Budget hearings underway for Pickens County
News, Police & Government November 13, 2020
Photo by Susan Kirkland
The Board of Commissioners met with all department heads to discuss budgets.
Sheriff Donnie Craig presented his budget request at a budget hearing with the Pickens County Board of Commissioners this week and after negotiations, settled for a $7,981,149.36 budget, $489,150.57 or a 6.6-percent increase over 2020’s budget of $7,425,731.
It was $2,400 less than the original $7,983,549.36, a
Photo by Susan Kirkland
Pickens County offices have a new thermometer to take peoples temperatures prior to them coming into the building. The machine has a wrist scanner.
$557,818.36 or a 7.5-percent increase over the 2020 budget of $7,425,731.
Faye Harvey, Finance Director for Pickens County, said the county couldn’t afford a $500,000 increase.
Craig pointed out at the budget hearing that his department has operated under staffed for the last couple of years. They are authorized to staff 98 positions, but actually employ 82.
“We’ve lost 18 people this year,” Craig said.
He said they have five of those filled, but haven’t started yet, leaving 11 vacant positions. Of those 11, he requested cutting three of them, including the one held by chairman-elect Kris Stancil.
Commissioner Becky Denney asked the Sheriff if he’d consider other options to directly funding the remaining eight positions.
“Would you be willing to leave those monies in the general fund then doing a budget amendment when you hired someone?” she asked.
Craig said he didn’t like budget amendments because gave the appearance of going over budget.
ARREST REPORTS FOR PICKENS COUNTY
Chairman Rob Jones said that because those positions were already budgeted for, it wouldn’t look like that.
“We have done this for other departments but your department is different,” said Denney.
The Sheriff’s Department is the largest in the county.
Some areas of increase cannot be helped, Craig said. These would be insurance premiums, holiday and overtime pay, and education incentives.
“Those are just out of our control,” he said.
Jones told the commissioners that the may need to consider looking at the budgets quarterly and adjusting as needed.
“I hate to say it,” Denney said, “But we may have to consider a millage rate increase. I’m not advocating for it, but. . .”
“Stuff happens,” said commissioner Jerry Barnes.
“If we don’t have the money now for the budget, how will we have it when we need a budget amendment?” asked Craig.
“We could pull it from the fund balance, but if we do that, it’s typically when you are increasing the millage rate,” Harvey said.
Animal Control
The Pickens County Animal Shelter has been without an animal control officer since October. Low rate of pay is the reason, according to Natasha Howard, director.
Animal Control, at this weeks budget hearing, asked for a slight increase of 1.57-present or $5,548 bringing the 2021 budget to $358,776 from 2020’s $353,228.
The increase would cover a salary raise for the position of Animal Control Officer to $13.05 from $10.98 per hour. The person in that position is on call nights and weekends.
“The increase is to raise what we pay the animal control officer,” said Natasha Howard, director of animal control. “We currently pay $10.98 per hour and we can’t keep anyone in that position.”
The position is currently vacant, after the last one quit in October, she said.
“We won’t hire one until January,” she told the commissioners at the budget meeting.
Another issue facing both Pickens County and their animal shelter is the city of Jasper wanting to step back from duties within the city and wanting the county to take it over.
“They want us to enforce their ordinances in the city and legally we can’t do that without an intergovernmental agreement,” Chairman Rob Jones told the board.
It’s that agreement that both entities have yet to agree on. According to Jones, the city sent one over that included a nominal amount for taking over animal control.
“In the past, they would handle large animals like horses and cattle in the roads and we’d take their cats,” Jones said.
He said the county could not do what the city was asking for the amount they offered.
Howard said they spend about $200 per animal for medical care, including vaccines and tests, more if the animal is sick or injured. The animal shelter actually cut their professional services by $3,300 to $30,000 from $33,300.
Jasper adjusts millage rate with final consideration Monday
News October 11, 2020
JASPER, Ga. – The Jasper City Council has adjusted their millage rate increase to a lower increase with a motion in their monthly meeting.
The new adjustment was approved by the council in October for the first reading. However, the final adoption will come Monday, October 12, 2020 in a 6:00 p.m Special Called Meeting. That meeting has the sole agenda item for the final adoption of the Rate.
The Millage Rate consideration is now at 5.655 mills, in efforts to balance the general budget.
Councilmember Jim Looney said he appreciated the work that the staff put into the millage rate. On the rate change he stated, “There’s never a good time. It’s also never easy. But I think this is movement in the right direction to allow the City of Jasper to continue on a good road.”
With Monday’s meeting as the last word on the Millage Rate for the coming year, it is one final chance for citizens to be heard on their opinions both for and against the increase to the rate and, therefore, property taxes.
This adjustment is still an increase in the Millage Rate, but it did bring the proposed rate from the original 6.78 mills proposed in September. The increase will now be 1 mill increase over the rate that has been the same for three years now.
The process is not yet done, though, as this is only one of the steps towards finalizing the 2021 Budget. Now that the Millage Rate could see final approval this week. Budget talks will begin soon in efforts to meet the city’s goal for budget adoption. According to City Manager Brandon Douglas, as previously reported in earlier meetings, that goal is to see a final adoption of the budget for the new year by December 7, 2020.
Jasper considers 2.125 mill increase in early budgeting process
News September 25, 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.
Rezoning fees could increase in Pickens County
News, Police & Government September 3, 2020
Commissioners Becky Denney and Jerry Barnes talk between Thursdays called meeting and work session
Planning and Development is preparing to raise the cost of rezoning, by $350 in some cases. Justin Kilgore, Director of Planning and Development said the increase was neccessary because of the cost of doing rezoning. The rezoning process can range from between $725-$950 for paying the zoning commission legally required advertising and signage, and registering the deeds.
“Right now, the residents are paying for a lot of these through taxes,” he said. “This tax the burden off of them and in the hands of the person wanting the rezoning,” he said. “This gets us a little closer to breaking even.
Commissioner Becky Denney asked if there was a way to break it in stages. “Going from $150 to $500 is a big jump,” she said referring to the fees for residential agriculture and small agriculture rezoning applications.
The five-year history and tax digest for 2015-2020.
“It would ease the shock,” Kilgore said. He also stated that the county saw a four-percent increase in permits and licensing over 2019. His department has processed 78 building permits and 20 business license.
The commissioners could not vote on it because it was a work session, but agreed to revisit it at the next scheduled regular meeting.
The county is looking at a decrease in the millage rate, for the fourth year to 7.6130 from 7.7790 or .166 decrease. Taxes levied in 2020 say an increase to $11, 620,571, up $332,107 or 2.94-percent from $11,288,464 in 2019. The increase was attributed to inflation and reassessments.
The Pickens County Board of Commissioners awarded a paving bid to Colditz Paving ,out of Blairsville. They were the low bid at $1.018 million out of five bids. The highest bid was $1.6 million.
BOARD MEMBER RESIGNS FROM PICKENS BOE.