Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Jackson County
ends year in the black
Jackson County ended 2016 in the black according to the
recently released county audit.
The county’s general fund netted $1.1 million on the year,
growing its reserves to $7.4 million.
The general fund took in $40.3 million in revenue in 2016
most of which came from various taxes.
The county spent a little over $40 million on the year out
of its general fund.
As in the past, the county’s largest expense was for public
safety at $14.2 million, primarily the sheriff’s office and jail
operations.
Debt service was the county’s second largest expense at
$8.6 million, followed by general government operations at
$5.2 million. Judicial expenses topped $3.6 million in 2016.
SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS
In the county’s special revenue funds, E911 took in $1.2
million, but had expenses of $1.48 million. The county’s
ambulance service had revenues of $1.6 million and expens
es of $3.97 million while parks and recreation had income
of $480,000 and expense of $1.5 million. The county senior
center had income of $264,800 and expenses of $542,000.
The county uses general tax revenues to pay the difference
in all of those special funds.
Another fund the county subsidizes is the cost of solid
waste disposal at the county landfill. The landfdl had income
of $1.47 million but expenses of $1.62 million.
FIRE DISTRICTS
The county’s fire districts collectively took in $3.37 mil
lion last year, mostly from property taxes. The departments
had expenses of $2.8 million.
Together, the fire districts had reserves that total over $2
million at the end of 2016.
AUDIT FINDINGS
Auditors noted several issues in various county depart
ments with how money was handled in 2016. Those were:
• EMS didn’t bill the correct amounts to some customers
and it doesn’t use phone calling by a collection agency to
collect outstanding debt.
• the clerk of court had a number of outstanding old
transactions in its bank account that auditors said should be
removed from its reconciliation process.
• the magistrate court had a number of issues, including
the fact that all of its transactions were being done manually
and not by using software and that there wasn’t enough
separation of duties. The county responded by saying the
previous magistrate judge wouldn’t allow the court to buy
accounting software, but that software was now in place.
• there was an issue in accurate and timely reconciling of
bank statements in the tax commissioner’s office.
Hwy. 211 continued from 1A
contribute 1 percent of the funding for the project,
which would widen the busy highway from Hwy. 124
to Hwy. 347.
Earlier this year, the Braselton Town Council dis
cussed doing part of that project in-house. While Hwy.
211 is a state route, the town may be able to get some
of the work done sooner than the Georgia Department
of Transportation.
The council discussed using state funding to take on
two sections of the road widening project (from the
1-85 northbound ramp to Par 3 and from Ace Hardware
to Hwy. 347).
OTHER APPROVED PROJECTS
Other projects approved by the GHMPO technical
coordinating committee were:
•railroad crossing on Tumbling Creek Road at Nor
folk Southern Railroad.
•replacement of a bridge on Thompson Bridge Road
at the Chattahoochee River.
Crashes continued from 1A
most common time of day for crashes was mid-after
noon (3 p.m. and 6 p.m.).
•the large majority of crashes (1,549 incidents) result
ed in property-damage only.
HALL COUNTY
Hall County saw an increase in the total number of
crashes last year (up to 7,273 from, 7,248) but injuries
and fatalities both dipped.
A little over 2,300 injuries were reported in wrecks
in Hall County last year, down from 2.427 in 2015.
Fatalities also saw a dip from 35 in 2015 to 32 in 2016.
Those numbers have generally climbed over the past
four years. In 2012, there were 6,027 crashes in Hall
County with 2,138 injuries and 26 fatalities.
Other highlights from the Hall County crash data
included:
•the highest accident locations occurred at Daw-
sonville Hwy. and McEver Road; McEver Road and
Browns Bridge Road; Spout Springs Road; and Jesse
Jewell Parkway and EE Butler Parkway. No fatalities
were reported at any of those locations.
•March had the highest number of crashes, followed
by August and November. July had the lowest number
of wrecks. Friday and Tuesday were the most common
days for wrecks, while Sunday was the least common.
The most common time of day for crashes was around
5 p.m.
•the majority of wrecks (5,663) resulted in proper
ty-damage only.
•over 24 percent of the wrecks involved a driver
between the ages of 16-24.
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4-H’ers paint benches
Jackson County 4-H Club members painted animal-themed art on the benches outside the shelter.
4-H members work at animal shelter
Members of the Jackson County 4-H Club recently gave
a helping hand at the Jackson County Animal Shelter.
The group painted puppy paws, kitty prints and colorful
dog bones on the benches outside the shelter.
“The kids even got to hang out with the animals in the
shelter which make everyone even happier.” leaders state.
Brad Richards, director of the animal shelter, thanked
the area youth for their help.
Any group that wants to be involved with the animal
shelter can contact Richards at brichards@jacksoncoun-
Offer a helping hand to Jackson
County Animal Shelter
Members of the Jackson County 4-H Club
recently gave a helping hand at the Jackson
County Animal Shelter. The group painted
puppy paws, kitty prints and colorful dog
bones on the benches outside the shelter.
Jackson County 4-H members are shown
here at the Jackson County Animal Shelter.
tygov.com or 706-367-5480.
Individuals wanting to help can drop off donations of
bleach and dry dog food at the shelter or historic court
house.
The animal shelter is located at 29 Galilee Church
Road. Hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The historic courthouse is located at 85 Washington
Street. Hours are Mondays-Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3
p.m. For more information, call 706-387-7683.
NGMC Braselton recognized for stroke care
Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) Gaines
ville received the American Heart Association/American
Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke
Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target:
Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus recognition.
NGMC Braselton received the bronze quality achieve
ment award. These awards recognize the hospitals’ com
mitment and success ensuring that stroke patients receive
the most appropriate treatment according to nationally
recognized, research-based guidelines rated in the latest
scientific evidence.
NGMC Gainesville received the “Get With The Guide
lines” silver plus achievement award by achieving 85
percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guide
lines-Stroke achievement indicators for at least 12 con
secutive months and, during the same period, achieved
75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get
With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures.
To qualify for the recognition, hospitals must meet
quality measures developed to reduce the time between
the patient’s arrival at the emergency department and
treatment with the leading clot-busting drug tPA, which
is used to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in
the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms,
tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects
of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.
NGMC Gainesville earned the award by meeting spe
cific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and
treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated
period.
NGMC Braselton received the bronze quality achieve
ment award by achieving 85 percent or higher adherence
to all achievement indicators during a three-month
period.
These quality measures are designed to help hospital
teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guide
lines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing
death and disability for stroke patients.
“NGMC continues to strive for excellence in the acute
treatment of stroke patients,” said Dr. Shaena Blevins,
medical director of Stroke Care at NGMC. “The recog
nition from the American Heart Association/American
Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke
further reinforces our team’s hard work.”
For more information about NGMC’s Stroke Program,
visit www.nghs.com/stroke.
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