently fill."
Collins also asked for information about the decision-making process that led to the Gainesville office having one employee, and why one of the other state employees could not be assigned there as well.
His final request asked for the agency to "explain what is more important than ensuring that IRS personnel are serving customers and assisting taxpayers, and how resources are allocated to achieve that goal."
Collins requested a response by Sept. 2.
An email to the IRS seeking comment was not immediately returned.
