HB 581 Continues To Have Minimal Impact On Dade Property Owners
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
The May 1 meeting of the Dade County Board of Commissioners covered many points of business. One topic was the (still confusing) impact of Georgia’s House Bill 581. Also, the commission approved a total expenditure of $185,669.34 from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) across five different purchases.
May 4-10 is National Tourism Week, and in honor of that proclamation, Sandy White (Alliance for Dade president and CEO) reported on the local economic impact of the tourism industry. The University of Georgia did a study of each county in the state in 2022 which found that Dade had 1,135 jobs related to tourism which produced wages of more than $2.6 million. Tourism generated over $101,503,801 in tax revenue for Dade County, saving residents almost $200 per household.
Phillip Hartline (District Two commissioner) recommended appointing a new member to the Dade County Water and Sewer Authority to complete Tim Fowler’s unexpired term. Fowler moved to the valley, so he can no longer represent Sand Mountain, but Cliff Auman has agreed to fill the seat, and the commission appointed him.
Under SPLOST approvals, the commission approved $12,309 for software to help the tax assessor’s office. Paula Duvall (chief appraiser) explained that the equipment and license from MobileAssessor will save the field team quite a bit of time.
The commission approved $42,506.84 for an F-150 from Moss Motor Company for the code enforcement department, replacing the old truck which had 270,000 miles on it and several problems.
They approved $33,566 for a new HVAC unit from Reeves Heating and Air for the Department of Family and Children Services. They also approved $21,350 for security cameras for the transfer station. Don Townsend (county executive) said the existing cameras are “kind of a home grown type system to save money that didn’t work well.”
Recently, a citizen “cussed out” one of the transfer station employees, but this isn’t the only instance of such problems. Improved cameras will provide evidence in situations like this as well as track out-of-state license places. The county is also updating signage at the station.
Townsend noted that the transfer station is over budget, but he said the county has the money and simply needs to adjust the budget.
Hartline returned to the need for improved security cameras at the Dade County Sports Complex, a topic that came up last year but was never taken further. Townsend said the cameras aren’t cheaper when bought in bulk, but he agreed that the complex needs them. The commission plans to return to this at an upcoming meeting.
The final SPLOST approval of the evening was $75,937.50 for a tar distributor for the road paving crew.
Later in the evening, Hartline asked if there’s a way to anticipate the rest of the 2021 SPLOST, given that the county is juggling several large SPLOST projects. Townsend answered that typically, during the last two years of a SPLOST (which we’re approaching), the county does put together a sheet to project how much will come in and track anticipated expenditures.
Duvall then explained updates about the impact of House Bill 581. HB 92 was intended to clean up the confusion made by HB581, but Duvall said it didn’t succeed on that front. It did, however, limit HB 581’s homestead exemption to up to five acres, like Dade’s existing homestead exemption. Because of this, Hartline said that the existing exemption is going to typically be most beneficial for taxpayers, to which Duvall agreed.
HB 92 included an option for each governing body (i.e. school board, city, and county here in Dade) to come up with an estimated rollback rate to include on tax assessments. Historically, the assessor’s office used the previous year’s millage rate as the estimated rollback rate. Now, governments can come up with a new estimate each year or do nothing, in which case last year’s rate is used as the estimate.
Townsend said, “The problem with this is trying to calculate an estimate based on having nothing to estimate from. That’s what we don’t understand why the state can’t get. Apparently, legislators don’t calculate millage rates, and I don’t know who they’re getting their advice from.” Duvall suggested using last year’s, like we’ve been doing, and all commissioners agreed.
Duvall said that property owners should receive their assessment notices by the end of May, and while the office has seen some value increases, it’s not been anywhere near as drastic as the last few years.
At last month’s meeting, Townsend brought up the storm shelter policy, particularly about what animals will be allowed in. He returned to the policy this month, saying, “I get it—it’s a passionate issue.” The board will continue to review the policy before voting, but all seemed to agree that only aid animals should be allowed in, and they should be kept in one side of the shelters so that people with allergies can keep their distance.
Courtney Gross (coroner) announced the inaugural Coroner Day of Remembrance at 10 a.m. on June 7 on the top floor of the historic courthouse. The day will be a time to honor those who died in the last year but also offer resources for people who are grieving. Gross is putting together a bereavement resource guide.
Bradford gave an update on the potential addition of glass recycling at the recycling center through a contract with Overlooked Materials. The county does not want to spend money on the program. Therefore, Bradford likes the option of hosting the collection bins at the recycling center but having individual citizens who wish to recycle glass sign up and pay the small fee required.
The county will continue communicating with Overlooked Materials to figure out the details. The Sentinel is working on an article about recycling in Dade overall and will explain more about Overlooked Materials then, so stay tuned.
Alex Case (EMA director) shared a brief update on the elections building plan. Some adjustments were made to the electrical plans so that there will be room for more voting machines as the county grows. The county is ready to send the plans out for bid and decided to use a general contractor. Hartline requested that the general contractor chosen provide a timeline and date for completion.
On April 9, the county approved an updated fire services agreement (see the April 16 Sentinel), but further conversations have brought to light the need for more clarity. The confusion lies in situations where firefighters are providing medical care. Anything above and beyond first aid gets into licensing issues with the state, so only the EMTs with the appropriate certifications can provide care.
Bill Pullen (District One commissioner) noted that more than half of the calls the fire department answers are medical related rather than fire related, so the issue is very relevant.
Initially, the county removed some wording from the agreement in an attempt to limit liability, but without it clearly written out, some firefighters may be unclear of what care they are able to render. The county plans to hold a special called meeting with the fire chiefs to figure out how to clear up the agreement.
During Citizens Participation, Audrey Clark announced that Bank of Dade’s annual free shred day will be on May 10 from 9 a.m. to noon, saying, “It’s just a way we’re trying to help people protect their identity and information.”
During his report, Hartline mentioned the nearly completed construction project at Davis Elementary School because he brought up the issue at the Nov. 3, 2022, commission meeting. At that time, he was not happy with the school board’s decision to delay the rebuild, but now, he said, “I just wanted to say thank you to the school board for moving forward with this project.” (Check back in upcoming Sentinels for more about the Davis project.)
During her report, Bradford noted that Tire Amnesty Day is delayed this year due to a delay with grants. Instead of happening in May, it will be on June 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During Townsend’s report, he noted that the top floor of the historic courthouse has already been reserved for many dates. He also noted Dennis Kelley’s resignation as New Home Fire Department’s chief because Kelly is moving away for his job. Mark Gibson is stepping up as fire chief.
