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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2023)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2023 THE JACKSON HERALD PAGE 3A Commerce school board mulls ‘challenging’ budget By Alex Buffington alex@mainstreetnews. com The Commerce Board of Education recognized the STAR student, Scarlett Maze, and STAR teacher Travis Roye at its May 8 meeting. The Commerce Board of Education recognized FFA advisors Skyler and April Davis at its May 8 meeting. The middle and high school chapters both had a number of accomplishments over the school year. Commerce school lead ers got a look at the pro posed FY24 budget during the school board’s May meetings. Superintendent Joy Tolbert described the $22.52 million budget as a “challenging” budget with a mix of different issues cre ating a “perfect storm.” “To put it lightly, there are some challenges with the FY24 budget,” Tolbert said. “.. .Some of it we knew was going to happen. Some of it was just like the perfect storm for a budget.” The Commerce Board of Education is slated to adopt the budget at its June 12 meeting. Two public hear ings are also planned (June 1 at 10 a.m. and June 12 at 5:30 p.m., both at the board of education office). The system's budget year runs July 1-June 30. FY24 expenses are ex pected to total $22.52 mil lion, while revenues are estimated at $19.68 million, resulting in a $2.84 million deficit. The challenges Tolbert referenced are partly due to SK Battery coming onto the city’s tax digest this year, a situation which distorts the city’s tax digest for the sys tem by making it appear to be a wealthier community on a per student basis. That digest distortion re sults in the district receiv ing less state equalization funding and having to pay the state more in local fair share. Combined, those changes mean the district will receive $2 million less in state funds than it did in FY23. EXPENSES Meanwhile, expenses are up from $19.2 million in the FY23 budget to $22.5 mil lion in the FY24 budget. Part of that increase is due to the state increasing the salary base pay by $2,000 for certified school employ ees. Since benefits are based on a percentage of that base pay, the system’s expenses are up as well. The system will also have to help fund a partnership with Jackson County and Madison County to educate the system’s students who were previously enrolled in Rutland Academy. (A fed eral lawsuit ruled that you can’t separate children into Georgia Network for Ed ucational and Therapeutic Support programs, like Rut land Academy.) The system also won’t be receiving any more Elemen tary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER) funds which have helped fund a number of po sitions (8 teachers, 2 nurses, a counselor and a psychol ogist). Tolbert stressed that the system cannot get rid of these positions and that the district is still under the state’s recommendation for the number of needed em ployees. FUNDING OPTIONS The district has a couple options for funding the pro jected $2.8 million shortfall. Tolbert noted the system has been setting aside SK Bat tery payments in lieu of tax es (PILOT) funds. (SK Bat tery doesn’t pay traditional property taxes but rather makes the PILOT payments as negotiated by the coun ty when the firm located in Commerce.) The district currently has around $13 million in accu mulated SK PILOT funds. “The reason we did that (set funds aside) was be cause we knew this (short fall) was going to happen,” Tolbert said, noting the sys tem could use some of those funds to make up the differ ence. The district could also use local tax money to make up the difference, or a com bination of PILOT and tax funds. Tolbert stressed that — given the current uproar surrounding hiked tax as sessments — the board of education hasn’t yet set its millage rate for this year. (The rate shown on the re cent assessment notices was last year’s rate.) The district will set its millage rate later this year once the tax digest is final ized. Tolbert also pointed out that the district’s millage rate is the lowest it’s been since 2005. OTHER BUSINESS Also at its May meetings, the BOE: •approved the following hires: Christy Chandler, special education teacher at Commerce High School; Alison Shockley, PK teach er at Commerce Primary School; Lindsey Lance, CPS assistance principal; and Kristina Satterfield, 8th grade math teacher. •approved the resignation of Zack Tucker. •approved the retirement of: Debra Cooper, 8th grade English language arts and David Flint. 7th grade social studies. •heard a request to allow co-ed competitive cheer leading. No action was tak en on the matter. GARRISON SWORN IN AS ASSOCIATE MAGISTRATE JUDGE Andy Garrison (left) was sworn in as Asso ciate Magistrate Judge for Jackson County on Wednesday, May 10. He is pictured with his wife, Hilda (center) and Jack- son County Probate Judge Sherry Moore, who led the swearing in. Commerce continued from 3A Developers planned to renovate the existing auto repair garage into a conve nience store and fast-food restaurant. While there was no dis cussion about why the re quest was withdrawn, coun cil members seemed cool to the idea of allowing a vari ance for the gas pumps at its May 1 meeting. Despite the withdrawal, developers could still open a conve nience store and fast-food restaurant (minus the gas pumps). APPROVED ITEMS Items approved at the council’s May 15 meeting included: •a bid award for Tado Construction, LLC. for $844,000 for raw water pump improvements. The project will be funded using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money. •an agreement with Com cast Cable to allow the com pany to attach lines to city utility poles. •street slow-downs for the Hope Pregnancy Center’s HOPE 5K on Nov. 4. The race will begin at Spencer Park. •street closures for Sum mer in the City Music and Fireworks, set for June 30 from 3-11 p.m. Road clo sures are planned on Little, Oak and Pine streets. PUBLIC HEARING The City of