Commission Operates Without a Manager

The Jasper County Commission was in closed session for an hour and 20 minutes of its four-and-a-half hour meeting Monday, and came out to announce that County Manager Greg Williams and the Board of commissioners have agreed to part ways.

“This is in no way a reflection on Greg’s performance or on his character,” said Commission Chairman Carl Pennamon. “He has served the citizens of Jasper County well. However, the current board has discussed setting a new direction for the county and this is the first step.”

The county will honor the remaining three months of Mr. Williams’ contract, and will be able to use Mr. Williams in an advisory capacity during the transition period. Mr. Williams and County Attorney Jim Alexander are currently ironing out the details of an exit agreement.

When reached at home, Mr. Williams commented, “Personally, I think the negativity that has surrounded me has been a bad distraction both for me and the board. That’s what led up to this decision.”

Commissioners took no action other than that after the closed session that had been called for the purpose of discussing pending or potential litigation, presumably concerning the Jasper County Water & Sewer Authority, personnel, and land acquisition.
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Commissioner Patrick distributed a pie chart similar to what will be included in tax bills to show taxpayers where their tax dollars go. The pie chart illustrated that Jasper County schools receive 54.48 percent of each tax dollar; the state gets 0.8 percent; general government gets 23.15 percent, with constitutional officers receiving 16.35 percent, and other costs making up 5.13 percent.

In addition, she developed a chart for the commissioners showing how much a taxpayer in Jasper County will be billed this year compared to the past three years.

The chart shows the city’s millage rate at 6.41 mills, whereas it was actually set at 6.91 mills. Using her figures, a property owner with a property value of $100,000 will be billed approximately $1054.48 this year, compared to $801.52 last year.

The primary difference is the homestead exemption credit that the state is not giving this year. She said that she figured on a $100,000 property value, the increase in county taxes would be $33.

Many people are going to be surprised this year when they get their tax bill, and it is significantly higher than past years. The county did, indeed, increase the millage rate, but only by one mill. Commissioner Patrick estimates the homestead credit the state has given in past years equals $220 on a $100,000 value property.

The county bills include curbside pick-up fees of $154 per residence, but do not include the $52.10 “hydrant tax” that some properties were subject to last year.

During a work session prior to the meeting, commissioners heard health insurance proposals from Kelly Fox, who has served as a broker for the county’s insurance for several years. They asked numerous questions and presented different scenarios. Mr. Fox is supposed to find the answers and e-mail the commissioners before the August 20 meeting. The commission will meet with him again then, during a 5 p.m. work session, and discuss the options. Commissioners plan to make a decision at their September 8 meeting.

Currently the county employees have no deductible on their insurance plan, and the county is talking about making that change to save the county money. Also, currently the county pays 100 percent of the employees premium, and 50 percent of the dependent’s premium. They discussed changing it to paying 90 percent of the employees, and 30 percent of the dependents. No decision was made.

Also during the work session, commissioners discussed Emergency Medical Service billing. During 2008 the EMS collected 78.75 percent of collectible money. Commissioner Ronnie Payne said that statewide EMS collections run about 57 percent.

Commissioner Alan Cox said, “I feel like it can be done better.”

During the regular meeting the commissioners agreed to seek bids for the service, and then make a determination about how to move forward.

They also talked about revamping the 911 authority, and making it a board under the county commission rather than an independent authority.

Then the commissioners spent a quarter hour discussing the procedure for choosing a county manager, but only decided they would not pay expenses for the initial interview.

Commissioner Ronnie Payne said he and Commissioner Alan Cox, Landfill Director Ken Tillman and the landfill engineer met with the officials of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Department of Natural Resources abut the landfill. Commissioner Payne said that 10 minutes into the meeting it was obvious the problem was the engineer. He had made commitments to the DNR, and not followed through. A DNR official called Friday to say he had not received promised documentation again. The county will seek to retrieve its documents from the engineer, and seek another engineer so the county can move forward with opening the trench in the Construction & Demolition landfill that could actually generate some revenue for the county.

Commissioner Patrick said according to her projections the county may be out of money before time for the mid-month payroll, so they went ahead approved a resolution for the Tax Anticipation Note at the Bank of Monticello.

In other action at Monday’s regular meeting, commissioners:

•Agreed to bid for an ambulance remount rather than a new ambulance, as they found out the grant will allow that less expensive option.

•Agreed to accept the low bid for a washer/extractor for the fire department to clean turnout gear.

•Agreed to withhold payments to those agencies that have not provided quarterly reports to the commission.

•Discussed the limitations of the liaisons.

•Agreed to abandon 147th street, as it is in the city of Monticello, and the county has been patching it.

•Agreed to look at other county’s web sites so they can offer suggestions on what they want Jasper’s to look like. Dr. Kent Wolfe at the University of Georgia is going to build the county a web site.

Commissioner Patrick said before we hire a county manager we need to re-work the ordinance and job description.

•Agreed to do away with private phone lines in the commission office.

•Heard from J.W. Cummings about his concerns that his low bid wasn’t accepted by the county. He said he understands that Commissioner Patrick is the CPA for DeKalb Pipeline who received the contract. He asked how does the county justify losing $107,000, spending his tax dollars unwisely.

•Heard from Dorothy Phillips about the need for handicapped ramps on the vans at the senior center.

•Heard from Ken McMichael who asked if it was true that commissioner Patrick had a business relationship with DeKalb Pipeline.

Commissioner Patrick responded that she abstained from all voting on the unit price deals.