Two Commissioners Meet and Listen
Commissioners Mary Patrick and Ronnie Payne conducted a Town Hall meeting with a question and answer format last Thursday even-ing, with approximately 50 citizens in attendance.
The first question was concerning the status of the County Manager, who was on medical leave. Mrs. Patrick said they do not expect him to be back, that his contract expires in October, and the commissioners already have more than 30 resumes to consider for the position. She went on to say she thought the BOC needed to take back the agreements on the county manager position and give more authority to the commissioners.
Ms. Patrick added that the BOC can eliminate or change the duties of the position by voting on it, and now that the County Manager was on medical leave she felt the commissioners could agree on the level of authority for the position prior to making a hire.
Mr. Payne said he could honestly say he would never sign a county manager contract like the one for the current county manager.
Concerning the budget shortfall, it was asked if the county would have to borrow money to operate. Mrs. Patrick said the BOC had applied for a $1.5 million line of credit with the Bank of Monticello. Mr. Payne added that the high end of what they expected to use of that amount was $1.1 million, and they wanted to have the loan paid back in full by the end of their term and have a balanced budget.
He also said the budget had been lowered by $1.4 million and that he still felt like they would be short by several hundred thousand dollars, and we may reach the point where we have to stop signing purchase orders unless it’s a dire emergency.
To this point Mrs. Patrick added that the BOC now has a procedure in place so that every purchase order has to have a stamp on it verifying the line item has been checked and there is money in that particular budget.
As to why the county was in debt, Mrs. Patrick said it was because of a $500,000 mistake made by the county manager, and that is one of the reasons we need to take back some of the authority from that position.
The question of back taxes and what was being done to collect them was raised. Mrs. Patrick said the Tax Commissioner planned to begin publishing the amounts and the property owners this month, and that the majority of it was for 2006 and 2007. She added that foreclosure taxes can’t be paid until the property is sold.
Property tax increases was a major topic. Mrs. Patrick furnished a handout which estimated the 2009 property tax based on a home with a fair market value (FMV) of $100,000. This example showed an increase of $66 on city property and $33 on county property for each $100,000 of FMV. There will also be approximately $220 added due to the loss of the Homestead Credit, which was taken away by the state.
Another topic was how to opt out of curbside garbage service if you in fact did not use it. Mrs. Patrick replied that the way the ordinance is written if you have electricity and utilities you are required to pay for the service. She added there will be an opt out clause in the next contract whereby you could opt out of the service by submitting a notorized statement that you would take care of your own garbage.
The topic of highway maintenance and paving seemed to be a matter of concern to the citizens. When asked when we could get some relief on Jackson Lake Road, Mrs. Patrick said the project had been put on the stimulus list, but no word had been received on it. She added that a state grant had also been applied for, but the BOC didn’t expect to receive any state grants, however she added that the county had received a $400,000 grant to paint stripes and put up signs. She went on to say the BOC had received something from the Local Assistance Road Program that they could apply for two miles to be re-paved and that something might come of that.
Mr. Payne added that he had recently spent a day riding the roads with the Public Works Director, and he had learned a great deal by doing that.
Ms. Patrick did announce two state paving projects which were on schedule for this year. They include 12.82 miles on Hwy 83 from the Square to the Morgan County Line and Hwy. 16 from the Square to the county line.
A local road contractor was on hand to ask why the BOC had voted to award the contract to complete the work on Pitts Chapel Road to a contractor whose bid was $107,000 more than his bid. Mr. Payne answered by saying if we wanted a six inch bed the contractor we went with was the cheaper.
The contractor said he was asked for a bid on four inch only and never got a call as the low bidder.
Mr. Payne said the BOC looked at the scope (pipes, landscaping and other accessories to a paved road), which changed several times and made the contractor who the bid was awarded to the cheaper one.
A question was raised about what happens to the money the Recreation Department takes in from registration fees and the concession stand. Mrs. Patrick advised that the registration fees fell way short of paying for the umpires, uniforms, equipment, etc.
She added that the concession has been leased out eliminating any money concerns about it, and that with a new Recreation Director the mistakes of the past should not be repeated.
When asked about grass being cut along the roadsides, Mr. Payne said the state has announced it will only cut the grass on state roads once a year.
Also, when asked about the 200 foot road frontage zoning order to build a home, Mr. Payne said we hope to get that changed.
