Not two, but three public hearings on the LCBOE higher millage rate,
10 AM and 6 PM on July 15, 6 PM on July 22.
That rate still puts Lowndes
in the middle of school millage
for counties statewide.
And they published a budget summary before the hearings.
Kristin Finney wrote for the VDT today, Lowndes schools approves budget: System ups millage rate, picked up by AP as Lowndes schools approves budget, Continue reading
What’s the county’s current millage, and how does it compare to other counties?
Indeed county employees are mostly underpaid, but are none overpaid?
And where’s that employee compensation study the county paid for?
Three curious omissions in an otherwise excellent VDT story.
Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT 28 May 2014, Lowndes County weighs tax increase,
Lowndes County Commission weighed the likelihood of raising the millage rate Tuesday — the first such tax increase in 15 years.
During the past few years, Continue reading
He also called to be sure LAKE got this, and the Public Hearings Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM are in the City of Valdosta’s online calendar, plus there’s a much briefer story in the VDT today, and see the millage table from last year’s budget hearings. -jsq
From: Tim Carroll <tcarroll@valdostacity.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2014 14:33:35 +0000
Subject: FY 2015 BudgetHey everyone,
It is that time of year when your city government prepares its’ budget for the upcoming fiscal year. As we have experienced over the past four years, this year’s budget presents many challenges. Revenues continue to decline while expenses keep going up. Fuel alone for the city now runs around $1.7M per year and the power bill to run the city for a year is now at $3.4M. Like you have seen in your homes and businesses, these and other costs continue to rise. Major revenue sources such as the LOST tax (our largest revenue source for the General Fund) continue to decline. And the list goes on. The city has now tapped over the past several years all the reserve funds in or der to balance the budget. Those reserve funds are now gone.
I say all this to illuminate the difficult choices that are present in this year’s proposed budget. While Continue reading
The most interesting developments were not on the agenda.
Commissioners approved dollar amounts
for two purchase orders
that were completely different
from the ones they were quoted the morning before, with no discussion:
the County Attorney quoted the new figures, asked for approval,
and immediately got it.
Commissioner Richard Raines still didn’t want to enforce
a neighborhood covenant
yet it was Commissioner Raines
who made the motion last fall to let
an Exclusive Franchise
with
Advanced Disposal Services;
a covenant the county is now trying to enforce
by having the County Attorney
sue local business Deep South Sanitation.
They said nothing about
that 100 foot wide pipeline barrelling through the county.
They could have the County Attorney investigate that, but they aren’t.
They approved meeting for millage rate approval 8:30 AM Friday 26 July 2013:
that’s for the property taxes they collect, which presumably
partly go to pay the County Attorney.
And the Chairman refused to let a citizen speak on a technicality.
Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
Continue readingLOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
They approved setting millage rates 8:30 AM Friday 26 July 2013 that’s for the property taxes they collect, at the 9 July 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
7. Reports-County Manager
County Manager Joe Pritchard reminded Commissioners they were required to set a date to set tax millage. Finance Director Stephanie Black said:
You can have it as early as the 26th of July, but it has to be done and ready for the tax commissioner by July 31st.
County Manager wanted to know if there would be a quorum present for 26 July 2013 at 8:30. Chairman asked for a show of hands, and got two, which is not a quorum. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall checked his calendar and said he could also attend, and three is a quorum. Commissioner John Page asked if this was the day they previously had been advised in an email. Answer: no, that was Thursday, and this date is a Friday. County Manager also clarified that they couldn’t set their millage until the School Board did. Commissioner Marshall noted he had previously been told the 25th, and once again staff admitted that was so. Three days later, there is still nothing on the county’s online calendar for 26 July 2013.
Video is here.
-jsq
Executive Director Andrea Schruijer explained the Industrial Authority’s theory behind all those industrial parks. And she mentioned market analysis for a sustainable local economy. Nothing about market analysis about whether industrial parks actually bring in new businesses….