Maysville will have a Public Hearing on Monday, June 5th, 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday, June 7, 7:30 a.m. to receive pub lic comments on the proposed changes to the Land Use Management Code Book. All pub lic comments will be welcomed. Aquatics continued from 1A facility began several years ago under then-Mayor Steve Quinn who adopted the idea as a main focus during his time in office. After Quinn’s departure, new council member Cody Cain took up the idea and has been assem bling the details to bring the proposal to a council vote. As proposed, the facility would be located at the cor ner of Old Pendergrass Rd. and Old Swimming Pool Rd. near the city’s existing recre ation center. The city has an outdoor pool facility that was built in the 1960s by Jefferson Mills and later transferred to the city. That facility is used in the summer months for area day camps and is also open to the general public on a limited schedule. But that pool isn’t suitable for swim team use, most of which hold year-around competitions and practic es and require indoor pool facilities. Currently, local school and club swim teams travel to Athens, Gainesville or Gwinnett County to prac tice. The increasing demand related to competition swim ming initially drove the is sue to the foreground, but supporters note that it would also be used by the general public for recreation and ex ercise needs for many senior citizens. Council member Cain outlined on May 15 the de tails of how the pool would be designed for multiple purposes, including having extra lanes and differing depths to appeal to different kinds of uses. He also said the facility would be air con ditioned/heated to provide a comfortable situation for both swimmers and those watching swim meet com petitions. FINANCING As proposed, the project would be funded via bonds which would be paid back using SPLOST 7 funds and impact fees. In November, voters ap proved SPLOST 7, which are funds that can only be used to pay for capital proj ects or debt for capital proj ects. In the City of Jefferson, 31.7% of its share of the county’s SPLOST is desig nated to go toward recreation needs in the city (each city and the county individually determine how they want to use their share of SPLOST proceeds.) By law, the funds generated by that 31.7% can’t be used for other pur poses outside of recreation in the city. Those SPLOST dollars would be used to pay the bond debt service over a 20- year period. In addition, for the first two or three years, impact fee funds would also likely be used to get the fa cility up and going. While city leaders said they expect SPLOST funds to continue growing given the large amount of growth in the county, to pay over the entire 20 years would require that voters renew the SPLOST for two more six- year terms to fully pay off the debt. ONGOING COSTS In addition to discuss ing the initial construction expense, the council also looked at the potential ongo ing operations expenses that would be necessary to oper ate the facility. Cain outlined a projected yearly expense of $875,800, but noted that it was difficult to get exact numbers given the number of variables in volved with an entirely new facility. The city also outlined pro jected income for the facility, the largest of which would come from club swimmers who would collectively pay around $300,000 per year to use the facility. School swim team use would bring in another $120,000 and public memberships were estimated to bring in around $129,000. Contributions, swim meets, concessions and other items would also be revenue sources. If direct revenues from the pool’s programs weren’t enough to cover all the op erating expenses, the dif ference would be made up from the city’s general fund, officials noted. City officials said that the town might have to use around $300,000 from reserves to get the pro gram up and running. CITIZENS SPEAK Mayor Jon Howell said the issue is a “monumental decision” for the council and noted that due to the uproar over property reassessments, the “timing isn’t perfect” to be discussing such a major project. But Howell said the proposed aquatic center wouldn’t directly impact city property taxes given that it would be financed via SPLOST funds. “We’ve identified a need that has not been met to date and that need is that we don’t have indoor facilities for our swim team, we don’t have indoor swim facilities for our senior communi ty, we don’t have indoor swim facilities for those who may not know how to swim and we don’t have recreational swim facil ities for people to swim outside of the warm months of the year, so this conversa tion is around what does that look like, what is the qual ity of life benefit,” he said. “It is an opportunity cost analysis." During the public com ments, one man angrily called the idea “a horrible mistake,” and complained about the city’s lack of soc cer fields. Others complained about the recent property reas sessments and said they didn’t want their taxes to go up and one man sug gested the idea be put on a referendum. But several people also spoke in support of the project. One woman said businesses have to take risks and that “we have to be open to risks.” Another woman who supported the aquatic facil ity said that it always “feels like the ‘nays’ are the loud est dog barking.” Now Hiring for Production and Assembly A Family Atmosphere Work Environment in Pendergrass, GA HARRIS DOOR AND MILLWORK Average wage $950.00 paid weekly Monday - Friday 6 a.m. - 4 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday • Full Benefits Package • Health Insurance (Starts within 30 days or less) • Dental and Vision (Starts within 30 days or less) • Matching 40IK (Starts Day 1) • 3 weeks paid vacation (Accrual Starts Day 1) • Long Term Disability Insurance (Company Paid) • Short Term Disability Insurance (Company Paid) • 1 hour lunch break and two 15 minute breaks per day (5786 Hwy. 129 N, Suite A) Pendergrass, GA Call 706-693-0060 (Jennifer) or email HR@harrisdm.com
