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Coffee County approves tax-collection deal with municipalities, authorizes timber thinning and ratifies CDBG contract
Summary
At its Aug. 1 meeting the Coffee County Board approved a one-year tax collection agreement with municipalities in a split vote, authorized the Nature Conservancy to include county land in timber-thinning bids, and ratified a CDBG contract the board previously voted on July 5, 2022.
The Coffee County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 1 approved several administrative actions, including a one-year Tax Collection Agreement with the cities of Douglas, Nicholls and Broxton, authorized paperwork to allow timber thinning on county-owned land adjacent to Broxton Rocks, and formally ratified a previously voted Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) contract.
County Attorney Tony Rowell outlined the Tax Collection Agreement, saying municipalities would pay the Tax Commissioner $20,000 a year (reported to the collector via Form 1099) and that the county would receive 3.5% of taxes collected from each participating municipality. Commissioner Johnny Wayne Jowers moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Ted O'Steen seconded. Chairman AJ Dovers voted in favor; Commissioner Jimmy Kitchens opposed. The motion carried; Commissioner Oscar Paulk was absent. The City of Douglas indicated it is prepared to pay the $20,000 fee.
Rowell also said the Nature Conservancy plans to thin timber adjacent to county property near Broxton Rocks and would include the county tract in competitive bids if the county agreed. The board authorized Chairman AJ Dovers to execute necessary documents, with terms to be worked out between the chairman and county counsel.
Earlier in the meeting the board addressed a potential conflict of interest raised by Commissioner Jowers concerning CDBG project #20-3324-B. Southern Georgia Regional Commission staff suggested it would be cleaner for Jowers not to participate in the July 5 vote. The board ratified the July 5 action on the contract and recorded that Commissioner Jowers did not participate in that earlier vote; the ratification vote was unanimous.
The board also appointed Commissioner Oscar Paulk as the county's 2022 ACCG voting delegate and approved minutes from the July 5 meetings. There were no public comments, and the meeting adjourned at 9:40 a.m.