Valdosta CEO posted 28 NOvember 2012, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Invests in Land Development For Future Industries,
Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta Lowndes County Industrial Authority. A few years ago the community had the foresight to approve a mill that they would set aside for the Industrial Authority to provide for economic development. And because the community did that, the industrial authority is able to better plan for the future in growing our opportunities for economic development. One of the things that we noticed a few years ago is that we didn’t have enough land for development. And we didn’t have the right sized tracks in case we had a large user coming in looking at the community, where would we put them?
She says “the community did that”?
That’s funny,
Gary Minchew said he organized that.
Kari L. Sands wrote for VDT 20 June 2007,
Lowndes preps for vote on budget,
Here are the rest of the videos from the Hahira City Council meeting of 2 August 2012, including the very interesting scheduled agenda items in which each Council member, the City Manager, and the Mayor give their thoughts on issues relevant to the City of Hahira.
12.A. Council Ralph Clendenin 
12.A. Council Allen Cain 
12.A. Council Terry Benjamin 
12.A. Council Rose Adams 
12.B. City Manager Jonathan Sumner 
12.C. Mayor Wayne Bullard Here’s a video playlist of the entire meeting:
Regular Session, Hahira City Council (Hahira),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 August 2012.
Other city employees present included Continue reading
Here’s a video playlist of most of the Hahira City Council Regular Session of Thursday 2 August 2012. Hahira City Council (population about 2,800) spent more time in open public discussion about each of
several individual agenda items than the Lowndes County Commission (population 111,000+) typically spends on an entire “open meeting”.
They held a millage hearing and lowered the milage. They discussed developer tap fees (nay), discussed the now-ritual topic of bidding for waste disposal ( nay), and approved a GEFA loan for a new water well (yea). A surprise vote on fixing a tractor (yea) was not on the agenda.
Near the beginning they still have Citizens to Be Heard. Maybe they’re not afraid of their citizens? Citizens mostly wanted to talk about the police chief’s proposal to fine people who didn’t mow their lawns.
A few more videos will be added, probably today, (now available as
Council Comments)
of the votes on cost of living increases (yea), SPLOST VII (yea), the consent agenda (yea), and council comments at the end of the session.
The agenda is below after the videos; thanks to City Manager Jonathan Sumner for sending it. Here’s the video playlist:
-jsq
Video Playlist Hahira City Council
Regular Session, Hahira City Council (Hahira),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 August 2012.
Back to their old tricks! The Lowndes County Commission was already approving minutes a minute before the announced start time of their Work Session this morning. After that, it was another brief session. They vote Tuesday 5:30 PM 24 July 2012.
Here's the agenda. Below are some notes on some items.
Here's a video playlist:
Videos: Two taxes, Library bid, and two road repairs
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 July 2012.
-jsq
At the Monday morning Work Session, County Manager Joe Pritchard reiterated that there would be a Public Hearing on Millage 5PM 24 July 2012. He added that the millage is “less than calculated rollback”, Two weeks before, at the previous Work Sessioni and Regular Session, he already said staff did not anticipate any increases in millage.
This time he added these details:
| Millage | Recipient |
|---|---|
| 7.31 | Lowndes County |
| 1.00 | Industrial Authority (VLCIA) |
| 1.25 | Parks and Recreation (VLPRA) |
| 9.56 | Total |
Commissioner Richard Raines wanted to know whether the school board was only the unincorporated area. He got two answers: “yes”, and “it’s not the city of Valdosta.” Those are not the same answer, since people from some of the cities, such as Hahira, Lake Park, and I think Dasher, go to county schools and are taxed for that. I don’t know about Remerton. Valdosta has its own school system and its own school tax. All the school taxes are separate (and greater than) the county taxes in the table above.
Here’s the video:
Announcement of Millage Hearing 5PM 24 July 2012
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 July 2012.
-jsq