Tag Archives: millage

Millage Notice: 2023 Property Tax Digest & 5 Year History of Levy @ LCC 2023-08-14

Update 2023-08-22: Videos: Millage Rate, 3 Alcohol, Animals @ LCC Work 2023-08-21.

Here is the Public Notice Lowndes County posted one week before the millage rate decision, which will happen this Tuesday evening.

[Digest History 2023-08-14 and Agenda for LCC 2023-08-21]
Digest History 2023-08-14 and Agenda for LCC 2023-08-21

They are proposing 8.896 mills, including 1.00 mill for the Industrial Authority and 1.25 mills VLPRA. The total is a reduction of 1.315 mills from 2022.

How can the county afford a 13% reduction in the millage rate? Continue reading

Videos: Millage, tax assessment, 3 utilities, ZBOA, Juvenile Justice @ LCC 2022-08-23

They approved all the utilities items, radios, building, and manholes, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session of Tuesday, August 23, 2022.

They adopted the FY2022 millage rate (slightly lowered), including the fire district millage rate (same as last year), and they approved a software module for the Tax Assessors to use to facilitate citizen appeals to appraisals.


[Collage, Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2022-08-23]
Collage, Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2022-08-23

They reappointed John “Mac” McCall to the Valdosta Lowndes Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA), they approved a Juvenile Justice grant, and they approved a subdivision decorative lighting district.

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein is also Chair of the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA).

County Manager Paige Dukes said the Commission’s year-end retreat would be Friday, November 18, 2022, and they would hold it in their offices (not on Jekyll Island this time). The Lake Alapaha drinking water treatment plant is still not finished, and there are ARPA funds available for that and other water projects. Utilities Director Steve Stalvey reported on a sinkhole problem near a lift station that they were dealing with. It was apparently caused by a lightning strike, for which they are seeking insurance reimbursement.

The whole thing took nineteen minutes.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also Continue reading

Videos: slides @ LCC Millage 2022-08-23

Update 2022-09-14: Videos: Millage, tax assessment, 3 utilities, ZBOA, Juvenile Justice @ LCC 2022-08-23.

They rolled back the millage slightly. Millage rates for Parks and Rec and Development Authority were unchanged, also for the unincorporated county fire district.

[Pie and Commissioners]
Pie and Commissioners

As usual, no citizens showed up for the millage rate public hearing. Gretchen was the only person there who was not a Commissioner or staff, and since she is a Tax Assessor, I guess she’s staff, too, although she was there for LAKE, taking these videos.

Two of the Lowndes County Commissioners also did not show up for that meeting nor for the Regular Session that same evening. But they voted to adopt the millage anyway.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist: Continue reading

Packet: Juvenile Justice, Manholes, Tax Appeals Module, Subdivision lighting @ LCC 2022-08-22

Update 2022-08-23: Videos: Juvenile Justice, Manholes, Tax Appeals Module, Subdivision lighting @ LCC 2022-08-22.

That’s a lot of subdivisions in the Basic Decorative Lighting District.

[Grove Pointe Phase V and Basic Decorative North West Lowndes County 2 Revised]
Grove Pointe Phase V and Basic Decorative North West Lowndes County 2 Revised

The board packet for this week’s Lowndes County Commission Work and Regular Sessions is on the LAKE website, received in response to a LAKE open records request.

The County wrote, “There is no meeting packet for the Millage Rate Meeting.” They did send an agenda for that meeting, which consisted of this:

  1. Call To Order
  2. Public Hearing—Millage Rate
  3. Adjournment

See also the LAKE videos of the Work Session and the agenda.

-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!

Videos: Juvenile Justice, Manholes, Tax Appeals Module, Subdivision lighting @ LCC 2022-08-22

Update 2022-09-14: Videos: Millage, tax assessment, 3 utilities, ZBOA, Juvenile Justice @ LCC 2022-08-23.

Update 2022-09-13: Videos: slides @ LCC Millage 2022-08-23.

A Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant was the longest item at yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session, followed by manhole improvements. The manholes will cost $439,836.00, but the grant will provide money to the county.

The two millage items taking no more than 18 seconds each, with presentation deferred to the 5PM Public Hearing today. They vote on all these items at 5:30 PM this evening.


[Stills]
Stills

Two technical items took Continue reading

Almost a million dollars @ LCC 2022-08-22

Update 2022-08-22: Videos: Juvenile Justice, Manholes, Tax Appeals Module, Subdivision lighting @ LCC 2022-08-22.

Update 2022-08-26: Packet: Juvenile Justice, Manholes, Tax Appeals Module, Subdivision lighting @ LCC 2022-08-22.

The big item involves keeping ahead of sewer system problems to avoid sewage spills: “Lowndes County was awarded a Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) loan for lift station and manhole improvements. Staff identified approximately 100 manholes that need rehab and improvements, including structural repairs and coating the interiors. The project was advertised and bids accepted for the work. Two bids were received, one from Gulf Coast Underground for $1,508,450.00 and one from RPI for $439,836.00. Staff recommends approval and authorizes the Chairman to sign the contract with RPI, Inc. for $439,836.00.”

