April 12, 2010
PROPERTY VALUES DOWN
SIGNIFICANTLY BUT NO NEED TO CUT BUDGET IN JASPER COUNTY
At
Monday’s BOC meeting April 5th, everybody wanted more money. The Sheriff, the library, EMS,
the Water Authority. The question is,
just where is that money tree located?
It must be at the courthouse because that’s where everyone comes seeking
more money, even though the citizens never see more services.
At the at the
budget hearing February 19, 2010, Board of Assessors Chief Appraiser, Lynn
Bentley, told the crowd that everything was great, money was coming in, there
was nothing to worry about, and the budget didn’t need to be cut. She encouraged the commissioners to leave the
budget at $8.2 million. Maybe this is
why everyone thinks there is plenty of money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKIdphvQ9IY&feature=channel
But a few weeks later at the Board of
Assessors meeting it was another story.
Values are down significantly.
From The Monticello
News—3/18/10
Chief Appraiser Lynn Bentley's
2010 Digest recommendations were
presented to the Board of
Assessors (BOA) last Thursday
during the board's regular monthly meeting.
According to the
numbers, land values in the northern parts of the
county have decreased an average of 25 percent and 15 percent in the south.
The BOA also plans
to update
all residential structure pricing, which will result in a decrease in all residential
houses
by an average of 10 percent.
The
bottom line is property values will decrease, however a reduction in taxes depends on whether or not the County Commission and the School Board raise the millage rate.
At the budget
hearing the story was everything is great; now it is, if your taxes go up it’s
because the commissioners have to bring in enough money to fund that $8.2
million budget.
At the budget
hearing the District 3 commissioner agreed; everything is great, and NO millage
increase will be needed in 2010 and he had the majority of the BOC agree with
him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQkggEgLYgA&feature=channel
Even though 2
commissioners stood firm and voted against the $8.2 million budget, it
passed. Both Comm. Cox and Comm. Patrick
have emails they send out. Both have said the budget needed to be cut. Both have said the values were going
down. They have said to keep taxes from
going up after values go down the budget has to be cut.
http://www.youtube.com/gajasper#p/u/4/oUGaZdJRTYM
Newton County is having problems. DeKalb County
is talking about closing 12 schools.
Other counties continue to cut their budgets because revenues are coming
in lower.
http://www.covnews.com/news/article/10736/
County revenue down, depts. cut expenses
Jan. 22, 2010
12:30 a.m.
http://www.covnews.com/news/article/11350/
Next year's county budget could be 10 percent lower
Tax digest expected to decrease by 10 percent or more
March 3, 2010 7:47
p.m.
TWG continues to wonder why Jasper County
is the only county in the State and maybe the entire country that supposedly
doesn’t have to cut their budget. Maybe our new County Manager
can solve that mystery while deciding how to fund an EMS
director, a CFO, and more money for everyone.
TWG
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Mission
Statement:
** To keep the taxpayers of Jasper County, Georgia
informed as to where and how their tax dollars are
being spent.
** To keep the taxpayers abreast of local policies
and laws being discussed and enacted.
** We advocate more open government, less government
spending, and lower property taxes.
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