ESPLOST will win by 4 to 1. Going not very far out on a limb, with only 3 of 9 precincts reporting, but with 79+ yes to 20% no at 8:30 PM, I predict ESPLOST will win. Oops, make that 7 of 9 precincts; changed while I was writing this.
-jsq
Tag Archives: tax
Videos: ESPLOST V kickoff meeting @ ESPLOST 2015-02-24
Co-Chair Jerome Tucker emphasized that ESPLOST helping
public schools also helps economic development.
See below for who we now know are the
committee members for the Educational Special Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST).
It’s mysterious why that information wasn’t in
the PR before the meeting,
but now we know, since Gretchen went and took the videos
and collected the flyers you’ll find below.
Early voting already started that same day and continues through March 13th, with the final Election Day 17 March 2015.
Lowndes/Valdosta Citizens for Excellence in Education
Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
For Lowndes County Schools and Valdosta City Schools Continue reading
ESPLOST V kickoff meeting today @ ESPLOST 2015-02-24
A committee of unknown members is holding a kickoff meeting today
for the Educational Special Local Option Sales Tax.
Various local news media carry the announcement below,
but none of them seem to have the names of the committee members
beyond one co-chair.
I guess we’ll find out from the videos Gretchen is going there now to take.
In the City of Valdosta’s In The City This Week, Feb. 23-28,
Feb. 24: ESPLOST V Campaign. The ESPLOST joint committee will host a campaign kickoff on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m., in the Valdosta City Hall Annex Multi-Purpose Room. At the meeting, committee members will share proposed projects for Lowndes County and Valdosta City Schools with citizens. Early voting runs Feb. 23 through March 13. The final opportunity to vote will be on the official Election Day, March 17. For more information, email Co-Chair John Eunice at jleunice@yahoo.com.
-jsq
HB 170 to convert fuel sales tax to excise tax at local government expense @ LCC 2015-02-05
HB 170 is a stealth tax raise by the state that would force
county and city governments to vote for higher local taxes.
The Transportation Funding Act of 2015 is bad news
according to every city councillor and county commissioner I’ve heard from.
Harrison Tillman estimated about $335,000 reduction in taxes to the county and a $12.6 million overall loss in revenue in his presentation yesterday morning to the Lowndes County Commission Annual Planning Meeting. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall and Chairman Bill Slaughter went to Atlanta to talk to the proposers of this bill, with little effect.
Here’s ACCG’s HB 170 writeup Tillman used, and Continue reading
Opposes Sabal Trail pipeline in any portion of Lowndes County –Lowndes County Commission
Escalating from the Chairman’s letter of 11 April 2014, perhaps after listening to requests from citizens, the Lowndes County Commission passed a resolution wanting no part of Sabal Trail in the county or in the state of Georgia.
Update 2014-11-25: Well, according to Joe Adgie in the Valdosta Daily Times today, “Even though the missive has already been mailed [to FERC], the resolution will not be formally voted on until the county commission’s next meeting in December [9th].”
Filed with FERC in docket CP15-17 on 21 November 2014 as Accession Number: 20141121-5242, but that was a Friday and FERC doesn’t work on weekends, so it actually appeared Monday 24 November 2014.
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas has proposed to build a $3.7 Billion, 460mile natural gas line known as Sabal Trail, and;
WHEREAS, The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners has concerns regarding personal property rights Continue reading
Volunteers for Lowndes County Board of Equalization
Update 2014-11-21: Brad Shealy from the District Attorney’s office called back. The reason there was no decision at day before yesterday’s Grand Jury meeting was there were no applicants. He said qualifications include you must be 18, a high school graduate, and a property owner, presumably meaning real estate. Plus you have to go to Tifton or Athens for a 40 hour course. Which he said is better than it used to be when the only location for the course was Athens: Tifton is close enough to drive up and back daily. If you want to serve, please contact the Clerk of Court (see below for her number).
