Pickens BOE sets millage after Executive Session for personnel
News September 3, 2021
JASPER, Ga. – A special called meeting of the Pickens County Board of Education met this week and put the final approval on the board’s millage rate.
Upon calling the meeting to order and approving the agenda, however, the Pickens County Board of Education retreated to an executive session to discuss, as Board Chair Sue Finley read, “the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee. Or to interview applicants for the position of superintendent.”
The board took no action upon exiting executive session, but instead moved on to the regular agenda.
An official motion came to approve the Board of Education’s millage rate at 14.30 mills. Board Member Aaron Holland made the motion with a second from Steve Smith.
This sets the millage rate 0.53 mills lower than last year and continuing the steady decline according to the school’s 5-year history of the tax levied.
BOE FY 22 Initial Budget
The system estimates, according to the 5-year history, $22,648,385 in total M&) taxes levied. The budget denotes $24,908,755 in local taxes.
Finley said, “I would like to thank Mr. Young and Ms. Smith for their hard work to make this happen to bring our budget to the point where we can have our millage rate at 14.30 and still have our budget in the black. Thank you very much.”
A unanimous vote for both the millage rate and the FY 22 budget saw the board passing an initial budget for the year.
That budget totals $48.7 million, estimating that the school system’s fund balance will remain at $10.5 million.
Paris presents 2021 budget, set to adopt Monday
News December 27, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – In a public hearing for the 2021 budget, Sole Commissioner Lamar Paris presented the $21,748,780 budget. It will be adopted on December 28 at 4:30 p.m. at the Union County Courthouse.
The budget featured an 11.7 percent increase from 2020, which was $19,462,648. The reasons for the increases included three percent pay raise to county employees (+$440,000), property reevaluation (+$380,000), county’s potential share of gun range expenses (+$500,000), state cutting budgets (+$70,000), health care costs (+$100,000), vehicle and equipment repairs (+$20,000), repairs and maintenance (+$22,000), vehicle purchases (+$40,000), retirement plan matching (+$36,000), LMIG grants (-$104,000), operating costs for the new sports center, and COVID-19 expenses.
The county had to raise financing for the library, health department, court system, and other partially state-funded organizations because the state cut budgets by 15 percent.
The $500,000 budgeted for the gun range could decrease depending on the outcome of the project. DNR listed exacting specifications to receive aid.
copy of the 2021 budget
Several departments and offices experienced a budget escalation from 2020 with a few decreasing such as elections and health. The three percent employee raise and accounting for state budget cuts account for some of the increases.
“Every year our department heads and elected officials submit their budget requests to our office. We go through all the numbers and items compared to previous years budgets and actual expenditures and cut anywhere possible to get our total budget as low as we reasonably can. However, this is a difficult task because all our county offices and departments do an outstanding job each and every year to be practical and responsible with our budgets.” Paris stated.
County revenues grew in 2020 as well. SPLOST collections well outpaced previous years with November reaching $528,176.50.
The millage rate was set in the summer and increased to 7.361 mills. The overall increase will be 6.8 percent on the school property taxes are factored in. A homestead property with a market value of $100,000 will see a $46.25 tax hike. A non-homestead property valued at $200,000 will experience a $97.26 tax increase.
For years, Paris kept the millage rates low to save property owners money, but the county found it necessary to raise the millage rate this year to replenish the fund balance and cover operating expenses. According to the commissioner, if the counties maintained previous millage rates, Union County’s new rate would still rank in the lowest 10 percent in Georgia.
“Property tax revenue in 2020 was short almost $1 million dollars,” Paris explained.
The tax increase generated $1,629,229.
He also addressed the need to raise salaries for the sheriff’s office, jail, 911 dispatch to keep employees in the county. Paris thanked Sheriff Mack Mason for trying to keep costs low.
A state-required county property reevaluation is currently underway, so the millage rate could drop next year. The cost of the reevaluation is $380,000.
New budget could bring changes to Public Works in 2021
News December 9, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – “The year of Roads and Bridges” is what Gilmer Commissioner Chairman Charlie Paris said he wanted for the 2021 budget in order to improve Public Works. One comment among many as Gilmer’s BOC is still hammering out details for its coming year.