[Collage]
Collage

They will Continue reading

Videos: Commissioner Comments, Mud Swamp Road, Fire Millage, Hightower Road, GEFA @ LCC 2021-08-24

Very unusual: two Commissioners commented at the end. Chairman Bill Slaughter had already been quite clear that the new fire department millage was to aid population growth in unincorporated parts of the county. Mark Wisenbaker thought the fire department millage was premature because it did not consider land with no structures, agricultural land, etc. He was the only Commissioner to vote against 5.l. Adoption of Unincorporated Fire Millage. Clay Griner thought it was something they could improve as they go along.

None of them mentioned that the fire millage applies to personal property as well as to real estate (land). At least one of the Commissioners was unaware of this, and, since none of them ever seem to have mentioned it to the public, I’d bet the public is unaware unless they carefully examined their property tax statements. Applying that fire millage also to personal property is apparently how they kept it as low as they announced in the millage rate hearing. Nevermind such a personal property millage falls heaviest on companies with the most personal property, which would likely be Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), commonly known as the paper mill at Clyattville. It’s not clear that companies with much personal property are the most in need of new fire services.

[Hightower Road, Fire Millage, Mud Swamp Road, Commissioner Comments]
Hightower Road, Fire Millage, Mud Swamp Road, Commissioner Comments

The County’s support of unincorporated growth apparently includes building next to wetlands, or in areas the Army Corps of Engineers recently declared not to be wetlands, since that had just been discussed by County Manager Paige Dukes and the Chairman.

I have an idea! How about build only close in to existing services, instead of sprawling farther out, where no taxes will ever pay enough for sending school buses, Sheriff, and Fire. See this report the County commissioned: The Local Government Fiscal Impacts of Land Use in Lowndes County: Revenue and Expenditure Streams by Land Use Category, Jeffrey H. Dorfman, Ph.D., Dorfman Consulting, December 2007. As Dr. Dorfman summarized in a different presentation,

Local governments must ensure balanced growth, as
sprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin*
* Or at least big tax increases.

sprawl Trees and crops don’t call the Sheriff or the Fire Department much and don’t need school buses, but subdivisions do, so forestry and agriculture are far more cost-effective in tax collection vs. services.

Everything except the Fire Dept. millage passed unanimously. Even the late-added mystery-location 5.j. Proposed Sale of County Real Property to Industrial Authority, which came with no map, no street address, and no parcel numbers.

Here are LAKE videos of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the Continue reading

Millage Rate Hearing w. new fire millage @ LCC 2021-08-24

With the new 2.5 mil fire millage on unincorporated Lowndes County, property taxes in unincorporated Lowndes County will still be lower than in Valdosta.

The slides, presented by Finance Director Stephanie Black, were informative, although somewhat hard to read on the screen behind the Commissioners. They are not on the county’s website, and also not in the board packet.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker asked one question, wanting to know what the total millage would be for residents in the unincorpated parts of the county. Answer: 13.1.

Nobody spoke for or against at the Millage Rate Hearing, so it took less than eleven minutes.

[Slides, Finance, Fire millage, Commission]
Slides, Finance, Fire millage, Commission

The Lowndes County Commission voted in its Regular Session 20 minutes later.

Here is the LAKE video of the Millage Public Hearing. See also Continue reading

Videos: Potential litigation, Millage, Hightower Road, Bellsouth, Val Del Estates, 911, Alapaha Plantation, Manhole Emergency, Private Roads, Alcohol * 2 @ LCC Work 2021-08-23

The Lowndes County Commission votes tonight at 5:30 PM, after minimal discussion yesterday morning.

At the end of yesterday morning’s Work Session, County Manager Paige Dukes asked for an Executive Session to discuss pending litigation, plus a bigger than usual room to meet in, due to wanting many department heads there.

Earlier, Chairman Bill Slaughter asked to add an agenda item for sale of real property to the Industrial Authority. There was no discussion of this item, simply the addition of the item to the agenda for the voting session. Apparently all the commissioners know all about this from some executive session. The public knows nothing.

Also, Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker asked to move the two millage adoption items to the end of the agenda for tonight.

The only thing they spent more than two minutes on was 5.h. Adding Dispatch Consoles 11 and 12 for the 911 Center. 5.h. Adding Dispatch Consoles 11 and 12 for the 911 Center

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda and the board packet.

Millage, Hightower Road, Bellsouth, Val Del Estates, 911, Alapaha Plantation, Manhole Emergency, Private Roads, Alcohol * 2 @ LCC 2021-08-23, GA-EPD

Three million dollars for discussion this morning and voting tomorrow evening at the Lowndes County Commission, including an emergency manhole repair, 911 consoles, and roads north of Moody AFB.

Plus more expenses will come from accepting two subdivision roads plus two dirt roads as county roads. And the never-ending Lake Alapaha subdivision water treatment plant, which has attracted a GA-EPD Consent Order.

The County will be reducing the overall millage rate, while adding the the unincorporated fire millage.

Cost What
$2,775,068.91TIA-03 Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE
$162,308.45Whitewater Road Manhole Emergency Repair
$155,697.00Adding Dispatch Consoles 11 and 12 for the 911 Center
$2,520.00Approval of Lease Amendment Number Three to Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC
$3,095,594.36Total

[Alcohol, Subdivision, Communications]
Alcohol, Subdivision, Communications

Here is the agenda. The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website:
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-08-23–lcc-packet

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading