Newspaper Page Text
Index
News 2,3,5,7,12
Obituaries 3
Opinion 4
Around the County 6
Calendar 8
Sheriff's Report 9
Legals 9
Sports 10-11
Canine Christmas poster
Mary Ann Cox, a Lexington artist, created a
poster called the "Twelve days of a Dog-
Gone Christmas" to give to donors to the
Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter and
other shelters. She has raised over $500
in donations for the shelter.
... Page 2
To start your subscription or to donate to The Oglethorpe Echo, see Page 10,
The Oglethorpe Echo
Volume 150, Number 10
December 7, 2023 ??? Oglethorpe County, Georgia
$1
Oglethorpe part of rising budget trend
By Jay Reece
The Oglethorpe Echo
Property taxes will increase by
9.99% in 2024, despite a lower
millage rate in Oglethorpe County.
Rising home values drove the in
crease, but the trend is not unique
to property.
Several surrounding counties
are experiencing rising costs for
just about everything, which is in
creasing county budgets.
Oglethorpe County???s Board of
Commissioners approved the 2024
operating budget of $9.55 million
on Aug. 21, an 8.6% increase from
this year???s total.
For context, Madison County is
set for a 4% property tax increase,
Wilkes County will see a 13%
property tax increase and Elbert
County will have a 25-30% prop
erty tax increase.
While every county has unique
circumstances, there are a few
common factors.
Operating costs for Oglethorpe
County have increased signifi
cantly over the last five years,
Commission Chair Jay Paul said.
He said it costs around $750,000
per month to run the county.
Part of this is due to an increase
in labor costs.
???It's the labor market,???
Oglethorpe County Administrator
Josh Hawkins said. ???Even where
county governments rely on ma
terials or contracts, those materi
als and contracts are going up be
cause of the labor market on the
other end.???
Oglethorpe County lowest in area for property tax per capita
According to calculations by Oglethorpe County Administrator Josh Hawkins, the amount of
property taxes charged per person here is significantly less than surrounding counties.
SO ??100 ??200 ??300 ??400
Oglethorpe
Chart: Lauren Hill - Source: Oglethorpe Courtly Administrator Josh Hawtrirts ??? Creeled with Ostawrapper
See BUDGET, Page 5
LAUREN HILL/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
WINTER WONDERLAND
GRACE MAINS/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Shirley Callahan (above, from left),
Beverly Gorman, Sherry Gilson and
Larry Callahan ring in the Christmas
season on their float in the fifth annual
Maxeys Christmas Parade on Saturday.
Santa and Mrs. Claus joined grand
marshal Bill Cabaniss as part of the
parade and festivities, which included
musical performances, vendors and
food. Students (right) screamed "five
golden rings" from the back of their
float that represented "The Twelve
Days of Christmas."They won best float
at the parade.
For more parade photos, see Page 12.
Community Christmas pays bills for families
By John James
The Oglethorpe Echo
Community Christmas has been collect
ing financial donations with the goal of
paying off bills for qualifying residents in
Oglethorpe County.
Catherine Drewry, the co-chair of Com
munity Christmas, said it has started pay
ing off bills for a number of applicants a
few weeks ago.
???Hopefully, they have a lighter load and
that gives them a little more to do for their
family for Christmas,??? Drewry said. ???And
to make sure they stay in their homes and
have good heating.???
Drewry specified that Community
Christmas is accepting financial donations,
either online ??? www. community christ-
|masoglethorpe.org/donate|??? or by check.
Community Christmas is also collecting
toy donations.
Drewry said the organization has do
nation boxes at
Oglethorpe Animal
Clinic, Dollar Gen
eral, J&J Chemical
Company, The Com
mercial Bank and at
Oglethorpe County
EMS.
Community Christ
mas is also accepting
hygiene products and
clothes via the donation boxes.
Along that line, the organization also is
responsible for the distribution side of the
Toys for Tots program in Oglethorpe Coun
Catherine Drewry
ty, meaning that Toys for Tots is responsi
ble for collecting the items and Communi
ty Christmas will deliver items to families.
In addition to those projects, Drewry
said qualifying families would also be eli
gible to participate in a free yard sale.
It will feature free, used items, such as
blankets and sheets, enclosed baby acces
sories, sports equipment, books and more.
Drewry said all of the items would have to
meet Community Christmas??? cleanliness re
quirement before being offered to families.
???We???re excited,??? she said. ???We operate on
faith, because we have all these people who
need help, and we never have any particular
guarantee that we???re going to have the funding
or the toys that will be enough to satisfy all the
needs. We just operate on faith that it will hap
pen ??? and it has, for nearly 30 years.???
BOC OKs
additional
payment
to company
By Jay Reece
The Oglethorpe Echo
The Oglethorpe County Board of Commis
sioners approved a payment of $217,000 to
C.W. Matthews Contracting at its meeting on
Monday.
C.W. Matthews was hired to resurface Har
grove Lake and Smithonia Roads. C.W. Mat
thews also restriped nearly every county road
as a part of the project.
The amount was an additional fee not in
the original bid ap
proved by the coun
ty due to an error in the
specifications sent to
the company. The initial
measurements given to
C.W. Matthews, which
were used to estimate
the cost of the project,
had the roads narrower
than they are.
???This is the second year in a row that we've
used C.W. Matthews; they have been the low
est bidder both times,??? Public Works Director
Adam Nation said. ???We have saved money by
going with them.???
The commissioners didn???t know about the
discrepancy until C.W. Matthews asked for
the extra payment. C.W. Matthews has in
formed the county it will make sure to dou
blecheck measurements for future work.
???We've had a good working relationship
with them,??? Nation said. ???Yes, there was
some error on the width. Some was on the
third party that did the bid package for us.
Some was on C.W. Matthews. But at the end
of the day, all the material that they're asking
us to pay for is on the road.???
Commission Chair Jay Paul said the county
budget can absorb the extra payment.
In other news,
the commissioners:
??? Approved a request for rezoning for
376 Harris Road from general agriculture to
residential agriculture in order to subdivide
for family. The Oglethorpe County Zoning
Board unanimously approved, with the con
dition to only use the easement from Harris
Road.
??? Approved the reappointment of George
Gray to the Board of Elections. His term was
set to expire at the end of the year.
??? Approved the reappointment of Alice
Hughes to the Library Board. Her term was
set to expire at the end of the year.
??? Tabled a discussion and vote over spe
cial revenue funds to January???s meeting.
See COMPANY, Page 2
Interested in this
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Miles of Interior Roads
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