About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2019)
8A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, July 24,2019 What Johnson hopes to do if reelected sheriff By Jessica Taylor jtaylor@dawsonnews.com Dawson County Sheriff Jeff Johnson recently announced plans to run for reelection. Johnson has served as sheriff for the past two and a half years. Prior to being elected sheriff, Johnson had more than 26 years of law enforcement experience including time served in the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and the Gainesville Police Department. He served roles in detention, patrol, investigations and training. “I want our community to know that it has been an honor and a privilege to serve as Dawson County’s Sheriff,” Johnson said. If elected for a second term, Johnson would like to expand on the office’s current initiatives which include making use of the Crime Suppression Unit, main taining employee retention rates, investing in specialized training and continuing community out reach and transparency. Johnson said the office is cur rently in good position, as a recent increase in pay has increased employee retention. “We cleared a big hurdle this week,” Johnson said of his recent appearance at the July 18 Board of Commissioners voting session. Commission Chairman Billy Thurmond explained to Johnson during the voting ses sion that as sheriff, Johnson has the authority to provide raises without seeking a vote of approval from the board. As with his current term, Johnson said if reelected he would continue to invest in his people. So far that includes a pay increase that makes Dawson County’s salary competitive with its northern neighbors. He also plans to expand specialized training which would include mental health first responder training as well as special needs response training. As far as when the communi ty can expect to see these plans in action, Johnson said he’s not waiting until the election is set tled in May. “We’ve got work to do now,” Johnson said. It’s likely that specialized training, advances in technolo gy and expansion of communi ty programs come to the sher iff’s office well before the elec tion in May because Johnson said he’s not going to wait to implement initiatives when things can be done now. Johnson said he also believes in being present and transparent in the community, with continua tion of programs like the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Academy, the Junior Law Enforcement Academy, the Explorer’s Program, and firearms safety, women’s self-defense and church safety classes. He would also like to contin ue with town hall meetings throughout the year to provide updates on the sheriff’s office. Citizens are also welcome to stop by his office to talk to him. “My door is always open and there’s no appointment neces sary ... that will not change,” Johnson said. During Johnson’s time as sher iff, the office has received numer ous upgrades including attaining state re-certification and medical department re-accreditation, rein stating the SWAT team and creat ing the Crime Suppression Unit, as well as implementing a bomb dog, realistic training simulations and the Judgmental Use of Force Simulator. After going through the bud get process this year, Johnson hopes to implement body cam eras for officers which will reduce the office’s liability as well as lead to the potential of greater prosecution success. Johnson has lived in Dawson County for more than 35 years. He has been married to Lisa for more than 27 years and has two sons, Zach and Josh, a daughter- in-law, Whitney, and a rescue ter rier mix named Boo. Johnson is a member of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Dawsonville. In his career in law enforcement he has been a member of the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, the National Sheriff’s Association, NRA, Chiefs of Police, Dawson County Chamber of Commerce, the Dawson County Drug Task Force, the Dawson County Domestic Violence Task Force, the Edmonson Telford Center for Children, Dawson County Family Connection, School Governance Council and the Georgia Commission on Family Violence. What Perry wants to do if he’s elected sheriff By Jessica Taylor jtaylor@dawsonnews.com Earlier this month, longtime Dawson County resident Jeff Perry announced his campaign for Dawson County Sheriff. He also ran for election in 2016. He is currently a teacher at Dawson County High School who established the Criminal Justice program. Prior to his career as an educator, Perry served for 27 years in law enforce ment, most notably as a parole chief in charge of 2,500 parolees in the north Georgia region. He also served on the State Olympic Law Enforcement Command in 1996. For Perry, some of his most pressing concerns that his platform address es is the sheriff’s office budget, officer retention rate, drugs on the street and communication with citizens. “As a taxpayer and my experience with dealing with taxpayer dollars, we have to be very careful about how we spend tax payers ’ dollars,” Perry said. If elected, Perry said he would create a transition team that would help pro vide information as to how the budget is allocat ed. It would consist of community members, business owners, law enforcement officers that would provide advice, though the sheriff would have the final decision. “You’ve got