An elected official in the City of Guyton cited his public service as justification for eligibility to have his student loans forgiven.
City Councilman Theodore Hamby, who is serving the first year of his first term in office, submitted the application for student loan forgiveness just weeks after being sworn into office. The application seeks to utilize his ‘tenure’ with the City of Guyton as creditable service toward loan forgiveness.
The information comes from public records obtained by TheGeorgiaVirtue.com from the City of Guyton. Last week, TGV filed a request for student loan forgiveness applications for any and all city employees, city officials, and city contractors.
What is Public Service Loan Forgiveness?
Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a loan forgiveness program within the U.S. Department of Education that is offered to individuals who are “employed by a government or not-for-profit organization” and:
- Have made the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments (10 years) under an accepted repayment plan AND
- Work full-time for an eligible employer.
The full-time employment under the federal guidelines is defined as “a weekly average, alone or when combined, equal to at least 30 hours.” The guidelines also say “time spent providing volunteer work or services for which you are not paid should not be included when determining if you are working full-time.”
It is not required that an individual work for the same employer for the entire 10-year period of repayment and various work can be combined to total the 10-year public service period for the eventual loan forgiveness.
The Federal Student Aid website lists a number of examples of those eligible for PSLF, which include:
- Civilian service to the military
- Emergency management
- Military service
- Public safety
- Law enforcement
- Public Interest law
- Early childhood education
- Public service for individuals with disabilities
- Public health
- Public education
- Public library services
- School library services
- Other school-based services
- Public service for the elderly
‘Elected officials’ are not mentioned anywhere and do not meet the standard for 501(c)3 work.
TGV’s request for documentation did not include a time frame, so the city provided previous applications for loan forgiveness, which include one other – a former employee from the Guyton Police Department who was employed from 2018 to 2019.
Hamby’s Application
Hamby graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020. His Facebook profile also lists that he is self-employed with Hamby Political Group and as an employee with Cordele Intermodal Services, Inc. in Savannah.
Included in the documents is a sworn, notarized affidavit signed by Hamby attesting to his forty hours of service every week. The document was notarized by former City Manager Meketa Brown.
(Note: Notaries are not responsible for the truthfulness of the document on which they place their stamp. A notary simply attests that the signature on a document was made by the actual person.)
The sworn affidavit is not dated, but attached PSLF documentation includes an application from January 17, 2024. Hamby was sworn in to office on January 2, 2024.
The January 17, 2024 documentation is a request from Federal Student Aid, seeking confirmation by the City of Guyton. The request for confirmation was sent again on January 18, 2024 and ultimately received on January 23, 2024.
City council pay in Guyton is $300 per month. Hamby attested in his sworn affidavit that he works 40 hours per week for the City of Guyton. In a four week month, that amounts to 160 hours, which means he is paid well below the federal minimum wage at the rate of $1.87 per hour. The calculations, simulated in a W2 calculator to account for taxes, mean Hamby takes home $277.05 per month for 160 hours of work. That reduces his hourly pay to $1.73 per hour.
Much of the personal information on Hamby’s application is redacted due to it containing personal information, so it is unclear how much
At the top of the application completed by Hamby is a warning:
“Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or misrepresentation on this form or on any accompanying document is subject to penalties that may include fines, imprisonment, or both, under the U.S. Criminal Code and 20 U.S.C. 1097.”
Hamby has drawn the ire of constituents and the general public alike in recent months as he has been the subject of a number of ongoing stories. In October, he flipped his vote on the worthiness of city officials needed a retirement pension plan after more than three years of lobbying against such a measure and in summer, the city’s Ethics Committee determined he violated the city’s ethics ordinance when he used his city position for private financial gain.
