About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2022)
Wednesday, August 10,2022 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A New BOC millage rate to bring in more revenue By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com Dawson County’s Board of Commissioners has approved the proposed millage rate of 7.2225 fol lowing an Aug. 4 hearing, the last of three hearings leading up to their vote. In July, the board announced that the county would lower its rate from 7.625 mills to the newly- adopted rate. Although the new rate is the lowest it’s been in five years, it represents a 13.05 percent increase in revenue or $1,696 million more than last year. According to a document in the BOC’s meeting packet, the tax digest is up 16.2 percent over last year. Taxes levied against a property will be lower compared to last year’s rate, but higher than if the BOC had adopted a full rollback rate. Because of a rise in assessed property values, the county will be taking in more revenue. Thus, the rate change is not considered a tax reduction. For a house valued at $375,000, about the aver age for a home in Dawson County, the newly-adopted rate of 7.2225 mills would levy $2,859.38 in taxes per year. The previous millage rate, 7.625 mills, would levy $2,708.44. If the rate had been fully rolled back to 6.82 mills, $2,557.5 would be levied, according to Chief Financial Officer Vickie Neikirk. In tangible terms, that means a homeowner with a $375,000 home would see about a $60.38 rise in county property taxes. Those numbers represent taxes prior to any excep tions for which the taxpay er is eligible. When one citizen expressed concern about her 22-percent increase in property taxes, District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines shared that the assessed value and the school system’s millage rate also affect a person’s property taxes. Generally, the way property taxes are allocated is about 66 per cent toward school board taxes and about 33 percent toward county taxes, Gaines added of the differ ent millage rates. “What we’re proposing tonight is to not set it (the county rate) at the highest amount possible,” Gaines said. “We’re proposing pulling it back in order to help alleviate some of those increases people have seen in valuation.” Among Dawson County residents and landowners, 82 percent saw a rise in residential property value, with that increase being an average of 19.8 percent. Individual homes or res idential improvement val ues rose an average of 21.5 percent, consultant Kelly McCormick previ ously told DCN via email. His firm, McCormick Solutions, assisted Dawson County’s tax assessor’s office with ana lytics and revaluation details. BOC Chairman Billy Thurmond added that there can be recourse if a person files an appeal with the tax assessor’s office, which has a separate board and process to address appeals. Homeowners may also be eligible for homestead exemptions. More details are available at https://www.dawson- county.org/taxassessor/ page/appeal-information. BOE holds first millage hearing By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com During the Aug. 2 meet ing of the Dawson County Board of Education, the board held the first of three public hearings regarding its proposed millage rate of 14.2. In a millage presentation preceding the public hear ing, Finance Director Beth Covington explained that the proposed millage rate is lower than last year’s adopted rate and higher than the rollback rate, or the rate computed using the current tax digest to pro duce the same total revenue that last year’s millage would have produced had no reassessments occurred. “When we set the budget back in May, we looked at what it would take for us to get through December to cover our salaries and start school until our local tax revenues can start coming in, and what would allow the district some cushion for growth which we are seeing on a daily basis,” Covington said. “As a result of the factors that I mentioned before with the increased costs and such that we considered during our planning for the budget and the budget that was adopted by the Board of Education, it does require a millage rate that was higher than the rollback rate.” The school system’s cur rent millage rate adopted by the board last year is 15 mills. The rollback rate based on the current tax digest is 13.305, so the pro posed rate of 14.2 is 6.69 percent over the rollback rate. For taxpayers, this means that the taxes levied against a property will be lower under the new rate than under last year’s rate, but higher than if the board had proposed adopting the rollback rate. Covington explained that for a house valued at $375,000, which is the average value of a home in Dawson County, the cur rent rate of 15 mills would levy $2,250 in taxes per year. A rate of 14.2 would levy $2,130 per year, and the rollback rate of 13.305 would levy $1,996 per year. “The difference between the current millage of 15 and 14.2 would lower the homeowner taxes by $120, or $10 a month, and then the difference between the current millage of 15 and going back to the rollback rate would lower taxes by $254 a year, or $21 a month,” Covington said. “So the cost to taxpayers of going with 14.2 over 13.305 is about $11 per month of additional taxes.” Covington also provided information during the millage presentation about previous years’ rates and about rates of neighboring counties. In 2014, the Dawson County Board of Education adopted a mill- age rate of 17.246. From then until now, the rate has gone down each year, a trend that will continue this year with the adoption of a rate of 14.2 as com pared to last year’s rate of 15. Compared to other sur rounding counties’ rates, Dawson’s millage rate comes in near the middle. Comparing the current rates that were adopted last year, Dawson’s rate of 15 was lower than those of Cherokee (18.2 mills), Forsyth (17.5 mills), Hall (16.485 mills) and Lumpkin (15.56 mills), and higher than those of Pickens (14.3 mills), Gilmer (12.624 mills) and Fannin (10.159 mills). No community mem bers spoke during the pub lic hearing. Next, the board will hold two more public hearings about the millage rate before voting to adopt the rate of 14.2. The next public hearing will be on Tuesday, Aug. 9 at 8 a.m., followed by the third pub lic hearing on Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. and the vote to adopt the new rate immediately after the third hearing. Child Find at Mountain Education Charter High School What is Child Find? The federal purpose of Child Find is to identify, locate, and evaluate children, from birth to 21, who are suspected of or have a disability or developmental delay that may result in a need for special education and related services. MECHS serves