Tag Archives: Government

Lowndes County rolled back millage @ LCC 2018-08-17

As Lowndes County Finance Director Stephanie Black always reminds everybody,

of
the total 8.814 county millage
, 1 mil goes to the Development Authority,
and 1.25 mils to Valdosta-Lowndes Parks and Recreational Authority.
Here is a table from the

PDF of her presentation slides
.

Property Tax Example
City of Valdosta Resident Unincorporated Resident
Property Value $200,000 $200,000

Assessed Value (40%) $80,000 $80,000

Homestead Exemption $(6,000) $(6,000)

Net Taxable Base $74,000 $74,000

Tax Calculation:

Lowndes County — 8.814 PY 8.974 $652 $652

Development Authority — 1.00 $74 $74

Parks

& Recreation Authority — 1.25 $93 $93

Lowndes County Schools — 16.541 PY 16.839 $1,224

City of Valdosta — 8.001 PY 8.001 $592

Valdosta City Schools — 16.980 PY 16.980 $1,257

Total Estimated Taxes $2,668 $2,043

Since she made that table, Valdosta actually lowered its millage to 7.916, which in the above example would mean $50.32 less per year, for an example of how little difference
these minor millage rollbacks or increases actually mean to taxpayers.
The

Valdosta Board of Education
wants to increase its tax rate (but not its millage).

Last year the Lowndes County Commission voted on the millage during a Regular Session,

Tuesday, August 22, 2017
.


This year Continue reading

Hahira annexation, Orvis McNeal Estate, 2018-08-01 @ LCC 2018-08-14

The
board packet materials for the proposed Hahira annexation and rezoning
of the Orvis McNeal Estate on US 41 at the north edge of Hahira
are

on the LAKE website
.
Sabrina Denson sent them at 2:18 PM today.
All I asked for was before the County Commission meeting today,
so this is what County Clerk Paige Dukes agreed to do

when I asked her yesterday morning
.

[Tax Parcels Aerial]

Tax Parcels Aerial

PDF

Or is it?
The
agenda “Amended Aug 13, 2018 9:04 AM”

has both the annexation and rezoning in item 6.k, and
another item 6.l about extraterritorial water and sewer.
Nothing was received from the county about Continue reading

Videos: Surprise Hahira annexation items @ LCC 2018-08-13

County Manager Joe Pritchard

said he had two new agenda items
for tomorrow night
, both to do with a proposed annexation by Hahira.
County Chairman Bill Slaughter said he atteneded the recent Hahira
City Council meeting where that annexation was discussed,
which was last Thursday, so I don’t follow why this wasn’t on the
Lowndes County Commission agenda Friday with all the other items.


7. Reports â?? County Manager: two new agenda items about a Hahira annexation, Joe Pritchard, County Manager

A new voice was heard for Planning on Continue reading

Lighting, mosquito, prison, radios, cameras, phones, 3 pumps, valves @ LCC 2018-08-13

It’s equipment day at the Lowndes County Commission.
On the agenda
for 8:30 this morning,
firefighting
Bullard

thermal imaging cameras
.
Motorola
public safety radios
,
Motorola

mobile data terminals
,
and
AT&T
Intrado Phone System for E911 services, possibly the most expensive item at $244,324.00.


Lowndes County Emergency Operations Center


Prison work details
(to do jobs locals could do),

mosquito testing
(fortunately, Lowndes does not spray for mosquitos).
Lift station pumps at
Bevel Creek (again, and it feeds the Land Application Site or LAS),
and
Hart Road/Skipper Bridge,
a pump for
Gorman Rupp Bypass,
and
Coleman Road Lift Station Check Valves.
And of course an
Addition to Basic Decorative Lighting District: Creekside West, Phase 3B, GA Hwy 122, west of Hahira on Franks Creek.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Videos: New Member and blood bank @ GLPC 2018-07-30



The big news is that

Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport is leaving his position at the county
for another opportunity.

GLPC

welcomed its new member, Calvin Graham, Sr.
, who only said “Thank you,”
to replace Celine Gladwin, who declined to be reappointed.
See
previous post for some background.

