Tax board explains hike
in property assessments
LOCAL, 4A
Youngsters learn
soccer skills at camp
SPORTS, IB
DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I june 13,2018 Dawson News ► com dawsonville, GEORGIA $1.00
Photos by Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Cadets piled into the prisoner transport van, held open by Lt. Theresa Kirby, for a quick drive around
the Dawson County Junior High School campus during the Junior Law Enforcement Academy June 6.
Kids law enforcement camp
brings community together
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
As nearly 30 kids learned last week
at the Junior Law Enforcement
Academy, it takes a village to keep
Dawson County safe.
For the 21st year, the Dawson
County Sheriff’s Office hosted the
annual academy for kids to give them
a behind-the-scenes look at what goes
in to protecting the county. From traf
fic stops to K9 units to collaborative
efforts with state agencies, the junior
cadets got the full hands-on experi
ence June 4-8.
“We’ve not had one want to go
home, not had one that didn’t want to
participate in something,” said Ft.
Shane Henson. “It’s usually you see
them fighting over who gets to go
first. And the kids have gotten along
really well. They’ve not argued with
one another. This has been one of the
best (groups) we’ve had.”
The community came out in full
The Junior Law Enforcement Academy ended with a bang when
the DCSO SWAT team conducted a vehicle assault drill, complete
with a flash bomb, June 8.
support, with Dawson County Junior
High School opening up its facilities
to the sheriff’s office along with
Fanier Technical College allowing
the officers to use their parking lot to
conduct demonstrations. Bojangles,
J&S Kitchen and Chick-fil-A showed
their support by providing meals for
the cadets and instructors.
“The wonderful thing about (the
JFEA) is it builds those relationships
and we’re fortunate in Dawson
See Camp |5A
Rep. Tanner
named top
legislator
Dawson lawmaker honored
by Chamber of Commerce
From staff reports
Dawson County’s own State Representative
Kevin Tanner was recently recognized by the
Georgia Chamber of Commerce as
the 2018 House Fegislator of the
Year.
The Georgia Chamber’s
Government Affairs Council recog
nizes legislators annually at the
conclusion of the legislative session
and the release of its legislative
scorecard, where Tanner received
an A plus rating.
Senator Mike Dugan,
R-Carrollton, was awarded the chamber’s Senate
Fegislator of the Year award.
See Tanner12A
Tanner
Wooten takes
safe schools job
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Dawson resident Tony Wooten was hired Monday
night to serve as the new Safe Schools Coordinator for
Dawson County Schools.
The board of education approved
hiring Wooten during an executive
session June 11.
The position was created in April,
and the board stated that the coordi
nator would be responsible for assist
ing with the strategic direction of all
system-wide school safety services,
facilitating the development and mon
itoring of the system’s emergency
preparedness plan, implementing programs and activi
ties to reduce school violence, collaborating with the
school resource officers and being a liaison between
Wooten
See Wooten 16A
Board of education approves $47.7 million 2019 budget
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
The board of education unan
imously approved the fiscal
year 2019 budget Monday
night, following the second and
final public hearing at the
monthly meeting.
The first hearing was held
during the May 7 board meet
ing.
The general fund has been set
at $47,766,471 and this year’s
budget is an increase of
$2,314,087 from the FY18 bud
get.
As continues to be the case,
the majority of the budget is the
86.39 percent allotted to
employee salaries and benefits.
The 2018 budget is based on
an anticipated tax digest of
$20.8 million, if the millage
rate is maintained at 15.778,
according to Director of
Finance Jamie Ulrich.
“We all got new assessments
in the mail this week for our
property,” board member
Elaine Wilson said. “What my
statement is- if everybody’s
went up as much as mine did
and taxes are going to go up as
much as mine, is that not going
to affect our revenue?”
Superintendent Damon Gibbs
responded to Wilson’s com
ment, saying that he and Ulrich
have been having conversations
with the county and have been
told unofficially to expect a 10
percent digest increase.
If there will be such an
increase, Gibbs said, there
would need to be a conversa
tion about the school system’s
millage rate.
“We’re working daily with
the county trying to get a more
solid number so that we will be
prepared for our millage rate,”
Gibbs said.
The 2018 tax assessment
notices were mailed out to resi
dents of Dawson County June 4
and the digest cannot be set
until 45 days after the notices
go out to homeowners.
The preliminary numbers for
the total tax digest for Dawson
County from the Tax
Commissioner’s Office will not
See Budget 14A
0
9 0 9 9
Inside
Volume 3, Number 37
© 2018, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
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Deaths
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Opinion
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