Commission Sets Final Millage Rate, Budget Not Yet Balanced

The Jasper County Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the 16.01 millage rate after quite a silence in their called meeting last Thursday.

The commission met for a called meeting that had been set to approve the millage rate and the tax levy for the county for the upcoming year. There has been some banter and suggestions and discussion about the rate as revenues are predicted to be down and the budget has yet to be cut enough for expenditures to equalize the county’s revenues.

Chair Charles Hill asked for a motion from the board, about the resolution in front of each board member about the millage rate and tax levy.

Everyone sat silent for about five minutes at which time County Attorney Jim Alexander spoke up to make a note that this was the end of the period calendar, and that the “millage and taxes for the county have to be set, tonight.”

Commissioner Jack Bernard said to the board that everyone knew his previous stance on this rate. And that he would only make the motion if the flat tax be added and the rate dropped. (Mr. Bernard has advocated this for several weeks, however the county attorney said the Department of Revenue would not accept a tax levy based on a special tax district that has not yet been created.)

After about another minute Commissioner Carl Pennamon made the motion to pass the 16.01 rate with a roll back of 1.5 mills, and a levy of 14.48. Commissioner Mary Patrick seconded the motion and noted that she seconded with a knowledge that the county was going to be receiving approximately $212,000 less than last year and the budget had not been cut and decisions have not been made about where to cut.
{{more}}

Commissioner Pennamon asked if the rate could be raised any more. Ms. Patrick said “no” that it was as high as it could be. (The law is clear that any increase must be advertised, and since the increase was not approved sooner, it is too late now.)

Commissioner Alan Cox asked for discussion and said in comparison with Jeff Davis (a similar county in which numbers for comparison were pulled) constitutional officers was a item that differed greatly between the two counties.

He was told that the board cannot cut constitutional officers. He said that “we can no longer make cuts, we are going to resort to elimination.” He said that components be eliminated first—components such as chamber dues, family connection, library, senior center, and hospital.

Commissioner Patrick countered saying that she has a hard time eliminating services and components. She posed the question as to why Jasper County is the only county which cannot cut constitutional officers. She suggested that instead of cuts each department will be given 1/12 of their budget each month and that was what was to be spent.

Commissioner Cox said, “we need to make cuts, so why not start now?”
After the discussion the motion is voted on and it passes 3-2 with Commissioners Bernard and Cox voting no.

In other action, the commissioners voted unanimously to hire Gregory Wood as new county manager, pending obtaining an agreeable start date. The new county manager will take over for Dennis Recker whose last day was Tuesday of this week.

Commissioner Pennamon asked for a motion to amend the tax levy that was previously passed to include the school board, and it passed 3-2 with Commissioners Bernard and Cox abstaining.

In the work session before the meeting Sabrina Cape was on hand to go through the budget breakdown and comparisons to similar counties with the commissioners. Ms. Cape presented the commissioners with a packet based on previous questions and requests for the budget.

There was a universal agreement that when Ms. Cape went over the revenues coming in that the projected revenues were about 300,000 over what is expected. Ms. Cape then explained that she just based her budget on the state criteria with 2009 trends and with the 16.01 millage rate, with a 95 percent collection rate. She also made note that the fee changes within both the probate and clerk of court fees and the current year taxes were broad.

Commissioner Patrick asked what the property taxes were for 2009, and Ms. Cape responded that they were $5.7 million approximately. Commissioner Patrick then asked if the county was supposed to bring in $212,000 less this year. She suggested that there be a 300,000 reduction in the budget numbers and the number be $5.2 million
Commissioner Cox asked about the court fines and fees.

Ms. Cape explained that the court fines were increased and that both courts expected their revenues to go up this year by way of increased fines, and increased amounts of those fines. Commissioner Cox noted the numbers from last year and the current numbers and said that they were still on track to meet the 2009 numbers. He saw no revenue increases with the current budget projections.

Commissioner Bernard noted that the state average for collections is 95 percent, however Jasper County has an average collection rate of 90-92 percent. He also asked if the 5.4 figure factors in the collection rate.

Commissioner Cox asked if the banks were currently paying property taxes on foreclosed properties. Commissioner Bernard noted that the county is not maxing its tax revenues.

Ms. Cape also did a benchmark comparison where she compared Jasper County with others similar in population, demographics, and in land mass. The counties that she found to compare were Jeff Davis, Oglethorpe, and Macon County.