Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, August 17,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5A
Homeowners to see lower taxes under new rate
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnnews.com
At the Aug. 9 meeting of the
Dawson County Board of
Education, board members
voted unanimously to approve a
new millage rate of 14.2.
In a millage presentation to
the board before the vote,
Finance Director Beth
Covington explained that the
new millage rate is lower than
last year’s adopted rate of 15,
and higher than the rollback
millage rate of 13.305, or the
rate computed using the current
tax digest to produce the same
total revenue that last year’s
millage would have produced if
no reassessments occurred.
For taxpayers, this means
that the taxes levied against a
property under the new rate
will be lower than under last
year’s rate, but higher than if
the board had adopted the roll
back rate. So for a house valued
at $375,000, which is the aver
age value of a home in Dawson
County, the previous rate of 15
mills would levy $2,250 in
taxes per year and the new rate
of 14.2 would levy $2,130 per
year. Had the board adopted the
rollback rate, the taxes levied
would be $1,996 per year.
“The difference between a
millage of 15 and 14.2 would
lower the homeowner taxes by
$120, or $10 a month,”
Covington said during the mill-
age hearing. “So the cost to
taxpayers of going with 14.2
over 13.305 is about $11 per
month of additional taxes.”
The new rate of 14.2 follows
a trend over the past several
years of the Board of Education
lowering the millage rate each
year. Over the past nine years,
the board has steadily
decreased the millage from
2014’s rate of 17.246 to the
newly approved rate of 14.2.
Also during Tuesday’s meet
ing, Covington provided infor
mation comparing Dawson
County’s new rate to the 2022
rates of surrounding counties.
Compared to other counties,
Dawson’s new rate of 14.2
comes in lower than those of
Cherokee (18.2), Forsyth
(17.3), Hall (15.99) and
Fumpkin (14.7), and higher
than those of Gilmer (11.099)
and Fannin (10.159).
In accordance with state law,
the board held three public
hearings preceding their vote to
adopt the new rate, in order to
allow the public to voice their
opinions on the proposed new
rate. No members of the public
elected to speak at any of the
three hearings.
The board voted unanimous
ly to approve the new millage
rate of 14.2.
Dawson approves first round of transfer station fixes
Photo submitted to DCN
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
After multiple discussions
spent on the matter, the
Dawson County Board of
Commissioners voted on Aug.4
to approve $350,000 for initial
fixes to the waste transfer sta
tion located at 946 Burt Creek
Road.
The money will come out of
the county’s solid waste fund.
District 3 Commissioner Tim
Satterfield proposed the amount
after County Manager David
Headley estimated that the first
phase of repairs would likely
cost between $250,000-
$275,000, contingent on costs
when construction starts.
“That way, you don’t have to
come back to ask us for another
$50,000 to $100,000,”
Satterfield said.
Headley added during his
voting session presentation that
the approximate $250,000
would be “the least amount of
money to get the programs up
and running and see how they
go.”
Headley previously spoke to
the commissioners about how
commercial waste operations
have damaged the transfer sta
tion building’s structural integ
rity, such as the I beams or
floor area.
Other problems include
insufficient floor space inside
and outside the station as well
as a lack of processing equip
ment and likelihood of mixing
or contaminating already-sepa
rate recyclables.
This first round of improve
ments will entail repairs to the
transfer station building and it
being retrofitted with a pull-in
and drop-off recycling system,
similar to Pickens County.
Customers will have separate
areas to dispose of household
trash and place recyclables.
Bins or divided compactors
would bear signage showing
what is and isn’t acceptable.
“The current system doesn’t
work, and we end up paying for
that as trash more than we wind
up being recycled because it
becomes contaminated,” said
BOC Chairman Billy
Thurmond.
Also as part of the project,
roofs and wingwalls on the sta
tion’s main rectangular struc
ture will be extended to help
facilitate the new setup.
One of the next expected
steps in the transfer station’s
transformation is a request to
hire another full-time person or
perhaps two part-time people to
help monitor and assist resi
dents in separating their recy
clable materials.
Park to host fundraiser to
benefit local food pantries
Photo submitted to DCN
By staff reports
At the end of this
month, Yahoola Creek
Park in Dahlonega will
host a North Georgia area
food drive to raise dona
tions for local food pan-
tries in Dawson, Fumpkin
and White counties.
The fundraiser will start
Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. at
Yahoola Creek Park, 464
Mechanicsville Road in
Dahlonega. The event will
include a chance for
attendees to meet law
enforcement officers, GSP
troopers and DNR rangers,
as well as a bounce house
for the children and live
music by The Bad Habits.
The event will also
include an “Ice Bucket
Challenge,” in which
attendees can bid on the
opportunity to dump a
bucket of ice water on the
heads of Fumpkin County
officials, Georgia State
Troopers and others.
During the event, dona
tions of canned food and
cash will be accepted, and
all donations will be
divided equally between
several food pantries.
These food pantries will
be The Place, Christ
Fellowship, Kings
Highway, Unseen Hand,
Community Helping
Place and the White
County Food Pantry.
For more information
about the upcoming event,
go to http://northgeorgia.
today/ice.htm.
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