Fifth ambulance a top need, bond rate to drop .25
Faced with the needs of a growing county, which includes adding a fifth ambulance, Gilmer County commissioners opted to increase the millage rate by half a mil over last year.
While the board voted to increase the maintenance and operations millage rate by .5, at the same time, commissioners voted to decrease the general obligation bond rate by .25 of a mil. Both votes were unanimous.
“I just don’t want us to shirk this to the point that we aren’t able to do what needs to be done, and 15 years from now, they are having to put us in debt again,” said Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris.
Post Commissioner John Marshall brought up listening to the scanner and hearing an ambulance called from Dalton to service a call in Tickanetley, on the other side of the county.
In addition to the ambulance, Marshall said employee retirement and salaries must be addressed to stop Gilmer County for being a training ground where employees leave for jobs in other counties.
Paris said the GO bond rate could be dropped because there is a $1.3 million cushion with five to six payments left.
In round figures, the increase on the maintenance and operations millage will cost a homeowner $50 per $100,000 value on their property taxes. This will be reduced by $25 with the bond millage decrease.
For a home valued at $200,000, the net increase is projected at $50, $125 for a $500,000 home and $250 for a $1 million home, according to calculations from the county finance office.
Marshall said commissioners will continue to seek alternate sources of revenue other than property taxes. He pointed to a grant writer the county has hired and the initiative to set impact fees for subdivision construction in the county.
“We’re still going to work diligently to find other monies, too,” he said.
The vote authorizes the advertisement of the rate, which must take place before a vote is taken.