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Gordon County work session previews 9.042-mill rate, budget amendments, brush truck purchase and planned appeal of state sales-ratio study
Summary
Commissioners discussed a recommended 9.042-mill tax rate, multiple FY24 and FY25 budget amendments including a brush truck purchase for $56,284.32 and reallocations, surplus playground equipment, SPLOST overages and a planned appeal of the Department of Audits sales-ratio study led by Ashley Bailey.
Gordon County commissioners at a work session reviewed several budget items and administrative actions, including a recommended millage rate, equipment purchases, SPLOST accounting and a planned property-assessment appeal to the state.
The chair said the recommended 2024 millage rate is 9.042 mills and that figure had been advertised during budget preparation. On procurement and capital items, the chair recommended declaring playground equipment at Solid Gold Street Park as surplus because the structure is failing; a third party offered no-cost removal. The chair also recommended purchasing a state-contract brush truck for Fire & Rescue from a local Ford dealership for $56,284.32; staff confirmed the vehicle meets requirements.
Staff outlined multiple FY24 budget amendments as audit cleanup items: reallocations to buy security cameras for the ag center after a break-in, parking-deck camera replacements, increased transit-bus costs, additional sheriff office personnel, GIS changes and small reallocations (one line item of $49). The chair summarized closing out a 2018 SPLOST collection and noted overages allocated to municipalities based on population; vehicle replacements were also listed.
On property-tax assessments, Ashley Bailey presented the county’s plan to appeal the Department of Audits’ 2023 Sales Ratio Study, arguing the state’s methodology uses sales the county considers disallowed and therefore understates local assessments. Bailey said prior appeals netted the county roughly $195,000 in 2021 and $165,000 in 2022 and that the county’s in-house ratio was 38.47; the county plans to file an appeal again for 2023 and coordinate with the board of education when required.
Several items were described as amendments or requests for inclusion in the FY25 budget (including the airport match request and LATCF-funded scanning), but no formal votes or final appropriations were recorded in the work session minutes; staff said audit-related reallocations are housekeeping ahead of the county audit and that the formal budget and appropriation process will follow in coming months.
Provenance: The millage, equipment surplus, brush truck purchase, budget amendments, SPLOST overage summary and the Department of Audits appeal were all presented during the work session.
