Tag Archives: millage

SPLOST VII, Millage, Library, and two road repairs @ LCC 2012-07-23

Two kinds of taxes: Lowndes County Commission Work Session Monday 8:30 AM and Regular Session Tuesday 5:30 PM, with a property tax millage hearing 5PM before the Regular Session. Apparently the cities and the county have come to some agreement about Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) VII. Road repairs are being contemplated for Cat Creek Road and Cameron Lane. And there’s something about an RFP for an architect for the library.

Update: SPLOST, not LOST. -jsq

Here’s the agenda.

-jsq

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 23, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Finance, Facilities, and Projects @ VLPRA 2012 04 19

Imagine an appointed body that likes citizen input, and even puts (some) board packet items on its website before its meetings! Parks and Rec is that body.

With 1.5 mil of our tax dollars every year, it’s good to see the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks & Recreation Authority (VLPRA) reviewing finances:

At the end of February, the Parks and Rec had $2.69 million in cash, $541,000 in liabilities, and that leaves about $2.1 million….

For the eight months ending February 29, tax receipts $3.22 million. That’s $79,000 dollars more tax receipts than for the eight months of the previous year.

So that’s about $4.3 million per year in tax receipts, plus SPLOST money (see the video). The board didn’t have any questions about finance.

At least we can see some results of their money, such as Continue reading →

Still time to contact VLCIA board before tomorrow’s private prison decision

We learned yesterday from Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) Executive Director Andrea Schruijer that we can expect an opinion from the VLCIA board at tomorrow’s 2PM board meeting about Project Excel, the CCA private prison whose contract expires March 13th unless VLCIA gives it a third extension, which they haven’t so far.

Roy Copeland
Roy Copeland
Chairman 		Tom Call
Tom Call 		Mary B. Gooding
Mary Gooding 		Norman Bennett
Norman Bennett 		Jerry Jennett
Jerry Jennett,

It’s not too late to express your opinion to this tax-funded (1 mil of your property taxes + SPLOST funds, for around $3 million a year) appointed board. Follow this link for contact information for the VLCIA board. Or sign the petition online and your signature gets emailed directly to VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer.

-jsq

Millage and Budget

What will Lowndes County do with that millage it’s going to adopt Tuesday? That would be in the budget.

Maybe they think they sufficiently discussed that at the budget hearing where no citizen questions were entertained. About the budget they refused to post online until after they approved it.

So, did they post it by that Friday, 1 July 2011, as County Manager Joe Pritchard promised? Continue reading →

LCC: work session cancelled, regular meeting Tuesday 26 July 2011

County to adopt tax millage Tuesday; cancels work session about that. See next post for more. Now: the agenda for Tuesday.

According to lowndescounty.com, the Monday morning work session is cancelled,

“Due to the lack of items on the agenda that require additional information”
but the Lowndes County Commission meets Tuesday evening as scheduled. The agenda does not contain the formerly tabled Nottinghill rezoning proposal for Cat Creek Road. Since rezonings are usually considered once a month (every other meeting), presumably the Commission will take that one back up in August.

The rest of the agenda is the shortest I’ve ever seen, so unless lots of citizens sign up to be heard, don’t blink or you’ll miss Tuesday’s meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION CANCELLED
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

ESPLOST Passed

If you go to lowndescounty.com, pull down Government at the top, select Board of Elections, then Election Results, you can select a format for displaying election results. And the results at 8:50 PM 15 March 2010 are:
BOE SALES TAX QUESTIONVOTES
YES82.66%2,931
NO17.34%615
Total Votes: 3,546
I think it’s safe to say ESPLOST passed.

-jsq

ESPLOST Election Today

If you’re not yet convinced to get out and vote today to continue the 1% ESPLOST local sales tax that pays for school buildings, books, band instruments, and sports equipment for the Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia school systems, here are two Facebook pages: And where you can vote. And here’s lots of detail on where the money goes. The two school boards are setting a standard for local government transparency in posting a detailed notice in the newspaper five times, holding information sessions, going to other people’s meetings and speaking, handing out flyers, etc.

-jsq

“Parameters on the types of industry” –VDT Editorial

And what about all that land?

In addition to a news story about Brad Lofton moving on up to Myrtle Beach, the Valdosta Daily Times also had an editorial yesterday (14 March), Lofton’s leaving a void in which they make some good points, including:

While the search is on for a new director, now is the time for the city, county and industrial authority board to come together to make some decisions about the organization and what the community leadership needs and wants it to be.
Here are a few modest suggestions along those lines, including considerations such as water.

More from the VDT: Continue reading →