When will new members be appointed to the Board of Equalization, who are the candidates, and how are people to know? Maybe you’d like to volunteer. If so, send your resume to the Clerk of Court (not the County Clerk). Apparently you have about two weeks.
As public comment on facebook by Becky Vaughn Herndon today:
Lowndes County is looking for volunteers to be members of the Board of Equalization (BOE). The purpose of the BOE is to hear property tax disputes between the Lowndes County Board of Assessors (BOA) and property owners. The board must not be biased towards the Lowndes County Assessor’s office or the taxpayer. It hears evidence from both sides and decides, based on the evidence presented, what the value of the contested property should be. The board may:
- Find the Continue reading
Pipeline, road repair, Bailey, water, and Commercial Tax Schedules @ LCC 2014-10-28
They finally made a decision onG
the Bailey rezoning:
the one the applicant liked least.
They accepted
the Creekwood Subdivision detention ponds;
and the
Glen Laurel infrastructure;
will all that be maintained any better than the one at Hamilton Circle?
Dr. Michael Noll
spoke for WACE against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline.
Agenda item 6.i. is changed in the county’s online agenda from Rural to Commercial without the agenda being marked as amended.
See agenda, the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session, and the board packet obtained via open records request by LAKE and scanned and posted on the LAKE website. Here are videos of events as they transpired, followed by a video playlist.
Continue readingBoard Packet @ LCC 2014-10-27
Surprisingly, when asked for this packet Monday morning,
the County Clerk agreed to provide it later that same day, and did.
However, she delivered it on paper.
Processing time for that interleaved with other tasks took LAKE
until now.
Here is the
board packet
for the
27 October 2014 Regular Session
of the Lowndes County Commission.
It answers many questions that the public board meeting left hanging,
such as
what land does the county plant to acquire for that booster pump.
If the county would put these board packets on their own website
before their meetings, the citizens who pay their salaries
would be able to see what they were talking about.
-jsq
Videos: Emergency road repair, grandfathered business, water, and Rural Land Agricultural Improvement Schedules @ LCC 2014-10-27
More detail and issues with Bailey REZ-2014-16 after much discussion last time. Almost ten minutes on 6a. Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention. Numerous things incomplete or just FYI such as drug seizures in the financial report, none of which the citizens could see. This was in the Work Session Monday morning. They vote Tuesday 5:30 PM in the Regular Session.
They
actually named the multiple bids for a water item,
unlike the
single-source price-not-quoted pump replacement last time.
And they’re buying some property (at some place unnamed)
for a booster pump.
The Rural Land Agricultural Improvement Schedules was actually for Commercial land. We learned why Shiloh Road needs emergency repairs. Nothing about that on the new county Lowndes411 twitter account, and the county still doesn’t publish its own board packets.
I can understand why the Commission needs to approve a juvenile justice grant, a GEFA loan application, to accept quit claim deeds for a subdivision’s detention ponds, and to accept infrastructure for a subdivision, not to mention a CDBG agreement. But to replace batteries in a UPS?
See the agenda. Here are links to the videos of the items as they transpired this morning. Continue reading
Emergency road repair, grandfathered business, water, and Rural Land Agricultural Improvement Schedules @ LCC 2014-10-27
Bailey’s back
after
much discussion last time.
This time they’re
actually going for multiple bids for a water item,
unlike the
single-source price-not-quoted pump replacement last time.
And they’re buying some property (at some place unnamed)
for a booster pump.
What’s this mysterious Rural Land Agricultural Improvement Schedules? Why does Shiloh Road need emergency repairs? Nothing about that on the new county Lowndes411 twitter account, and the county still doesn’t publish its own board packets.
I can understand why the Commission needs to approve a juvenile justice grant, a GEFA loan application, to accept quit claim deeds for a subdivision’s detention ponds, and to accept infrastructure for a subdivision, not to mention a CDBG agreement. But to replace batteries in a UPS?
Here’s the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PROPOSED AGENDAContinue reading
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor