About The Lee County ledger. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1978-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2024)
The Le*6 Count y Ledger Volume XLVI- Number 39 Your Hometown Source Of Local News Leesburg, Georgia - - June 19, 2024 Hometown Newspaper of Esta Jordan Fifty Cents Commissioners Approve Changes To Accessory Building Ordinance Jason Scott Scott Acheives Appraiser I level of certification The Lee County Board of Assessor’s is proud to announce the advance ment of Jason Scott. Ja son is a lifelong resident of Lee County and has been employed with Lee County for over twen ty years. Jason started his career in the public works department. Then advanced to the plan ning department: When an opening occurred in the Tax Assessors office in November of 2022 Jason joined the staff. The standards set forth by the Georgia Depart ment of Revenue for advancement require not only general knowledge of the appraisal methods but also many hours of field training or on the job training with senior staff in the Assessor’s Office. In order to achieve the levels of certification with the Georgia Department of Revenue one must also take certification classes and successfully com plete exams at the end of each course with a min imum grade of 80. Jason has completed the steps to achieve the Appraiser I level of certification, which includes a third test to show that he has the knowledge and un derstanding to appraise residential property not only within Lee County but any other county in the state of Georgia. The Lee County Board of Assessors is honored to have Jason Scott on staff and his knowl edge of the county is a tremendous asset to Lee County as a whole. During the June 11 county commission meeting, the commis sioners approved the staff’s recommenda tions for changes to the ordinance that applies to accessory buildings. The current regulations limits the number of accessory building to three while the newly approved ordinance has five classifications and limits lot area of 43,561 square feet to five acres to five buildings. Maxi mum floor area is 1,000 square feet for the first acre plus 500 square feet for each additional 1/2 acres, not to exceed 5,000 square feet of floor space. For lot area of five acres to 25 acres, the maximum number of buildings is five. The total maximum square feet is 5,000 square feet for the first five acres and plus 250 square feet for each additional acre, not to exceed a total of 10,000 square feet of floor space. For lot area of 25 or more acres, the total number of buildings is five. The maximum total allowable floor area is to be determine in accordance with AG-1 requirements with all requirements of Sec. VO- 314 to be met for total allowable floor area of all accessory buildings to exceed 10,000 square feet. The commissioners held a public hearing on the proposed 2024-2025 budget. During the June 25 commission meeting, the commissioners will ote to adopt the pro posed budget that will go into effect July 1, 2024. Doug Goodin, Chief Appraiser, explain new legislation regarding the tax assessor’s office. House Bill 581, which was introduced in the General Assembly during the last session, creates a floating home stead exemption. It is a referendum that will be voted on state wide in November during the General Election. During the June 11th commission meeting, the commissioners reappointed Marian Grant-Whitlock to the Southwest Georgia Housing Task Force for a two year term expir ing March 31, 2026. They also reappointed Rick Muggridge to the Hospital Authority for a three year term expiring December 31, 2026. Board Of Education Approves Budget The Lee County Board of Eduction members approved the Fiscal Year 2024 budget during their meeting June 10th at 6:30 p.m. The board held two budget hearings for public input on Thurs day, May 23rd at 6:00 p.m. and Monday, June 10th at 5:00 p.m. The May 23rd budget hear ing was attended by four individuals and the June 10th hearing had one cit izen in attendance. The board will meet in July to set the millage rate to levy taxes adopted in the budget. It is anticipated that there will not be a change in the millage rate. The anticipat ed revenue for Fiscal Year 2025 budget is $80,421,432,00. The budget is comprised of $32,161,000.00 in local revenue, $52,816,832.00 in state funds and $5,453,500.00 in federal revenue. Salaries and benefits account for 67 percent of the budget while operations and capital outlay amount to 28.8 percent. Debt service is $4,099,600 or 3.9 per cent of the total budget. During the June 10th meeting, the board approved the superinten dent’s recommendations for employment includ ing Brandi Nunn as a special education lead teacher for the school syste. Natalie Land, Carol Briley, Rumeal Beckford and Kelli Meier as LCES teach ers, Marcus Powers as a LCMS West teacher and Lisa Clements as a TOES teacher. Lisa Holloway was approved as a 49 percent teacher at LCES.Sara Harper was approved as a teacher intern at LCMS West. Tyler Carlisle and Iris D. Clark as LCMS Barber Elected Georgia Bankers Association Chairman 10499 02456 Doherty, Duggan, hart&tiernan INSURORS Home • Auto • Business • Life/Health P.O.Box 71628 (229)888-2040 Albany, GA 31708-1628 800-628-2040 2301 Dawson Road (31707) Fax (229) 435-3036 www.ddhtins.com Lee County Commission will meet Tuesday, June 25 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the T. Page Tharp Governmental Building Special to the Ledger Brad E. Barber, pres ident and CEO of First National Bank, Bain- bridge, has been elected by his peers to serve as Chairman of the Geor gia Bankers Association (GBA). Mr. Barber is a native of Lee County. “Brad is a distin guished leader in Georgia’s banking community, known for his extensive experi ence and commitment to excellence,” said Joe Brannen, GBA president and CEO. “His deep understanding of our industry and longtime GBA involvement make him the ideal person to lead our association as the 136th chairman. The Georgia banking community will great ly benefit from Brad’s guidance and vision.” Barber has a history of service to GBA, having previously served on the board of directors from 2013 to 2024. He is a past president of Leader ship GBA, past Georgia Trustee for Graduate School of Bank ing at LSU and past member of GBA’s Public Affairs Com mittee. Barber has more than 32 years of expe rience in the Brad Barber banking indus try. He joined First National Bank in 2014 as CEO and as a director of the bank and holding compa ny boards. He was appointed president in December 2016. He has served and continues to serve his community on many local boards and civic organizations. He is a graduate of the Uni versity of Georgia and the Graduate School of Banking at LSU. _2aS4-Bewrr- -€o3tly Mortgage Public Works Employee of the Month Bobby Joe Turner has been nominated by his fellow employees for May Employee of the Month. He has become public works department special projects person. He has taken on several special projects such as Sandy Beach to improve and better the look of such locations. He has also volunteered to spray for mosquitoes in the evenings and willingly train other personnel. Thank you for your hard work and dedication Bobby Joe. A job well done! Pictured are Mike Sistrunk, Public Works Director, Bobby Joe Turner and Chris Sellers, Supervisor. To Subscribe Call 229-759-2413 Homeownership is within your reach, even if you don't have much to put toward a down payment. GCB has you covered with low mortgage insurance premiums. Contact us to get a quote today! Georgia Community Bank 3000 N. Slappey Blvd. (229) 446-0102 Online @ GCB.bank NMLS # 648124 West paraprofessionals. Shakita Green and Misty Dean as LCES parapro fessionals. Kristi Batten was ap proved as the reception ist for the school system. Kristi Bothwell was approved as a nurse ar LCMS East. Jenna Fair- cloth, Taniyah Billings, Kinsey Kirt and Gabri- elle Hart were approved as adult leaders for the extended day summer program. Erika Musgrove, who was a LCMS West teacher, will be the K-12 Science Coach and STEM Coordinator. Lauren McCook, who was a TOES teacher, will be a LCMS West teacher. Tomeka Hay ward, who was a TLC paraprofessional, will be a TLC teacher. Tiffany Bush, who was a LCES paraprofessional, will be a TLC paraprofessional. Kimberly Nelms, who was a TLC paraprofes sional, will be a LCMS West paraprofessional. Don Mears, who was a full time LCHS 9th custodian, will be a part- time custodian at the same school. During the June 10th meeting, Dr. Truitt, Superintendent, reported the school system has only two unfilled teach ing positions. Subject to credit approval. Member FDIC
