Category Archives: Economy

Notice: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30

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There’s a Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget at 8:30 AM, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in the Lowndes County Commission Chambers, second floor, 327 N. Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA 31601.

The FY 2027 Budget Public Hearing Presentation is linked from the Finance Department page on lowndescounty.com, and there is a link under Lowndes County News saying it was posted June 24, 2026. Images of each page are below.

[Notice: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30]
Notice: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30

This notice is on the calendar on lowndescounty.com:

[Notice: Special Called Meeting to Adopt Proposed FY 2027 Budget 2026-06-30 --Lowndes County Commission]
Notice: Special Called Meeting to Adopt Proposed FY 2027 Budget 2026-06-30 –Lowndes County Commission

The slides in the previous post were actually from last year. Sorry about that.

I compliment County Manager Paige Dukes for pointing that out, and her and Finance Director Stephanie Black for making these materials accessible this year.

-jsq

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Slides

[FY 2026 — 2027 Public Hearing on the Budget]
FY 2026 — 2027 Public Hearing on the Budget
PDF

[Organization]
Organization
PDF

[Millage History]
Millage History
PDF

[Budget Comparison by Fund]
Budget Comparison by Fund
PDF

[Budget Comparison by Fund: Fire, *LOST, LMIG, etc.]
Budget Comparison by Fund: Fire, *LOST, LMIG, etc.
PDF

[Budget Comparison by Fund: Enterprise Funds, Water/Sewer, Landfill, etc.]
Budget Comparison by Fund: Enterprise Funds, Water/Sewer, Landfill, etc.
PDF

[Budget Comparison by Fund: Internal Service Funds]
Budget Comparison by Fund: Internal Service Funds
PDF

[General Fund Overview: Revenues]
General Fund Overview: Revenues
PDF

[General Fund Overview: Expenses]
General Fund Overview: Expenses
PDF

[General Fund Overview: Net]
General Fund Overview: Net
PDF

[Budget Highlights]
Budget Highlights
PDF

[General Fund Revenues]
General Fund Revenues
PDF

[General Fund Tax Revenues]
General Fund Tax Revenues
PDF

[General Fund Expenditures]
General Fund Expenditures
PDF

[Millage History]
Millage History
PDF

[Property Tax History]
Property Tax History
PDF

[Where does you money go:]
Where does you money go:
PDF

[Questions & Comments]
Questions & Comments
PDF

Notice: Two Budget Public Hearings @ LCC 2026-06-22

2 Replies

Update 2026-06-28: Actually, that Monday meeting and those slides were from last year. The last Budget Public Hearing and the this year’s slides: Notice: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30.

Did you know Lowndes County is going to hold two Budget Public Hearings this coming week?

One will be 9 AM Monday morning, after the Work Session. I found that one on lowndescounty.com by googling for it. Monday is actually June 22 according to every other calendar; nevermind what that notice says.

The other Budget Public Hearing will be 5 PM Tuesday evening, before the Regular Session. Gretchen found that one in the Valdosta Daily Times via a google alert.

They will both be in the Commission Chambers on the second floor of 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia.

[Notice: Two Budget Public Hearings @ LCC, 9 AM Monday 2026-06-22, 5 PM Tuesday 2026-06-23]
Notice: Two Budget Public Hearings @ LCC, 9 AM Monday 2026-06-22, 5 PM Tuesday 2026-06-23

Neither of them are in the main calendar on lowndescounty.com.

I also found what appear to be the slides for these budget public hearings. They are on lowndescounty.com, but they are not linked from the web pages for the Finance Department nor the County Clerk nor the County Manager.

They are not in PDF or PowerPoint and they are not downloadable. So I took screenshots of each slide, which you can see below. You’re welcome.

Maybe at some of these Budget Public Hearings or at the Work Session or the Regular Session why these Public Hearings are not more prominently announced. Continue reading →

Videos: Opioid Litigation Settlement and Budget and Equity Reserve Policy @ LCC Regular 2025-09-23

The two regular business items (opioid litigation and budget policy update) sped to unanimous approval at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session last week.

[Collage @ LCC 23 September 2025]
Collage @ LCC 23 September 2025

Three citizens spoke.

Janice Strickland worried that she was not represented because Commissioner Joyce Evans had been absent for months. See below for Chairman Bill Slaughter’s answer.

India Bell wanted to know if there was any financial assistance. Chairman Bill Slaughter said he would speak to her afterwards about various organizations, but the county itself probably did not have anything to help.

Kelly Saxon was concerned about housing after Hurricane Helene now that temporary housing is ending. There was no direct response.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall reminded everyone that each citizen actually has two Commissioners, because of the superdistricts, one of which he represents. And anyone could also call the Chairman.

Here are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading →

Videos: Opioid Litigation Settlement and Budget and Equity Reserve Policy @ LCC Work 2025-09-22

Update 2025-09-29 Videos: Opioid Litigation Settlement and Budget and Equity Reserve Policy @ LCC Regular 2025-09-23.

There were only two main agenda items, but the Lowndes County Commissioners had questions on each of them.

That was in this morning’s Work Session. They vote Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.

[Collage @ LCC 22 September 2025]
Collage @ LCC 22 September 2025

Some previous opioid litigation settlement funds have been received, about $600,000. Those are escrowed in an intergovernmental grant fund since the funds are earmarked. They have to be used for treatment, prevention, and abatement of the opioid crisis.

The updates to the county’s Budget and Equity Reserve Policy are partly because of FEMA relief for Hurricane Helene and previous hurricanes, which arrived after the corresponding Fiscal Years ended, and after a 60-day grace period in the previous policy. So they’re extending that grace period for grant funds only.

Last year about $3.9 million came in before the end of November, but after the grace period for FY 2025.

