4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, July 13,2022
UNG prepping for $5M loss in funding
By Ben Anderson
DCN Regional Staff
The University of North
Georgia is bracing for a $5
million loss in state fund
ing next year due to a
decline in student enroll
ment, which means vacan
cies would be left unfilled
and faculty would likely
be laid off.
“We’re not looking at
tenure-track faculty,”
Provost Chaudron Gille
said in an interview
Tuesday. “I don’t envision
having to go to that. But
probably some that are in
these one-term positions,
where in the past we might
have been able to engage
them another year, that
may not be the case this
time.”
UNG’s total budget for
fiscal year 2022 is about
$275 million, and academ
ic affairs accounts for
about two-thirds. The bud
get cuts would affect next
year’s budget, beginning
July 2023.
UNG has 719 faculty
members, and university
spokeswoman Slyvia
Carson said they are con
sidering cutting 20-25
positions, though that
includes leaving vacancies
unfilled. UNG has about
150 vacancies across its
five campuses.
“Our priority is to abso
lutely minimize reduction
in employees, both faculty
and staff,” said Mac
McConnell, UNG’s chief
financial officer. “Our
hope is that we will
achieve this $5 million
dollar reduction through
maybe not filling vacan
cies and limiting the
amount of new positions
we add, efficiencies that
we can gain.”
One of those “efficien
cies” is a 50% reduction of
the travel budget, accord
ing to the minutes from a
June 16 meeting with the
Provost Gille and other
administration higher-ups.
That also means declining
to renew some of the uni
versity’s software con
tracts, which is a “pretty
major expense,” Gille told
The Times.
McConnell and Gille
stressed, however, that the
$5 million in cuts — about
$3.6 million for academic
affairs — are preliminary
estimates based on current
enrollment. If enrollment
happens to go up between
now and the beginning of
the next budget cycle in
July 2023, the decline in
state funding will be less
drastic.
“It’ll depend on what
our enrollment is like this
coming year,” Gille said.
“I don’t know at this point
whether or not we’ll have
to implement this cut.
We’re in the planning
phases.”
But because faculty are
generally given 9 months
notice before being laid
off, the administration
only has a few months to
decide who they’re going
to let go. That is what they
are doing now: coming up
with a list, which will be
sent to the University
System of Georgia July 1.
UNG has seen a 3.8%
drop in enrollment this
year and about 7% since
spring 2020. Most Georgia
universities have seen
declines, and the trend
holds nationwide.
Undergraduate enrollment
in the U.S. is down 4.7%
since the spring of last
year, according to the
National Student
Clearinghouse. Colleges
have lost 1.4 million
undergrads since the onset
of the pandemic.
In an email to faculty
Tuesday, Gille said, “In
my 28 years with the insti
tution, this is the first time
we have had a reduction in
our (funding) formula due
to a decrease in enroll
ment.”
That reduction is on top
of the 10% cut in state
spending implemented by
Kemp in 2020. And while
coronavirus relief money
softened the blow, Kemp’s
cut was not restored in his
budget this year.
Despite these seemingly
grim assessments, though,
officials see a bright future
for UNG.
“The outlook for
University of North
Georgia is very strong,”
McConnell said. “These
are budget reductions that
happen over time for all
sorts of reasons. It’s the
first time related to declin
ing credit hours (i.e.,
declining enrollment). We
will remedy that in the
next year or two. And I
think our outlook, our
enrollment projections, are
very solid. So UNG is on
strong financial footing
and will continue to ser
vice this region for the
next 150 years.”
This story was originally
published in the
Gainesville Times, a sister
publication of the Dawson
County News.
Photo courtesy of Megan Dixon
DCHS graduate Megan Dixon recently won third place at a national FCCLA
baking and pastry competition.
FROM 1A
Contest
approached she knew
that she wanted to give it
her all.
At the beginning of
this year, Dixon and her
teammates, Bernadine
Baptiste and Anna Lee,
placed second as a team
in the regional baking
and pastry competition.
They then carried on
their success at the state
competition in March,
becoming one of just two
districts in the state of
Georgia to compete on
the national level in June,
this time as individual
competitors.
Together with FCCLA
Advisor Lori Grant,
CTAE Director Amy
Smith and fellow stu
dents Baptiste and Avery
Yarbrough, who filled in
for Lee at the national
competition, Dixon flew
out to San Diego in the
last week of June. The
group spent several days
there, participating in the
competition and using
their downtime to
explore the city.
During the competi
tion, Dixon and her com
petitors each baked the
same recipes to be
judged against one
another. The bakers were
taken into the kitchen in
groups of about 20 com
petitors at a time to com
plete the recipes in the
time allotted to them.
“All the bakers sat in
this room waiting for the
first group of bakers to
get done so it was very
intimidating just sitting
there with everybody
else, but we made light
of it and talked to every
body and asked where
they were from and all of
that,” Dixon said. “We
made blueberry muffins,
chocolate chip cookies,
cream puff pastries and
then we had to decorate a
cake — everyone was
doing the same thing so
it was kind of funny
cause I could look over
and see where everyone
was at.”
Dixon said that she
was confident in the
three recipes she baked,
but that when it came to
the cake decorating part
she struggled a little
more because the icing
provided to the competi
tors was messed up so it
was much harder to work
with than usual. Even so,
she stayed positive and
proud of herself, whatev
er the outcome would be.
“I was very confident
with my other stuff; my
cookies, my blueberry
muffins, my cream
puffs,” Dixon said. “We
actually got to take some
of our stuff back with us
and in our Uber we gave
our Uber driver one of
my cream puffs and he
said ‘perfectly cooked,
so good’ and then told us
actually he went to culi
nary school so that was
cool.”
