Videos: Appoint another Tax Assessor, Special Assessment Rate, VOCA, federal consultant @ LCC Work 2024-01-22

Update 2024-01-24: Videos: Tax Assessor appointed, Special Assessment Rate, VOCA, federal consultant @ LCC Regular 2024-01-23.

They’re not actually appointing a successor for James Puckett, whose term expired. They’re appointing a Tax Assessor to fill the unexpired term of Gene Felts. At the Regular Session Monday morning, Lowndes County Manager Paige Dukes clarified that Gene Felts was picked at the last meeting (2024-01-08) and he was sworn in on 2024-01-10 however he then resigned for personal reasons.

We the taxpayers and voters still do not get to see the applications, which are not in this board packet, either. This time the County Manager did not even read out the names of the remaining applicants.

Maybe somebody should tell the appointees that substantial hours of training are required after being appointed.

They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.

Collage @ LCC Work 22 January 2024

About the Cornerstone state and federal lobbying contract, the County Manager said they were concerned about SB 349.

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the O.C.G.A., relating to ad valorem taxation of property, so as to revise provisions related to the setting of millage rates; to limit the application of the freezing of the assessed value as a result of an appeal; to limit the application of a temporary reduction in the taxes owed when a taxpayer appeals to superior court and does not participate in the settlement conference; to provide for a statewide homestead exemption from ad valorem taxes in an amount equal to the amount by which the current year assessed value of a homestead is more than 3 percent from the adjusted base year value of such homestead; to provide for related matters; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, applicability, and automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Other sources tell me they’re worried about the homestead exemption clauses.

The whole meeting took six minutes.