to have community buy-in before you have any success,” Perry said. “Let’s make a successful transition from this administration to this administration with the goal: how can we best protect the public and protect taxpayers’ dol lars.” Perry said he would practice results-based budgeting, meaning if a program is not receiving the desired results, Perry would allocate funds else where that would be more useful. “If we were funding something for that 12 month period and in that 12 months if we weren’t getting the effects that we wanted, then why keep funding that? Use that money somewhere else,” Perry said. Looking at the county’s growth over the past three years, Perry said the growth hasn’t been enough to justify the recent increases to the sheriff’s budget. “I will not ask for tax payers’ dollars until I know where every single taxpayer dollar is going and whether it’s being used for success, whether we’re getting results from it,” Perry said. “If not, we’re going to look at that money and we’re going to close that pro gram or that unit and put it where we need it.” Another concern is retaining officers and keeping experienced offi cers within the sheriff’s office. Perry said it’s not always about the money, saying he’d like to have good leadership in place and make the office a good work environment, as well as providing incentives for officers who have completed, or are working toward degrees. Perry also said he would like to establish a reserve officer program, a program in which partici pants would have some restrictions but would still serve with the sheriff’s office in a volunteer capacity. “We send you to train ing and you have limita tions, but you will help us put more boots on the ground and more eyes and ears on the streets,” Perry said. Something else Perry would like to implement if elected is a Citizen’s Day each month where com munity members can come to the sheriff’s office without an appoint ment to ask questions and provide feedback. He would also like to hold quarterly town hall meet ings out in the community, each at a different location to have increased visibility in the community. “I think as an elected official you have to do that because they are the people who put you in office,” Perry said. “You work for Dawson County. You work for the citizens of Dawson County.” Perry has lived in Dawson County since 1989. He is married to Lisa and will be celebrat ing 30 years together in August. He has a son and daughter-in-law, Jacob and Lindsey; a daughter, Jade; and a three year old foster child, Abel. He enjoys spending time with his family which includes a sit-down Sunday dinner at his mother-in-law’s home each week. He enjoys traveling, fishing, hunt ing, reading and playing golf as well as supporting and sponsoring athletic teams in Dawson County and being an active mem ber of Liberty Baptist Church where he is a Deacon and serves as the Chairman of the Deacon Board. NOTICE OF PROPERTY TAX INCREASE The Dawson County Board of Education has tentatively adopted a millage rate which will require an increase in property taxes by 0.64 percent. All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held at the Dawson County Board of Education Administration Building, 28 Main Street, Dawsonville, GA on August 6th at 7:30 am and 5:00 pm, and August 13th at 6:00 pm. Times and places of additional public hearings on this tax increase are at the Dawson County Board of Education Administration Building, 28 Main Street, Dawsonville, GA on August 13th at 6:00 pm. This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 15.778 mills, an increase of 0.10 mills. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 15.678 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $300,000 is approximately $12.00 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $225,000 is approximately $9.00. NOTICE The Dawson County Board of Education does hereby announce that millage hearings will be held at the board office at 28 Main Street, Dawsonville, Georgia, on August 6th at 7:30 am and 5:00 pm, and August 13th at 6:00 pm and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 48-5-32 does hereby publish the following presentation of the current year's tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years. CURRENT 2019 PROPERTY TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY BOARD OF EDUCATION 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019* V A L U E Real & Personal 1,235,141,214 1,335,404,282 1,405,703,009 1,496,458,775 1,695,040,121 1,729,087,887 Motor Vehicles 61,421,210 46,196,288 35,761,420 28,375,390 22,786,170 18,911,590 Mobile Homes 894,158 890,629 955,649 952,109 1,493,910 1,711,047 Timber -100% 146,332 5,273 88,593 96,561 190,449 200,000 Heavy Duty Equipment Gross Digest 1,297,602,914 1,382,496,472 1,442,508,671 1,525,882,835 1,719,510,650 1,749,910,524 Less Exemptions 233,489,669 252,868,705 267,876,110 283,458,307 318,817,169 326,996,446 NET DIGEST VALUE 1,064,113,245 1,129,627,767 1,174,632,561 1,242,424,528 1,400,693,481 1,422,914,078 R A T E MILLAGE RATE (Maintenance & Operation) 17.2460 16.4960 15.7780 15.7780 15.7780 15.7780 TAX TOTAL M&O TAXES LEVIED $18,351,697 $18,634,340 $18,533,353 $19,602,974 $22,100,142 $22,450,738 Net Tax $ Increase $282,643 ($100,987) $1,069,622 $2,497,168 $350,597 Net Tax % Increase 1.54% -0.54% 5.77% 12.74% 1.59% *Preliminary
