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Stye Aiiuance
The ADVANCE, January 10,2024/Page 12A
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
ALREADY PUT TO USE - Captain Robert Tillman has already begun putting the building
to use, as he has begun to move the organization's barrel train into the space.
SafeKids
continued from page 1A
[Moore], and [Toombs-
Montgomery EMS Di
rector] Drew James, and
the County, [we’re here].
We’re headed up by the
City ofVidalia Fire Depart
ment, but we’ve partnered
with the County, and this
is a great location for the
building.”
This central loca
tion, which is situated be
hind the Toombs County
EMA/EMS Building, was
made possible through the
donation of a metal storage
building, gifted to the orga
nization by Black & Veitch,
which is currently over
seeing the construction of
the Toombs Solar Project
along Georgia Highway
297. “It’s a large project,”
Project Coordinator Au
drey Elking emphasized.
“Our whole landscape is
2,030 acres that we are
working on, so we knew we
were going to make an im
pact on the area. We want
ed to come in and not just
take up space. We wanted
to give back since we’re go
ing to be a part of the com
munity for a while.”
She continued, “We
were looking for some dif
ferent avenues to reach out.
We had some county lead
ers reach out and visit the
site so that we could tell
them what we are about,
and one of the ideas that
came from that meeting
was helping out SafeKids.
I was put in contact with
Robert [Tillman], and
asked him what needs the
group had, and storage was
one.”
The company pur
chased the building to help
with this storage issue,
and the Toombs County
Emergency Management
Agency agreed to allow the
building to sit at its office
on Meadows Lane. “The
EMA/EMS building has
land where the building
can be placed. We can look
after it, and it is in a safe
location. It enhances the
citizenry of Toombs Coun
ty to participate in such a
great program,” Emergen
cy Management Director
Lynn Moore remarked.
When asked why
SafeKids was the compa
ny’s pick to invest in, Elk
ing emphasized, “We just
want to help out where we
can, and this is a great or
ganization that Robert is
running. Not only is every
one very passionate about
what they’re doing and you
can see that, but they’re
making it work with what
they have. We just want to
help them be even more
successful at what they do
by just helping them have
a little efficiency, such as
having one central location
for everything. We want to
help grow the organization
that is actually making a
difference in this commu
nity.”
SafeKids Toombs
County is a division of
both SafeKids Worldwide
and SafeKids Georgia,
which focus on ensuring
children grow up safely.
“The ultimate purpose of
SafeKids is childhood safe
ty, from birth to age 18. We
are tasked with water safe
ty, car safety, ATV safety,
fire safety, etc. We deal with
the Babysitter Program and
driving safety - any type
of safety program that you
can think of, is under our
umbrella,” Tillman clari
fied.
The organization
works to complete car seat
checks, host annual Lowe’s
Safety Day events, and
more. It is completely fund
ed through donations and
fundraising efforts, and all
those who participate are
volunteers to the program.
“SafeKids is a great re
source, but it takes money
to run it, so that’s where ev
ery donation helps. Thus,
we’re grateful for every bit
that people give,” Tillman
added. “Every dime that is
raised for SafeKids goes to
SafeKids. It doesn’t go to
pay anyone.”
The Vidalia Fire De
partment, Toombs County
EMS/EMA, Lyons Police
Department, Lyons Main
Street Association, Me
morial Health Meadows
Hospital, Black & Veitch,
Lowe’s, Georgia State Pa
trol, Teens in the Driver’s
Seat, and more all come
together to help promote
safety through the pro
gram. “There is a crew of
people that participate as
a part of this coalition, and
it’s steadily growing,” Till
man commented.
As for leadership,
alongside Tillman, Para
medic Samantha McGar-
rah acts as the person sec
ond in command in the
operation, as she works to
find resources and grants to
help further the program,
and Firefighter Jamie Byrd
acts as an administrative
assistant to compete the
paperwork side of the pro
gram. “I am so apprecia
tive of all they do,” Tillman
said. “It allows me to make
connections and find ways
to improve the program.”
He also shared his grati
tude for the organization’s
small board of directors,
which includes Toombs-
Montgomery EMS Direc
tor Drew James, Paramedic
Kari Page, and EMA Direc
tor Lynn Moore.
“It takes leadership,
and Robert does a great
job,” Moore remarked.
“I’ve been a member of the
SafeKids program since
back when it first began,
and I’ve seen it grow, I’ve
seen it drop oft] I’ve seen
several stages. The previ
ous director did a won
derful job, and then she
retired, and Robert has
taken over. [The program]
emphasizes the fact that
Toombs County and the
citizens of Vidalia, Lyons,
and Toombs County are
interested in their kids.