That comment is something that he has done many times over recent years during budget sessions as he has stated that he wanted to focus on getting departments up to par through that extra focus, whether it came through the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) Budget or through the Capital budget.
This year, Some of that extra focus for roads is coming through capital as the county is funding new equipment for the department through capital expenditures and funding almost all of their capital requests along with the county looking to increase Public Works employees pay. Though the Public Works request came for 5 percent, the county looked for ways to maybe increase this a little more, to potentially 8 percent.
On the revenue side, an increase is coming with changes to the weighed trash drop off. Now becoming 14 cents per pound, the rate is similar to surrounding counties, including neighboring Fannin County who Public Works Director Jim Smith says is 12 cents per pound. However, Smith also noted that his requested changes included the elimination of individual charges for items like sofas and appliances. Now, all of that type of construction and demolition trash will follow the 14 cents per pound rate. Additionally, passenger tire disposal went to $5 and larger truck tire disposal went to $12.
If adopted, these changes go into place January 1, 2021.
Another point of note in the budget came as Paris pointed out the county is currently repaying its TAN at around $400k. In previous years, the county has been excited that the TAN has been pushing further back for use. However, they have yet to completely negate the need for a TAN as was their hope. However, in recent years that TAN has been more akin to a $1.5 million repayment.
While Paris and Sandi Holden, Gilmer’s Financial Officer, attributed some of this difference to CARES ACT funding coming for capital expenses and the way it is handled, Paris said that this wouldn’t make the entire million dollar difference they have. Additionally, the county has received additional funds this year through sales tax in LOST and SPLOST for parts of the budget as well.
Paris said the county would know next year just how much this number has been affected by unusual circumstances as to how much it mirrors this year’s $400,000 or the previous year closer to $1.5 million.
The budget is coming up for adoption and Public Comments this week as the Board of Commissioners meet for the Public Hearing at 5:30 p.m. and the Regular Meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 10, 2020. The BOC did cancel their Wednesday Worksession.
Jasper considers 2.125 mill increase in early budgeting process
News September 28, 2020
JASPER, Ga. – The City of Jasper is holding meetings with citizens to discuss plans to move forward with a major increase of its Millage Rate.
The increase being considered is a 45.6 percent increase over the 4.655 mills that the city has held for three years now. In 2017, the rate was set at 4.655 mills from 2016’s 4.683 mills.
The proposed Millage Rate for 2020 is 6.78 mills. An increase of 2.125 mills.
A comparison sheet shown by City Manager Brandon Douglas in the September 24, 2020, public hearing for the millage rate.
The last time the rate was raised was 2001 when it went from 4.630 mills to 4.710 mills. The last time the millage rate was over 6 mills was 1996 when it was set at 6.850 mills.
According to City Manager Brandon Douglas, he met with the finance department and department heads, they found that normal operating costs produced a preliminary 2021 budget held a deficit of roughly $551,000. He also noted that indications pointed to a two to two-and-half percent increase in revenues while expenditures increase at three to five-and-a-half percent per year.
Douglas said, “That is not a sustainable financial model.”
He went on to say that the city needs corrective action for the finances. The gap between revenue and expenditures that the city is seeing has come from not correcting these issues sooner.
Douglas also noted the importance of property taxes as they make up 30 percent of the total revenue budget for the city. Many of the sources of revenue that make up the other 70 percent are unknown or not directly controlled by officials and the city. This puts the point of the property tax as something directly controlled by these elected officials.
There will be another meeting of the city at 5:30 p.m. on October 5, 2020, to hear more from the public on the proposed millage rate as Douglas stated, “It is staff’s goal to work with the elected officials through this public hearing process to recommend and adopt a millage rate that is reflective of providing a balanced budget. It is not our goal to just simply adopt a 6.78 millage rate.”
He noted that by the October 5 meeting of the Jasper City Council, he hopes to have gotten with officials through their committees to identify “ways to reduce certain preliminary department budgets.”
As a part of the budget process, the millage rate is adopted before the budget is adopted. The plan for the 2021 budget, according to Douglas, is adoption on December 7, 2020. Working towards that goal. This process is way to see what the budget could look like in order to have the budget in mind while adopting the millage rate which must be adopted first before the actual budget is adopted.