Commission Considers Budget
Jasper County Commissioners will have a work session next Wednesday, Nov. 15, to discuss budget concerns with department heads and constitutional officers.
Chief Financial Officer Darlow Maxwell presented a balanced budget to the commissioners Monday. He said the $9,255,300 budget basically reflects a 2.8 percent increase.
The county is awaiting the results of a classification and wage report from the University of Georgia to determine actual pay increases, but the budget reflects an overall three percent increase in salaries.
The budget also shows three new departments, which basically just breaks out numbers that previously were shown in other departments. Those departments are risk management, building inspection, and code enforcement. In addition, the budget shows the debt service in one place so it is easy to find.
The budget documents are available for public review in the finance office of the County Commission on the ground floor of the Courthouse.
After hearing Mr. Maxwell’s presentation Monday, Chairman Jack Bernard said he wanted Mr. Maxwell and County Manager Greg Williams to cut $300,000 from the budget. Commissioner Carl Penamaon argued that it would be up to the commissioners to make the cuts, not staff. He said that is their role as the governing authority.
Mr. Bernard reiterated that he wanted a recommendation from staff on where to make those cuts. He said he did not care if the other commissioners got the recommendation or not, he wanted them.
When considering the agenda for approval, Commissioner Penna-mon questioned items pertaining to the 2007 budget year, saying they should be considered as part of the budget. He indicated since there is no budget, the commission is not in a position to make recommendations.
After that discussion, the agenda was approved with one item deleted. That was funding for a program assistant for the Extension Service. That funding will be discussed at the budget work session, presumably.
Commissioners agreed to work with the Northeast Georgia RDC Area Agency on Aging for service for the Jasper County Senior Center. The center has been in limbo for a while, and this temporarily straightens out funding. The county is in negotiations with an agency that would take over operations of that center.
Commisssioners voted not to add a new modular unit at Griffin Tech to its cleaning schedule. There was a great deal of discussion about whether the unit belongs to Griffin Tech or to Jasper County, and the county’s obligation to provide more services. The quote for adding it to the current cleaning contract is $4,560.
{{more}}
The discussion indicated that the city of Monticello collects large utility bills from its industrial park, where the institution is, and therefore maybe the city has some obligation. In addition, commissioners felt if they are responsible they should have been consulted before the addition was placed. Furthermore, if the county owns the property, it should be aware of new buildings being placed there.
Commissioners agreed to have the chairman sign a consent order with the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Department of Natural Resources. The order is in regards to industrial waste that is at the landfill. Until the county gets a new Construction & Demolition (C&D) landfill permitted, something must be done, according to the EPD. Commissioners hope signing the consent order will speed the permitting process along.
Commissioners approved the low bid from 3 Kings Company, Inc. of Perry for the Hwy. 11 road widening. Commissioner Bob Yar-brough pointed out that the second lowest bidder, only $3,198, above the low bidder was a local company, and suggested Russell Bennett Contracting perhaps should get consideration because it is a local company. The county manager said that the bid from that company did not contain all the pertinent documents, so commissioners went ahead and agreed on the low bidder at $525,000.
Commission Chairman Jack Bernard again said he did not think the county should be paying for the road, that it should be the school’s responsibility. (The widening is necessary because of a new high school on Hwy. 11.) The road project was listed in a brochure encouraging passage of a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) last year, which voters approved.
After Tate Turner questioned the voter saturation last month, Mr. Bernard asked for numbers about voters by district.
More than 27 percent of Jasper County’s registered voters live in District 3, with another 22.5 percent in District 4. District one has 16.2 percent; District 2 has 15.7 percent, and District 5 has 18.5 percent. Commissioners briefly discussed the disparity, and asked the county manager to present population numbers by district. One guideline for drawing voting district lines is population.
Commissioner Greg Johnson suggested a citizen committee be formed to address animal control issues. Five people were named to the committee with the option of four more joining.
The county manager presented commissioners with a road plan for the dirt roads in the county.
As usual, at the end of the regular meeting, the commission went into closed session to discuss pending or potential litigation. The public, of course, was not afforded any further knowledge of what was to be discussed.
