Category Archives: VLPRA

GMASS for Tax Assessors, Fire, Foam, Moody, RV, Courthouse, Alcohol @ LCC 2021-09-13

Update 2021-09-14: LAKE videos.

The Tax Assessors having no commercial appraisers left are hiring GMASS to appraise commercial properties, for $108,000 over three years.

Four times as much will go to early cleanup work at the historic Courthouse.

Cost	What
$411,125.00	Lowndes County Historic Courthouse Early Demolition and Abatement GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price)
$108,000.00	GMASS Commercial Contract for Tax Assessors
$519,125.00	Total

This is on the agenda this morning for the Lowndes County Commission. At this Work Session, they have two extra items: Code Enforcement Appreciation and VLPRA Adopted Master Plan Presentation by Dr. David Barth (Work Session).

They will vote Tuesday evening, on these and other items including a Fire Department agreement with Moody AFB, expansion of an RV sales company, and beer and wine sales.

Alcohol, RV, Tax Assessors contractor

Below is the agenda. Update 2021-09-14: The board packet is on the LAKE website due to a LAKE open records request.

See also the preceding Planning Commission agenda ~~and board packet~~ and LAKE videos.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Videos: Bandit film, air conditioning, insolvent taxes, Fender Road Improvement Project, VLPRA @ LCC 2021-06-08

Just before adjournment, County Manager Paige Dukes said the Bandit film continued filming downtown. She answered Commissioners Demarcus Marshall and Mark Wisenbaker saying the new millage letters were going out, with the exemption for the new fire tax, At the June 8, 2021, Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Everything passed unanimously.

Chairman, Finance, Attorney, Griner, Manager, Audience

The Minutes record the County Manager also said in Reports:

Mrs. Dukes stated staff will be meeting with our Southern Marketing Coordinator, with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Beth Meeks next week regarding a Farmer of the Year recognition. Additionally, Mrs. Dukes mentioned State Court Judge, John Edwards, was notified that Judge Melton has sent the last order extending the emergency order for the courts through June 30th. Lastly, Mrs. Dukes commended Mr. Tye’s leadership in providing a renewal of our ‘storm ready’ designation in Lowndes County; Mrs. Dukes asked Mr. Tye to give the commission an update. Chairman Slaughter stated this would not have happened without the partnerships with emergency management and thanked Mr. Tye for his efforts and dedication.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: air conditioning, Insolvent taxes, Fender Road Improvement Project, VLPRA @ LCC 2021-06-07

Air conditioning, a quit claim, and, by far the longest, those incorrect tax assessment notices were the big items at the most recent Lowndes County, Georgia, Commission Work Session, June 7, 2021.

Manager and Chairman, Demarcus Marshall, Engineer

See previous post for the agenda and the board packet.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

Continue reading →

Insolvent taxes, Fender Road Improvement Project, air conditioning, VLPRA @ LCC 2021-06-07

The agenda for tomorrow morning’s Work Session and voting Tuesday evening doesn’t actually list the $437,823.30 insolvent tax writeoff as “BUDGET IMPACT” but it seems like it must affect the budget of Lowndes County, Georgia.

What would you guess would be the biggest insolvency for business closed, things moved somewhere else, etc.? Mobile homes? Paving? Real Estate?

Cost	What
$618,767.14	Fender Road Improvement Project
$437,823.30	Insolvent List – Tax Commissioner
$28,842.00	Agreement for HVAC Service for Additional Lowndes County Buildings
$1,085,432.44	Total

Nope.

Insolvent tax writeoffs, Fender Road Improvement

On page 21, Personal Property, GANDER MOUNTAIN COMPANIES has three lines of base + interest + Penalty + FIFA and in one case they actually paid the base tax. So the nets for each of the three lines add up as $16,917.55 + $82,256.20 + $74,203.57 = $173,377.32. That’s just shy of 40% of the $437,823.30 total. Maybe big box stores are more of a risk than the county and cities have been taking into account. Continue reading →

Millage Rate Meeting @ LCC Millage 2020-08-11

The board packet for the Tuesday Lowndes County Commission Regular Session says, on page 65, which is the agenda sheet for agenda item 6.a. Adoption of Millage Rate:

HISTORY, FACTS AND ISSUES: The Board of Commissioners is required to set the county-wide millage rate for 2020. A public hearing was held prior to this adoption as required. The county-wide millage should be set at 10.851 mills with the County receiving 8.601 mills, the Industrial Authority receiving 1.00 mill and the Parks and Recreation Authority receiving 1.25 mills. This represents a reduction of 0.087 mills.

I wondered: when was this public hearing?

10.851 mills, 8.601 County, 1.00 VLDA, 1.25 VLPRA. reduction of 0.087 mills.

