Hearings Draw Little Interest

No members of the community turned out for either of two public hearings held by the Jasper County School Board last Thursday on the tax increase imposed to fund the budget.

All members of the school board were at the meeting except chairman Phyllis Norwood. Vice-chairman Joel Gaston presided.

The county, on the other hand, attracted a number of interested persons. At last Thursday morning’s County Commission meeting Greg Wyatt was absent.
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Charles Forsythe asked the commissioners to stipulate that the $30,000 earmarked for County Commission training will be returned to the budget if it is not used for training. He again said the $200,000 in general contingency should be deleted.

He asked if there was any money in the budget for the proposed reservoir (see related story).
A city resident, Alfred Johnson, questioned the multitude of hearings, asking if the tax increase was for the city, county and school. The commissioners replied in the affirmative. He appeared concerned about how taxpayers such as himself—an elderly man—were going to pay the big increase?

During that hearing the commissioners did not deny or confirm if there was any money in the budget for the reservoir.

At the evening meeting, that question was answered negative—there is no money for the reservoir or other water except for the $15,000 designated for the water authority.

One persons suggested that the tax increase should wait on the revaluation which is currently underway. (Those new values will be reflected in next year’s digest and tax rate.)

County Attorney W. Dan Roberts explained that the county is losing money because public utilities are not paying their fair share because of the low values of property in the county. The public utilities contend they are properly assessed, and since Jasper County properties are not, they should pay at a lower rate to offset the difference.

Therefore, the utilities pay Jasper at about 32 percent of their assessed value rather than the 40 percent that they should pay.

In addition, the state is penalizing Jasper County because its values are low.

One resident, Chris Thornton, spoke out against an increase in the budget, saying the increase is steep. “I don’t see comparable improvements in service.”

After the commission concluded the hearing, the meeting was adjourned.

A new meeting began at 6:30 p.m. to actually adopt the millage rate. The commissioners set a rate of 17.450 for unincorporated areas and 18.490 for incorporated areas; the Board of Education millage rate of 17.820 and the city of Monticello rate of 1.87.