The policy stays as changed, unless the Commission later votes to change it again.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few comments by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading →

Packet: Opioid Litigation Settlement and Budget and Equity Reserve Policy @ LCC 2025-09-22

Update 2025-09-22: Videos: Opioid Litigation Settlement and Budget and Equity Reserve Policy @ LCC Work 2025-09-22.

This is the lightest agenda in a while for the Lowndes County Commission.

There are long documents attached, but there are only two agenda business items: for another opioid lititgation settlement, and for an update to the county’s Budget and Equity Reserve Policy. That Policy has a whole new section on Revenues and Expenditures/Expenses.

[Opioid Litigation Settlement, Budget and Equity Reserve Policy, Lowndes County Commission, Board Packet 2025-09-22]
Opioid Litigation Settlement, Budget and Equity Reserve Policy, Lowndes County Commission, Board Packet 2025-09-22

Here is the agenda.

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website.

There are also images of each page below.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2025, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2025, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Lowndes County and Cities SPLOST Agreement and Project Lists 2025-08-04

Update 2025-08-24: Agenda: Millages, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC 2025-08-25.

Update 2025-08-12: Videos: Proclamations, 2 small rezonings, Comprehensive Plan, USGS Gauges, GDOT for Shiloh Road, Civic Center Hurricane Repair @ LCC Work 2025-08-11.

On August 7, Lowndes County told me in response to the LAKE August 4, 2025, open records request:

“Regarding your below open records request, we will have this information ready for you next Thursday, August 14, 2025.”

Meanwhile, a usually reliable source has sent what appears to be the SPLOST IX Agreement and the Project Lists for the county and each of its cities. They are on the LAKE website.

[Lowndes County SPLOST, Agreement and Project Lists, Valdosta, Hahira, Remerton, Dasher, Lake Park]
Lowndes County SPLOST, Agreement and Project Lists, Valdosta, Hahira, Remerton, Dasher, Lake Park

Text and images of the Project Lists are below.

We’ll see if they match what I get from the county on Thursday.

This is what I asked for: Continue reading →

Video: Special Called Meeting about SPLOST IX Agreement @ LCC 2025-08-04

Update 2025-08-05: Rome-Floyd SPLOST Committee 2024-12-31.

Here is the one LAKE video of the two-minute Special Called Meeting in which the Lowndes County Commissioners unanimously agreed to forward a SPLOST IX Agreement to the cities within the county.

[Collage @ LCC 4 August 2025]
Collage @ LCC 4 August 2025

The tax-paying citizens have not seen this Agreement nor the list of projects on which the county projects $17 million to be spent in Fiscal Year 2026.

According to County Manager Paige Dukes, the County Commission will have to vote again after the cities approve it.

Citizens get to vote on SPLOST IX in the General Election on November 4, 2025.

Today, they unanimously approved sending to the cities, on a motion by Commissioner Scottie Orenstien and a second by Commissioner Michael Smith. Continue reading →

Vote on SPLOST IX? @ LCC 2025-08-04

Update 2025-08-04: Agenda: Special Called Meeting about SPLOST IX Agreement @ LCC 2025-08-04.

There’s nothing about this on lowndescounty.com, not in the calendar, not in agendas, not in news.

Yet according to the slides for the June Budget Hearings, the Lowndes County Commission and staff expect to derive $17 million from SPLOST IX in FY 2026.

What projects will this penny sales tax fund? Where is the list for Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) IX? What is this Agreement mentioned in the VDT article?

[Vote on SPLOST IX?, Special Called Meeting 2025-08-04, Lowndes County Commission, Where is the Project List?]
Vote on SPLOST IX?, Special Called Meeting 2025-08-04, Lowndes County Commission, Where is the Project List?

By Staff reports, Valdosta Daily Times, Published 3:23 pm Friday, August 1, 2025, County to meet for SPLOST discussions,

VALDOSTA — The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will hold a called meeting at 4 p.m. Monday in the Commission Chambers, 327 N. Ashley St., second floor, for the purpose of considering the SPLOST IX Agreement.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate

Agenda: Special Called Meeting about SPLOST IX Agreement @ LCC 2025-08-04

Update 2025-08-04: Video: Special Called Meeting about SPLOST IX Agreement @ LCC 2025-08-04.

Since LAKE posted the VDT notice of the SPLOST IX Special Called Meeting for this afternoon, an agenda and agenda sheet have popped up on LowndesCounty.com.

They’ve been working on this SPLOST IX Agreement since April, yet they couldn’t discuss it during a regularly-scheduled meeting, nor tell the tax-paying public what’s on the project list?

[Agenda and Sheet @ LCC 2025-08-04, 4 PM, Special Called Meeting, SPLOST IX Agreement]
Agenda and Sheet @ LCC 2025-08-04, 4 PM, Special Called Meeting, SPLOST IX Agreement

Here is the agenda:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
PROPOSED AGENDA
MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 2025, 4:00 P.M.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Special Called Meeting to adopt FY 2026 Budget @ LCC 2025-06-30

Only two voting Commissioners were present: Demarcus Marshall and Michael Smith.

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein rushed in to complete a quorum of the Lowndes County Commission.

Commissioners Joyce Evans and Mark Wisenbaker were absent.

Apparently there was an agenda, although it is not on the county’s website.

At the end Chairman Bill Slaughter mentioned they would set the millage once they got the tax digest.

[Collage @ LCC 30 June 2025]
Collage @ LCC 30 June 2025

This meeting took four and a half minutes, even counting the minute saying they would recess until there was a quorum, and the 45 seconds of Chairman’s comments at the end thanking Finance Director Stephanie Black.

It is still mysterious why they couldn’t schedule this vote to be during their Regular Session last week, and why they only announce this Monday morning meeting Friday afternoon.

Below are Continue reading →