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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2024)
o o 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS The Commerce News JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY House Bill 581 Proposed property value freeze plan to get local governments’ action soon Local citizens are going to hear a lot about the number 581 in the coming weeks. That is the bill number (HB581) of state legislation that would create a new type of homestead exemption. The new exemption would freeze home property values at 2025 levels and only allow for property value increases in the future at the rate of inflation. While that may prove pop ular with some taxpayers, especially those who have been hit with rapidly rising assessments, many local gov ernments appear to be leaning toward opting-out of the law, something they are allowed to do between Jan. 1 and March 1, 2025. Many local governments fear the law, if adopted, would tie the hands of local officials in the future as the economy changes and property values move up or down, depending on economic trends. It would also likely force local govern ments to raise millage rates in the future to offset the impact of 581. One local government that is not looking to opt-out is the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. Most local municipal governments and the school systems do appear to be leaning toward opting out. Ajoint meeting of local city and the county government has been slated for Jan. 6 at the Jefferson Civic Center to hear a presentation on the leg islation. SCHOOL SYSTEMS While 581 is aimed at all local governments, school systems could feel the largest impact if they don’t choose to opt-out. That’s because school systems are limited to a 20- mill cap and have a much nar rower stream of revenue than city or county governments. In addition, in Jackson County, new higher school homestead exemptions for senior citizens were approved last year, a move that will have a multi-million-dollar financial impact on the local See HB581,page 2A Nicholson County BOC Santa makes a stop in Nicholson Olivier O’Keeffe-Dennis had his first visit with Santa at the Nicholson library. Santa Claus recently made a special stop at the Harold S. Swin dle Public Library in Nicholson. Pictured is the Sanchez family with Santa and Mrs. Claus: Esmeralda, Emiliano, Alex and Alejandro. See more photos on page 8A. MAILING LABEL County BOC County Oks design services for 3 large projects Plans for a new coun ty recreation park in South Jackson took a step forward on Dec. 16 when the Jackson County Board of Commis sioners approved plans for architectural services for the New Kings Bridge Park. The county is hiring Hus sey Gay Bell at a cost of $150,000 to design several buildings for the park, includ ing restrooms, maintenance buildings, a concession stand and other facilities. The BOC also hired Hus sey Gay Bell to provide ar chitectural services for the renovation of the Historic Braselton Gym. That project, estimated at $2 million, will be paid for by both the coun ty and Town of Braselton. It will also be part of the cam pus of a new charter school in Braselton. The board also took ac tion on another major capital project at its Dec. 16 meet ing when it hired Goodwyn Mills Cawood to design a new EMS headquarters and Station #2 for the county. That project is slated for 3 acres on Panther Dr. in Jef ferson. OTHER ACTION In other action on Dec. 16, the BOC approved: • amending the purchase agreement with the Jack- son County Board of Edu cation to buy 61 acres for a park in West Jackson on Boone Rd. The county had initially agreed to purchase 70 acres, but the school system decided to add a third school to the site and requested the amendment. • amending an agreement with CorrectHealth Jack- son LLC for inmate medi cal services at the Jackson County Correctional Insti tute. • amending an agree ment with Southern Health Partners for medical at the county jail. • rehiring Atkinson Fer guson LLC as the county’s legal firm. • contracting with South east Corrections LLC for private probation services for the county’s judicial system. • dedicating roads and right-of-way in Bentwater Subdivision. • an alcohol sales license for 42 Platinum Inc. BOC approves Hwy. 124 convenience store A controversial rezon ing plan and special use for a convenience store and self-storage facili ty on 15 acres on Hwy. 124 at Maddox Rd., Hoschton, got final ap proval on Dec. 16 by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. The approval came with a long list of condi tions, some related to a green buffer zone, from new commissioner Ty Clack whose district cov ers the area. The board approved the rezoning and special use 4-1 with commissioner Jim Hix opposed. Nearby residents have voiced opposition to the rezoning since it was filed earlier this year. Initially, the plan was designed to include a drop-site for tractor trailers, but that was removed from the rezoning plan in August. See BOC, page 2A County schools JCSS Enrollment Growth I School Aug. 2019 Nov. 2024 Change % Change JCHS 1201 2233 1032 85.92% EJCHS 1237 1414 177 14.31% WJMS 1096 962 - - LKMS - 717 - - WJMS/LKMS 1096 1679 583 53.19% EJMS 562 548 -14 -2.49% WJES 955 1117 - - NJES 389 527 - - GSES 852 966 - - HES - 997 - - NJ/GS/WJ/HES 2196 3607 1411 64.25% MES 352 487 135 38.35% SJES 622 737 115 18.49% EJES 678 633 -45 -6.63% JCSS Total 7944 11338 3394 42.72% JCSS seein explosive growth It’s well-known that the Jackson County School System is one of the fastest growing in the state and perhaps the nation. But some recent data compiled by school officials show just how explosive that growth has been. One mind-blowing stat: Since last year, the system has added 636 new students, which is more than all the surrounding school systems, including Gwinnett, com bined. That comes from data school officials recently gave to the Jackson County Board of Education. Since 2019, the system has grown by over 42% and currently has 11,338 students. Not surprisingly, the number of teachers and other staff have also grown. Certified staff has grown from 677 to 956, a 41% in crease. Total employees have grown from 1,138 to 1,570 making the school system one of the county’s largest employers. See JCSS, page 2A Elections Kuntz resigns as elections board chair Jackson County Board of Elections chairman Dan ielle Kuntz has resigned her post. Kuntz has taken a new position within the judicial system which has cre ated a conflict with her duties as elections board chair. She has served in the position since December 2021 when she replaced former chairman Eric Crawford. A Superior Court judge will name a new chairman for the board. The chairman cannot be involved in political party leadership, unlike the other lour board members who are nominated by the local Republican and Democratic Party organizations. 14 14 0