According to the county’s online calendar, it hasn’t hapened yet, because it’s 5:00 PM that same Tuesday.

So if you’re going to the Regular Session, might as well show up half an hour earlier for the Millage Rate Meeting. Chances are, you’ll be the only member of the public there.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!

Budget, Bevel Creek Lift Station, Val Tech Road widening, Appointments: ZBOA, Library, VLPRA, Construction @ LCC 2020-06-22

The big item on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for Monday to vote on Tuesday evening is the Adoption of Fiscal Year 2021 Budget totaling $59,443,920, with $22,774,781 or 38% to Public safety, i.e., the Sheriff’s department, including the jail.

A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE FISCAL YEAR 2021 OPERATING BUDGET
PDF

The board packet is on the LAKE website after we obtained it through an open records request.

Although I hear the hotel/motel tax is down 80% due to virus pandemic, the Hotel/Motel Tax FY 2021 County Budget Budgeted Proceeds are $400,000.00. They are budget to go to:

$171,429.00 Transfer to Lowndes County’s Special Services Fund from which the County funds (i) services the County provides primarily for the benefit of the unincorporated area and
(ii) the County’s share of funding of services the County and one or more municipalities jointly fund

$171,429.00 Transfer to Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center and Tourism Authority
to promote tourism, convention, and trade shows in accordance with the FY 2021 Budget Plan of said Authority for same which is made a part of this Budget Plan

$57,142.00 Transfer to Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority
for capital costs and operating expenses of parks and recreational facilities owned and operated by said Authority

A rare no-match federal grant: Acceptance of FY20 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding brings the total expected expenditures from this Tuesday’s Regular Session down to less than a quarter million dollars:

Cost	What
$148,345.58	Val Tech Road Grading, Drainage, Base and Paving
$82,000.00	Bevel Creek Manhole Emergency Repair
$57,300.00	The Modernization/Upgrade of the Elevator in the Governmental Building
($58,008) in Federal Funding. There is no local match requirement.	Acceptance of FY20 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding
$229,637.58	Total

I commend Lowndes County Utilities for moving ahead to fix the recent manhole collapse at the Bevel Creek Lift Station on GA 376 near Loch Laurel Road. See also Sewer line repair between manholes, Bevel Creek Lift Station @ LCC 2020-06-22.

Photo: Terry Richards, The Valdosta Daily Times, Heavy rains cause problems in Lowndes 2020-06-08.

It’s a busy agenda for appointments, to Continue reading →

Notes: Special Called Meeting @ LCC 2020-04-16

Twelve minutes for their first-ever dial-in Lowndes County Commission meeting.

That’s longer than many of their in-person meetings, maybe because the Chairman had the Clerk call roll for the Commissioners for each vote. Both votes were unanimous with no discussion. Nobody explained why these items were important enough for a Special Called Meeting.

Only two items

Before the meeting, in the room they had already Continue reading →

Videos: End-of-calendar-year wrapup and Remerton SPLOST Resolution @ LCC 2019-12-09

Remerton can’t use SPLOST VI funds for an office building, since the old mill building intended for that has been torn down. That was the longest item in the Lowndes County Commission Work Seesion of December 9, 2019: 7. Reports – County Manager – Remerton SPLOST Resolution.

Then Commissioner Clay Griner moved to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel. Chairman Bill Slaughter reminded him the Commission has only one employee. Griner agreed, and they went into Executive Session. The one employee is the County Manager.

They breezed through everything else their last meeting of calendar year 2019.

Below are LAKE videos of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the Continue reading →

Packet: End-of-calendar-year wrapup @ LCC 2019-12-09

In its last meeting of calendar year 2019, the Lowndes County Commission had many items to wrap up, as you can see in the board packet, on the LAKE website. We don’t know why the county sent this packet in black and white.

LAKE videos of the Work Session and Regular Session will follow.

WRPDO Site Map

LAKE sent an open records request Continue reading →

Videos: MIDS bus system, roof cleaning, truck bypass, new lift station generator @ LCC 2019-11-12

Longest at four and a half minutes on November 12, 2019, was 6.e. Grant Re-Application for the Rural (5311)Transportation Program, in other words, the MIDS on-demand bus system; follow the link for more notes, including a question about where have the county funds for this been coming from.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall about the MIDS bus system.

Let’s hope the Arglass project doesn’t turn out like the James Road project a decade ago, with massive road paving and road and utilities rerouting, and nothing else, given that the county just approved a grant and VLDA match of more than a million dollars for road repaving for Arglass.

The truck bypass through downtown Valdosta had some discussion about when the bypass would happen and why the county is passing an ordinance now.

Um, it’s actually a generator for emergency management that took two minutes. 6.j. Hart Road Lift Station Pump took half a minute.

And another big item at three minutes: Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange