Newspaper Page Text
www.starnewsgaonline.com StarNews October 15, 2023 Page 7
County Chief Appraiser files Notice of Appeal to State Board objecting to its
“Sales Ratio Study 5 for Carroll County: state says Carroll County’s property
assessments are “too low”; Hubert Sparks says their guidelines are flawed
Carroll County government has collected enough surplus tax to have 61% in reserves: $49M in cash reserves for S67M budget
4000 Carroll County property owners have filed an appeal protesting that assessments are too high
story by Janice Daniel
Carroll County Board of Commissioners
held monthly work session Thursday, August
31, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. with all present except
District 1 Commissioner Montrell McClendon.
Finance Director Alecia Searcy presented
the report for the month ended July 31, 2023,
the first month of the Fiscal year. County’s
fund balance shows that Carroll County gov
ernment has collected enough surplus taxes to
hold 61% in Cash Reserves. The county has
$49 million in reserves and will collect $67
million (a separate amount) in taxes this fiscal
year. The unaudited fund balance as of July
2023 was $40,957,714 ($40.9M). The
FY2023-2024 Budget is $67,037,386
($67.03M).
Current revenue as of August 31st, was
$3,566,650 compared to $3,218,102 for the
same time last year. Expeditures came in at
$4,962,688, compared to $4,209,301 same
time last year, tor a net loss of $1,396,038, and
a balance in the General Fund of $39,561,677.
Items were put on a Consent Agenda for
approval in a one vote action at the following
Tuesday, September 5, 2023, regular meeting.
Consent Agenda item #4 was:
Chief Carroll County Appraiser Hubert
Sparks stated he wanted to file a Notice of
Appeal of 2023 DOAA Sales Ratio Study pur
suant to O.C.G.A. 48-5-275, regarding the
2023 Sales Ratio Study for Carroll County as
performed by the Georgia Department of
Audits and Accounts. Sparks feels the state’s
guidelines tor assessing property are flawed.
The State Board has notified Sparks that the
Carroll County assessments
were too low.
Sparks asked the Board
for an amount up to $3,000
to hire a firm to assist in this
appeal.
Commissioner Chance
stated that the Board of
Assessors has had over 4,000 appeals filed this
year by people who think their property value
is grossly overstated.
The other Consent Agenda items were as
follows:
1. Chief Superior Court Judge Simpson
stated the Judicial Branch is seeking a
$5,000,000 ARPA Supplement Grant for 2024
and 2025, and to roll the unspent funds from
2023 into this grant, which $1,900,000 of
$2,500,000 has already been spent.
Judge Simpson advised that $360,000 will
be spent on technology for Coweta County,
and $400,000 for Carroll County. He said they
are looking to add three Superior Court
Courtrooms and one State Court Courtroom.
The Coweta portion will be paid by Coweta
County and reimbursed from the grant.
Judge Simpson also reported to the board
that the average number of days in jail is now
142. At an average of $50 per day per inmate,
365 days would come up to $1,700,000, so it’s
important to keep jail time low. He said the
courts have a 241% clearance rate of cases
since they are taking care of the backlog from
covid.
2. Christy Owens,
director of the Animal
Shelter, requested a pur
chase for a surgery table for
spay-neuter services which
will be paid for by funds to
be raised through a
September 9th fundraising
event. Owens said this table will allow the
technicians to prep an animal for surgery while
two surgeries are going on, thereby cutting
down substantially on the time it takes for their
two volunteer veterinarians to perform these
operations.
3. Resolution, presented by Dee Perry, that
the Carroll County Board of Commissioners
establish an Agricultural Advisory Committee
representing the diversity of agricultural opera
tions in Carroll County in order to promote the
objective to retain agriculture as a viable eco
nomic endeavor in Carroll County. Perry said
this Committee has been recommended in the
Comprehensive Plan for many years, and she
See COUNTY COMMISSION page 30
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The State Board notified
Sparks that the Carroll County
assessments were too low.
Sparks asked the Board for an
amount up to S3,000 to hire a
firm to assist in this appeal.
COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVE
Carrollton native & Carrollton High graduate
Auburn graduate
Experience— former Mayor 2016-2020
Working Businessman
Cancer Survivor
Pro 1st & 2nd Amendments
Contact me if you have any city concerns
hollingsworthwa@aol.com
Cell: (770) 328-7118
Office: 770-832-2371
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