Commissioners Set Millage
Jasper County Commissioners voted to approve the fiscal year 2018 (FY18) budget at a called meeting Thursday night in the amount of $10,041,247 with a four to one vote. Commissioners voting for the budget were Chairman Carl Pennamon, Don Jernigan, Craig Salmon and Doug Luke. Commissioner Bruce Henry was the no vote.
In addition to the budget for FY18 the commission voted to approve a 16.446 millage rate after two motions for the rollback rate that failed. In both of those motions, commissioners Doug Luke and Bruce Henry voted for a lower rollback rate and lower taxes for citizens.
The commissioners had several tax levies on the agenda and approved lowering the cost per can per parcel for solid waste to $159. That is a $8 savings for each can rather than the $167 initial proposal for the local taxpayers. This approval came after much discussion in the room for tax savings to the citizens.
There was discussion spearheaded by Mr. Luke about helping homeowners in any way. Chairman Pennamon mentioned that he and Mike Benton, County Manager, had talked about doing a “can audit” to see if the billing was what it should be. Commissioner Henry said that there had been a decrease in population and he bet that there weren’t as many cans now as in the 2008-2009 audit.
After much debate about how much the savings could be it was decided that this was just one way to help the citizens save money. Mr. Benton said that in the budgeted fee there was a $40,000 buffer for administration fees as the “county is in contact with Advanced every day.” Mr. Pennamon and Mr. Luke both stressed that the citizens should contact the county office if they need a new can or if they need anything from Advance.
The motion for $159 per can per parcel passed with a 3-2 vote. Commissioner Salmon made the motion, it was seconded by Commissioner Henry and Commissioner Luke was also for. Commissioners Pennamon and Jernigan were against.
Another tax levy was the fire district tax at $28.63 per parcel and that passed unanimously.
Toward the end of the meeting the commissioners discussed 2018 SPLOST planning noting what was remaining in the 2012 SPLOST and what to plan for with the 2018 SPLOST.
Mike Benton told the commission that there would be $1,866,150 left in the 2012 SPLOST running through March 2018. The commissioners walked through the wish list for Public Works, a majority of which is a new building/shop. They also discussed previous purchases that would be deducted from the list in 2018. The commissioners agreed that they should start seeking pricing on just a building for public works and to get that “ball rolling.”
There was also discussion on Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) money and financing the upcoming Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). After Mr. Benton presented three options for financing, BB&T Governmental, a local bank and USDA loans and grants, the commissioners agreed that they should look to one institution, primarily a local bank, to finance the money with a fixed interest rate for all projects. This, the deduced, would be easier on the staff and would be a benefit for the county if possible.
