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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, July 27,2022
Dawson BOE to hold millage hearings in August
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
In August, the Dawson
County Board of
Education will hold three
public hearings and vote
to adopt the millage rate
for the current year.
“The Dawson County
Board of Education
today announces its
intention to increase the
2022 Property Taxes it
will levy this year by
6.69 percent over the
rollback millage rate,” a
press release by the
school system said.
Every year, the board
of tax assessors is
required to review the
assessed value for prop
erty tax purposes of tax
able property in the
county, the release said.
When the trend of the
property prices recently
sold in the county indi
cate that there has been
an increase in the fair
market value of any spe
cific property, the board
of tax assessors is
required by law to reas
sess, or re-determine the
value of the property and
adjust the assessment.
When the total digest
of taxable property is
prepared, Georgia law
requires a rollback mill-
age rate must be comput
ed to produce the same
total revenue on the cur
rent year’s digest that
last year’s millage would
have produced if no reas
sessments had occurred.
“The budget tentatively
adopted by the Dawson
County Board of
Education requires a
millage rate higher than
the rollback rate; there
fore, before the Dawson
County Board of
Education may finalize
the tentative budget and
set a final millage rate,
Georgia law requires
three public hearings to
be held to allow the pub
lic an opportunity to
express their opinions on
the increase,” the release
said.
The three public hear
ings about the tax
increase are to be held in
the Dawson County
BOE Meeting Room at
the Dawson County
BOE Central Office,
located at 28 Main
Street. The three hear
ings are set to take place
on Aug. 2 at 5 p.m.,
Aug. 9 at 8 a.m. and
Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. The
vote to adopt the millage
rate will take place on
Aug. 9, following the
third public hearing.
More play space, rooms proposed
for Happy Dog Retreat kennel
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
A local dog kennel
already operating on Elliott
Family Parkway is seeking
to expand its facilities.
The Dawson County
Planning Commission rec
ommended approval for
Happy Dog Retreat’s spe
cial use permit with stipula
tions for indoor air condi
tioning and soundproofing.
Now, the proposal heads
to the Board of
Commissioners to be heard
during the Aug. 18 voting
session, which will imme
diately follow the 4 p.m.
work session in the board’s
second-floor assembly
room at the Dawson
County Government
Center.
Happy Dog Retreat, Inc.
sits on 4.5 acres. Current
owner Laura Manner
bought it five years ago,
she said during the
Tuesday meeting.
The land encompassing
the kennel is zoned
Residential Agriculture,
and a special use for the
kennel falls within that
purview, said Chairman
Jason Hamby.
Proposed additions
include a new office build
ing, about 612 square feet,
with an extra three dog
spaces for special needs or
sensitive dogs, and a
1,548-square foot indoor
recreation building.
The latter would particu
larly make a difference “in
case of inclement weather,
which this summer’s really
showed us,” said Manner,
“so the dogs can have
activity, no matter what the
weather is.”
During her application
presentation, Manner and
planning commissioners
discussed the proposed
Julia Fechter Dawson County News
Happy Dog Retreat is located at 733 Elliott Family
Parkway.
stipulations about pet
occupancy and setbacks.
She pointed out that the
recommended kennel
capacity of 30 dogs may be
limiting, as there are usual
ly between 35-45 dogs on
down days and as many as
80 dogs during holiday
times, an amount which
she later clarified the ken
nel can handle.
Manner also clarified
that the recreation building
would not be for housing
dogs, so given the other
proposed rooms, they’d
“really only be adding four
spaces for dogs to board
with us.”
“It’s not additional dog
space, but it’s better space
for the dogs that need it,”
she said.
She likewise pointed out
that the preliminary site
plans did not jive with the
county’s
stipulation of 150-foot
setbacks from property
lines, a fact that District 4
Planning Commissioner
Neil Hornsey also recog
nized.
Hornsey recommended
removing the setback stip
ulation so the kennel could
be allowed to proceed with
the expansion.
Stipulations about tree
buffers and setbacks for
outdoor areas were also
struck, since Manner said
there’s already such a bar
rier and that she’d have “no
problem” moving fenced-
in areas with the available
ample yard space.
CALL FOR SPECIAL ELECTION
Notice is hereby given that in accordance with O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-54.1
and 21-2-540, a Special Election shall be held in conjunction with
the General Election on November 8, 2022 to fill the vacancy of the
unexpired term of Board of Education Post - District 4.
The Special Election will be held within the entire School District.
Qualifying for the Special Election shall be held:
When: Wednesday August 10 and Thursday August 11 from
9 am - 4 pm, 9 am to noon on Friday August 12, 2022.
Where: Board of Elections office at 96 Academy Avenue,
Dawsonville, GA
The qualifying fee shall be $288.00.
The last day to register to vote in Dawson County for this election
shall be October 11, 2022.
Glenda Ferguson, Director
Dawson County Board of Elections & Registration
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 6.73 percent. All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings
on this tax increase to be held at the Dawson County Board of
Education Office Meeting Room on August 2nd at 5:00 pm.
Times and places of additional public hearings on this tax increase are
at the Dawson County Board of Education Office Meeting Room on
August 9th at 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. This tentative increase will result
in a millage rate of 14.200 mills an increase of .895 mills. Without this
tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 13.310
mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of
$375,000 is $134.25 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead
property with a fair market value of $300,000 is approximately $107.40.
NOTICE
The Dawson County Board of Education does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held at the
Board Of Education Office 28 Main Street on August 9,2022 at 8:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 48-5-32 does
hereby publish thefollowing 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
BOARD OF EDUCATION
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Real & Personal
1,496,458,775
1,695,040,121
1,729,995,408
1,861,680,320
1,951,733,661
2,266,555,986
Motor Vehicles
28,375,390
22,786,170
18,911,590
16,256,800
14,805,420
13,823,280
V
Mobile Homes
952,109
1,493,910
1,711,047
1,771,544
2,012,335
2,133,907
A
L
U
Timber -100%
96,561
190,449
200,000
37,488
42,210
69,566
Heavy Duty Equipment
0
0
0
0
0
0
E
Gross Digest
1,525,882,835
1,719,510,650
1,750,818,045
1,879,746,152
1,968,593,626
2,282,582,739
Less Exemptions
283,458,307
318,817,169
330,823,976
359,624,844
369,967,130
381,314,238
NET DIGEST VALUE
1,242,424,528
1,400,693,481
1,419,994,069
1,520,121,308
1,598,626,496
1,901,268,501
R
A
T
E
MILLAGE RATE
(Maintenance & Operation)
15.7780
15.7780
15.7780
15.7780
15.0000
14.2000
TOTAL M&O TAXES LEVIED
$19,602,974
$22,100,142
$22,404,666
$23,984,474
$23,979,397
$26,998,013
TAX
Net Tax $ Increase
$1,069,622
$2,497,168
$304,525
$1,579,808
[55,077)
$3,018,615
Net Tax% Increase
5.77%
12.74%
1.38%
7.05%
-0.02%
12.59%