SafeKids encompasses
everything in the county
that has to do with kids,
and especially, the car seat
program. There are people
out there who do not know
how to put a car seat in the
car - they just stick it in
there and hook the belts
up. But we are able to give
those classes and train peo
ple the secure ways to do it.
It is a wonderful program
and it is great for Toombs
County.”
MoCo
continued from page 1A
petitioned election could
not be formally called, as
she cited Article XI, Para
graph 1, Sub Paragraph B,
2, which directly addresses
the regulations of petitions
for ballot measures.
“It is my position
that the Constitutional
language is clear [in this
section], [which] reads,
Amendments to or repeals
of such local acts are or
dinances,”’ she explained.
“In this case, there is not
a Homestead Exemption
Resolution or Act to be
amended or repealed. Fur
thermore, by the language
of the proposed act, the Su
perintendent of Montgom
ery County cannot call an
election until the bill has
been passed by the State
Legislature and signed by
the Governor.”
According to Judge
Sanders, she had been re
searching the law regard
ing this petition, which is
unprecedented in Mont
gomery County, since the
document was officially
filed in the Probate Court
on Monday, November 6.
The petition was filed
by members of the In
formed Citizens Coalition,
which is led by a small core
group of citizens - Amie
Vassey, Angel Hicks-Gil-
reath, Greg Palmer, KC
Seabury, Brian Colson,
Linda Page, and others.
The group had united
with hundreds of citizens
throughout the county to
work to allow the Float
ing Homestead Exemp
tion Act, a property value
‘freeze’ to protect citizens
from high property tax
rates, voted on in a refer
endum.
Vassey explained,
“Earlier this year, the Tax
Assessors Board tried to in
crease the values of Mont
gomery County residen
tial homes by 60%, and, of
course, we were incredibly
alarmed by that. The citi
zens pulled together and
created a group called the
Judge Rubie Nell Sanders
Informed Citizens Co
alition, and we have ac
tively been canvassing the
county [and] compiling a
Citizens Initiative Petition
to file in Probate Court to
freeze the assessed value
of Montgomery County
homes.”
“This has been a great
time to bring the com
munity together and to
achieve something great
and let our voices be
heard,” Gilreath com
mented. “It has been a
huge occasion, and we are
thankful for the commu
nity and all the work and
effort which they put into
this. This is a Montgomery
County citizen issue, and it
was Montgomery County
citizens seeking to solve it,
and I think that is the most
important thing.”
Palmer added, “It’s re
ally been incredible how
the people have reached
out to sign these petitions
- they call all of us night
and day wanting to sign
and pass this legislation for
us.
The Montgomery
County Commission first
began reviewing the Float
ing Homestead Act upon
the request of the citizens
several months ago. The
group attended an infor
mative training on the leg
islation in Cobb County,
where they heard perspec
tive from leaders dealing
with the Act in that area,
but shared that they were
not ready to put the Float
ing Homestead Exemption
on the ballot until they had
more information.
During the initial dis
cussion, commissioners
shared their concern that
allowing this floating tax
exemption would cause
large land tract owners,
such as farmers and busi
ness owners, to have a
greater tax burden that
would deter them from set
tling in the county — even
with protection that came
from prior legislation.
The matter was dis
cussed numerous times
during Commission work
sessions, including one in
which the citizens asked
for the Commission to
form a committee of two
Commissioners, three
homeowners, three large
land tract owners, and
two business owners to
discuss the legislation.
Commissioners agreed,
and the committee - com
prised of Montgomery
County Commissioners
Chad Kenney and Ginger
Morris, Zellene Robin
son, David Moncus, Bob
McKenzie, Sam Baker,
Brian Myers, Charlie Rob
ison, Al Johnson, and Matt
Waller - have met twice to
discuss the logistics of the
Exemption.
During these meet
ings, Kenney presented in-
depth looks at the Floating
Homestead Exemption,
while citizens within the
committee were able to ask
questions about the legis
lation. According to Ken
ney, this committee had a
lot of questions about the
legislation and was con
cerned that it would not be
an appropriate way of ad
dressing the tax issue.
Ultimately, commis
sioners voted to attempt
to craft their own floating
homestead exemption, but
were unable to agree on
the requirements for eligi
bility, specifically, age and
annual wages. Since that
disagreement, no further
discussion has been made
regarding future plans to
craft the legislation, and
commissioners encour
aged citizens to visit the
Montgomery County Tax
Commissioner’s office to
learn more about the ex
emptions and the help al
ready available.
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