Dixon said that she
was surprised and excit
ed to learn that she’d
made it onto the list of
the top 10 bakers. Her
group returned to
Georgia before the
awards ceremony took
place in San Diego so
she attempted to tune in
online, but due to issues
on the streaming end of
the ceremony she said
she actually learned that
she’d taken third place
from an FCCLA group
chat.
“Me, Avery, Ms. Lori
Grant and Ms. Amy
Smith were trying to
watch the awards online
since we had to leave
early but the company
messed it up and it
wouldn’t work so we
couldn’t watch it live,”
Dixon said. “There was a
huge group chat with all
of the competitors from
all the different types of
competitions there and
that’s how we found out
— and I just said ‘Oh my
goodness, no way, this is
so cool’.”
Winning third place
was an amazing way to
top off her high school
career, Dixon said.
“That was kind of like
my very last thing relat
ing to school,” Dixon
said, “and my last time
that I got to spend with
my teachers so that part
was also really special.”
Dixon said that she is
extremely thankful to
have gotten to participate
in the competition along-
side Baptiste and
Yarbrough.
“It was good to have
all three of us competing;
we were actually right
next to each other so
whenever I was getting
stressed out Avery was
singing, made it really
light-hearted and kind of
made us all laugh a little
bit when everyone was
really serious,” Dixon
said. “I really liked hav
ing both of them there
next to me and probably
they would say the same;
it kind of eased the scari
ness of it all.”
In between competi
tion days, the group got
to have fun exploring the
city, go to the zoo, ride
the ferry at sunset, see
sea lions on the beach,
and take a surfing lesson,
which was Dixon’s per
sonal favorite. She said
that getting to compete
and have fun while out in
San Diego wouldn’t have
been possible without the
support of DCHS teach
ers like Grant and Smith.
“Ms. Grant and Ms.
Smith made that trip so
much fun and made it
definitely worth remem
bering; they made it go
so smooth so they were a
big part of why I had
such a great time,” Dixon
said. “They really put so
much of their own time
into this trip and really
made it special for all
three of us; I think win
ning third was kind of a
reward for all of the time
and effort that we all
spent putting into it. That
was definitely one of the
highlights of my senior
year.”
Dixon added that her
success is also due to the
constant support of the
Dawson County commu
nity, a community which
she was incredibly proud
to represent at the com
petition.
“This trip would have
never been possible with
out the help of our com
munity,” Dixon said.
“Everyone was so help
ful and excited for us and
that definitely made us
even more happy to rep
resent our county and
Georgia.”
Dawson County Humane Society
a no kill shelter
Doggy Spotlight
Meet our sweet baby Dale! This little guy is looking for a forever family
who will be gentle and loving towards him. Dale first came to our
shelter as a stray rescue who was heartworm positive. He has undergone
heartworm treatment and has been cleared with a clean bill of health
after all the work and dedication our staff has poured into him. He can
be shy at first glance, however, after sitting with him and taking the
time to show him that he has nothing to worry about, this is little guy is
nothing but sweet as can be. It doesn’t appear he’s had any kind of formal
training but his calm demeanor makes us believe that with a little TLC,
he could be trained and brought to heel with no problem.
Dale is about six years old and weighs 57 pounds.
706-265-9160
WFt ■
v A
fcr-
W
Dale
For more information contact the 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Rd, Dawsonville
Dawson County Humane Society Adjacent to the Rock Creek Sports Complex
Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd.
All proceeds benefits
the Humane Society
NOTICE
The Dawson County County Board of Commissioners does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held at the
Dawson County Government Center, 25 Justice Way, on August 4,2022 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 2022 PROPERTY TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
UNINCORPORATED
Real & Personal
1,394,032,646
1,572,997,915
1,593,936,454
1,709,619,583
1,780,490,982
2,068,294,890
Motor Vehicles
Mobile Homes
Timber - 100%
Heavy Duty Equipment
Gross Digest
1,423,402,106.00
1,597,419,244.00
1,614,725,001.00
1,727,578,122.00
1,797,145,007.00
2,084,046,433.00
Less Exemptions
201,405,457
222,450,006
223,081,756
237,439,595
238,279,470
NET DIGEST VALUE
1,221,996,649.00
1,374,969,238.00
1,391,643,245.00
1,490,138,527.00
1,558,865,537.00
1,858,253,547.00
Gross Maintenance &
Operation Millage
Less Rollbacks
(Local Option Sales Tax &
Insurance Premium)
NET M&O MILLAGE RATE
NET M&O TAXES LEVIED
$9,944,609
$11,189,500
$11,257,002
$11,749,742
$11,886,350
$13,421,236
INCORPORATED
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Real & Personal
Motor Vehicles
Mobile Homes
Timber - 100%
Heavy Duty Equipment
102,480,729.00
122,091,406.00
134,787,964.00
152,168,030.00
171,448,619.00
203,152,015,00
Less Exemptions
NET DIGEST VALUE
88,490,050.00
104,572,111.00
113,927,543.00
128,617,983.00
145,987,618.00
176,458,551.00
Gross Maintenance &
Operation Millage
Less Rollback
(Local Option Sales Tax)
NET M&O MILLAGE RATE
NET M&O TAXES LEVIED
$720,132
$851,008
$921,560
$1,014,153
$1,113,156
$1,274,472
TOTAL COUNTY
TOTAL DIGEST VALUE
1,310,486,699.00
1,479,541,349.00
1,505,570,788.00
1,618,756,510.00
1,704,853,155.00
2,034,712,098.00
TOTAL M&O TAXES LEVIED
10,664,741
12,040,507
Net Tax $ Increase
$594,460
$1,375,767
138,055
585,333
235,610
1,696,203
Net Tax % Increase