The one case,

CU-2018-05 LifeSouth3. Community Blood Centers – 301 Woodrow Wilson
,
was presented by City Planner Matt Martin, and after three times
addressing one question, Continue reading

Videos: EOC, KLVB, Grinder Pump, Bank, Computers, Health Ordinance, and Alcohol @ LCC 2018-07-24



Longest at 2.5 minutes:

appointment to Parks and Rec
.
Commissioner Scottie Orenstein was not present at this Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Not on the agenda and not on the county’s website,

Chairman’s Announcement of Emergency Operations Center Open House
.

The applicant spoke for

6.a. Beer, Wine & Liquor License – Jack’s Chophouse, 4479 N. Valdosta Rd.

We have a winner for the

RFP for Banking Services
.

Maybe they all finally got to read the

7 d. Ordinance Adopting Current Board of Health Rules
,
since this time Continue reading

New Member and blood bank @ GLPC 2018-07-30

Since Celine Gladwin declined to be reappointed,

GLPC has a new member, Calvin Graham, Sr.
,
who ran for Valdosta City Council District 2 in 2013, when he said

he was an Army veteran who subsequently worked for the Department of Defense
.
Sandra Tooley

won
, and is still on the Valdosta City Council.


Calvin Graham Sr. campainging in 2013

That leaves the Planning Commission with no female members and no architect.

There’s only one case on
the agenda for this evening: Continue reading

Videos: City to County KLVB, Grinder Pump, Bank, Computers, Health Ordinance, and Alcohol @ LCC 2018-07-23

Eight minutes to do your business: yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall took the day off from his work at the City of Valdosta
to be there.
Not clear the rest of them took it that seriously.
He and at least one other Commissioner did get some questions in.
And they did all show up, at least.
We’ll see if they’re all there for voting this evening at 5:30 PM.


Some interesting questions on the Continue reading

City to County KLVB, Grinder Pump, Bank, Computers, Health Ordinance, and Alcohol @ LCC 2018-07-24 2018-07-23



In an interesting version of a revolving door,
county appointee Michael H. McDowell’s KLVB term is expiring,
so is Valdosta appointee Bubba Highsmith’s,
and the county proposes appointing Highsmith.
Highsmith is

a State Farm Insurance Agent
.

Also on

the Lowndes County Commission agenda

for 8:30AM Monday morning are:

banking services
(looks like
Ameris Bank costs way less than BB&T, and SunTrust even less,
but Ameris has the best interest rate
),
a

computer bulk purchase
for $54,795.98, yet another

pump purchase
,
allegedly for $0 dollars because this is actually for specifications rather than actual purchase.





Typical Application: Residential Pump System, Triple “D” Pump Company

Finally, the tabled-from-last-meeting

Ordinance about Board of Health Rules
:
will the Commissioners have had time to read the one copy
the County Manager allows them?

Plus an

alcohol license
, Continue reading

Videos: 2 KLVB appointments, lift station pump, 2 rezonings @ LCC 2018-07-10



Scottie Orenstein and Mark Wisenbaker were absent,
so they barely had a quorum with three Commissioners: Joyce Evans, Mark Wisenbaker, and Clay Griner, plus Chairman Bill Slaughter, who does not vote
unless there is a tie.
Spoiler: they passed everything unanimously, except one item.

They took almost 2.5 minutes (less than the five minutes I predicted)
on the

KLVB appointments
.
Remember,
Tracy Chapman asked for her name to be withdrawn.
See

previous post about the Work Session
for
that and what

applicant Regina Kimbrough said
.
And see

the agenda post

for more about the applicants.

Slightly longer and longest at 2:49 was

6.b. REZ-2018-14 Coventry Villas, Mulligan Rd
,
followed by 1:32 for

7.d. Ordinance Adopting Current Board of Health Rules
,
which did not go as planned,
and then 1:49 for the other rezoning,

6.a. REZ-2018-13 Sims, Beaver Lane
.

Below are Continue reading