children with identified special education needs from 9 th - 12 th grades and will participate in the Child Find process. Children from birth through age 13 will be referred to local schools serving birth through eighth grade. How is it carried out? MECHS completes Child Find responsibilities in a variety of ways throughout the year. This includes public announcements through local media via public notice, school website, parent/student handbook, collaboration with other public agencies, and local screenings. Referrals may he made by anyone who has a concern about a child's development. All referrals are considered confidential and the parent retains the right to refuse services. Private and Home School Process: Children with disabilities parentally-placed in private schools or home schools are not entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE), but the local districts will provide appropriate services to eligible students with disabilities enrolled in private or home schools based on a proportionate share of federal funds. Parent/Other Referral Process: If you suspect your child (or another) has a disability and is in need of special education services, please contact the local MECHS site administrator or the central office at 706-219- 4664. This includes students that are homeless, incarcerated, wards of the state, migrant, or any other child suspected of having disabilities. Eligible Special Education Categories: Autism Spectrum Disorder (AUT), Deaf-Blind (D/B), Deaf/Hard of Hearing(D/HH), Emotional Behavioral Disorder (EBD), Mild/Moderate/Severe/Profound Intellectual Disability (MILD, MOID, SID, PID), Orthopedic Impairment (OI), Other Health Impairment (OHI), Significant Development Delay (SDD), Specific Learning Disability (SLD), Speech Language Impairment (SLI), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Visual Impairment, including Blindness(VI). MECHS Child Find Policy/GaDOE State Rule: Child Find 160-4-7-.03 Mountain Education Charter High School July 2021 Julia Fechter Dawson County News Local restaurant Ruby's Recipes is moving to the old Aunt Dyann's location at 104 Ga. 9 North in downtown Dawsonville. FROM 1A Ruby's years, Allen clarified that it’s not so much that he wished the previous res taurants would fail. It was “just the feeling of it,” he said of the loca tion and his desire to locate there. Multiple times, the building became avail able, and for various rea sons, it wasn’t able to work out-until this time. “It’s definitely God’s hand because I think I had an opportunity to hone my skills in the cur rent place,” Allen said. He shared that immedi ately coming into a big ger place like the down town location “at first might’ve been over whelming.” “To me, it was God’s hand saying ‘This isn’t the place for you’... [and] now, I’m ready to go,” Allen said. His wife, Julia, pointed out that they’d already been looking at other locations along Ga. 400 or closer to Dahlonega, but they really wanted to stay in the downtown Dawsonville area. “It was God saying, ‘Eve got something up my sleeve. Just bide your time. I’m giving you the inspiration that you’re going to be moving soon, [so] just trust in me,”’ she said. ‘“Lean not on your own understanding, and I will direct your paths.’” And then, just like that, the place that they’d “originally hoped for,” the building they drove past daily and “pretty much our hearts’ desire,” became available. Allen said his response was to praise God and remember his blessings, especially the two years of community support. This past fall, dozens of people showed up to buy spaghetti plate meals as part of a fundraiser dur ing Allen’s recovery from health issues. Since that time, Ruby’s has also helped with local efforts like a collection drive for The Place and helping fundraise for Mason Palmour, a Dawson County teen who’s been diagnosed with a rare type of brain cancer. “We’ve been so sup ported by this communi ty, it’s humbling,” Allen said. “It really is.” Julia added that they “would like to be another anchor for downtown,” similar to the iconic Pool Room further down the road. Much of Ruby’s food will stay the same. However, now customers will be able to purchase dishes another way, as Ruby’s Recipes is now signed up with Uber Eats. Also, Julia shared that they’ve got something special in mind for Friday and Saturday nights. While Ruby’s will still be an Italian deli and cafe during the daytime, they will stay open until about 10 p.m. on those nights for pizza parlor hours. Likewise, Julia will put her horse business on hold and resume baking for the restaurant, as their former baker has moved away. Smiling, Julia shared that she’s been baking ever since about the sec ond grade, and because of the slight age gap between her and Allen, he started cooking around the same year. She added that the res taurant location came pretty much “turn key” to them, but they’ll still have to bring in equipment like a pizza oven before their September opening. They’ll have to close for about two weeks mid- August to complete the move to the new location. Ruby’s will also be hir ing, as they’ll have about 45 more seats, they said in a Wednesday Facebook post. The restaurant is hiring wait staff, a dishwasher, sandwich maker and prep cook. People interested in one of those positions can visit Allen at the current location, 462 Memory Lane Ste. 170, or send the restaurant a message through their Facebook page. Ruby’s will also be par ticipating in a “Tour of Italy” event at Buckley Vineyards in Ellijay the evening of Sept. 24. Tickets are available at www.buckleyvineyards. com. Julia also encouraged customers to keep an eye out for holiday meals and Christmas care packages when ordering options become available for those. The gift packages will include items like imported pasta, vegeta bles, tomatoes, bread, cheese and/or meats, Allen said. “It’s amazing how peo ple taste my food and they love it,” Allen said. “I’m just blessed. There’s no other word for it — blessings.” Start earning with Bank OZK today! 135 % | t V)l APY 8 month CD or IRA CD** Special 1 70 % 13 month CD or IRA CD** Special 2.00% 21 month CD or IRA CD ^Special Visit our Dawsonville location or open an account online at ozk.com. <> Bank OZK ozk.com I Member FDIC 'Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective as of the publication date. Offer applies to new CDs only. $1,000 minimum deposit to open and is required to earn stated APY. Penalty for early withdrawal. IRA CD is subject to eligibility requirements. Offer not available to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. Fees could reduce earnings. Offer subject to change without notice. Offer good at location in Dawsonville, GA only. ”IRA CD must be opened in person and cannot be opened online.
