This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. The Editor can be reached at 770-468-7583 or at editor(at)PikeCountyTimes(dot)com. Pike County Times is a website for citizens to keep up with local events and stay informed about Pike County government. It began on November 13, 2006 as a watchdog on county government and has turned into an online newspaper.
If you enjoy reading Pike County Times, consider buying an advertisement for your business or sending a donation to support the only free online newspaper in Pike County. Donations can be sent to: The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. Click here to donate through PayPal. Thanks for supporting Pike County Times.com!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - 6 p.m.
This meeting was attended by five commissioners and County Clerk Teresa Watson to take the minutes. The meeting was sparsely attended by members of the public and several members from county departments.
There was not a member from Morton and Morton at this meeting as acting Interim County Manager. [Note from the Editor: I understand that this budget calendar was put together by the former County Manager and sincerely hope that there will be no more meetings on Wednesday evenings since that would preclude a certain segment of our population in the county from even attending the meeting because it is a church meeting night.]
1. CALL TO ORDER .............................................................................................. Chairman Doug Mangham
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ............................................................................ Chairman Doug Mangham
3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - (O.C.G A. 50-(14-1 (e) (1))
Commissioner Carol Bass asked the board to revisit S.W. Woods' request of a prorate on the upcoming tax bill from yesterday's BOC meeting. The motion to give relief on this tax burden failed in a 2-3 vote with Commissioners Carol Bass and Tamra Jarrett voting in favor. Motion to add it to the agenda was 5-0. See 5.a. below.
4. COUNTY MANAGER COMMENTS
County Clerk Teresa Watson read the County Manager's comments at this portion of the meeting. There have been no substantial changes since the commissioners last met. Health Insurance changes were included. There is an applied reduction from ACCG on vehicle insurance that is included in every department. Insurance was lowered to one million dollars per occurrence rather than two million dollars. According to ACCG, most counties carry one million dollars on their insurance policies. This should save the county $5,500 to $6,000. County Clerk Watson advised that this was applied to all insurance in all departments. There were a few adjustments to revenue. There is also a proposed change in the lease/purchase agreement for Public Works. There was a discrepancy because of trade in values that was corrected. The final balanced budget for Pike County is $8,739,420.
There was a discussion about Public Works and the lease/purchase agreement that the Commissioners agreed upon in a prior meeting. The final adoption of the budget will not take place until June 13 but it will take some time to outfit some of the vehicles in this agreement like the dump trucks. There are letters to two companies which would give authorization to the process of outfitting these pieces of equipment in order to prepare for delivery to the county as soon after the July 1 year begins as possible. Motion to approve the letters. 4-0-1 with Commissioner Tamra Jarrett abstaining because she had not had time to read the letter yet. It was noted at this time but commissioners had skipped item (a) so they returned to the agenda as amended.
5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Approval/denial of request to authorize the Tax Commissioner to bill for only one and one-half months for Tax Map Parcel 042 020 (split parcel with half in the county and half in City of Concord) for S.W. Woods for 2012. Dwelling burned on February 13, 2012 and owner seeks recourse for the upcoming tax bill.
As a general rule, citizens pay taxes on what is located on their property on January 1 of each year. This would be a prorated deal that would be on this year's tax bill since our tax bills go out in November of each year for the upcoming year. Commissioner Bass asked the board to revisit this based on evidence that came to light since the discussion at last night's meeting. Commissioners were advised that there is precedent for prorating this mail that was a mitigating factor in the staff recommendation to give relief on this tax burden. It was said that in a specific instance, a house burned in August of a preceding year and commissioners from rated the tax burden for that year and the next year. Chairman Doug Mangham addressed Commissioner Bass at this point, and said, " I told you wrong last night. There have been several."
Commissioner Don Collins said that the homeowner plans to rebuild and asked when does this house go back on tax roll? If it goes on the following year. If it's on the tax roll on January 1, that is when it's due. "I feel the same way as last night." Motion to give Mr. Woods the tax relief that he requested. 4-1 with Commissioner Collins against.
b. SECOND READING OF THE FY 2012-13 BUDGET
This is a balanced budget. Health Insurance changes are in each department, vehicle insurance reductions are also in each department, and the lease/purchase agreement for Public Works was adjusted. Motion to approve sending the letters to the local John Deere and Catapiller dealers which would give authorization to the process of outfitting these pieces of equipment in order to prepare for delivery to the county as soon after the July 1 year begins as possible. There was a pause as all of the commissioner reviewed or read this letter. Motion to approve. 5-0.
$8,739,420 for is less than last year but more than this year's adjusted budget. Motion to approve the second reading as presented. The motion passed 3-2 with Commissioners Carol Bass and Tamra Jarrett against
COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS
Each commissioner was presented with an opportunity to speak on the budget. Commissioner Tommy Powers said thank you to County Clerk Watson and the staff for their hard work on this budget. Chairman Doug Mangham agreed with Commissioner Powers.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn. 6:18 p.m.
Agenda subject to revision.