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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 25. 2021
Continued From 1A
ATM
some sparks coming off the
pavement.
Sheriff Craig said Mon
day they had uncovered some
additional information but
were not prepared to release
it at that time.
He said this case so far is
mostly just what you see in
the video, “they backed up to
it, hooked up to it and drove
off with it.” In the video, the
men in the truck can’t be seen
as the camera angle from the
store is mainly on their gas
pumps. The truck can be seen
in the video backing up and
then it leaves the screen but
reappears a few seconds later
pulling the machine - all
within a minute and a half.
When asked if this type of
crime is common in other
areas, the sheriff said he was
n’t sure, but “it’s definitely
unusual here.”
Craig said they drug it a
short distance from the park
ing lot and then got the
money compartment out.
At this point, there wasn’t
enough information to spec
ulate on whether the crimi
nals are likely to be local or
not, said the sheriff.
Continued From 1A
Bridges
$300,000; right-of-way ac
quisition - $100,00; and con
struction - $730,306.
The bridge on Fairview
Road, near RaceTrac off
Highway 515, is also closed
despite construction not yet
beginning. A Pickens County
Continued From 1A
Hearings
keep pace with the rising
prices of essential goods and
services.”
“Inflation is probably the
largest challenge we face
going into 2022,” Stancil
said. “It’s an area we can’t
control and feeling the pres
sures of that....and with
COVID-19 we’re still wait
ing to see if it’s going to
surge back up again, so try
ing to plan and prepare for
what effect that may have on
us whether it’s manpower
and keeping the offices open,
or the cost of goods and serv
ices.”
The total general fund
budget for 2022 is $33.66
million, up from $29.03 mil
lion in 2021. The lion’s share
of revenue increases come
from the $3.1 million the
county received from the
American Rescue Plan Act
(COVID relief funding) for
2022 (they also received $3.1
million in 2021); an expected
increase in Local Option
Sales Tax collections of
$400,000 to $4.3 million; and
an increase in property tax
collections by just over
$395,000 to $11.25 million
(this increase is despite a 1.66
percent reduction in the prop
erty tax rate, made possible
because of an increase in the
tax digest).
For expenditures in the
general hind, general govern
ment expenditures increased
from $4.04 million to $8.24
road department dump truck
that exceeded the bridge’s
weight limit broke through a
portion of the wooden bridge
and rendered it impassable.
Commission Chair Stancil
said the truck was hauling
gravel attempting to prep the
area for construction. The
bridge has a 4-ton weight
limit.
“I wish I could say it was
n’t our truck, but yes it did at
tempt to cross and was
definitely in excess of the
weight limit,” he said.
The truck’s front tires
broke through a portion of
the bridge, then more damage
was done when the dump
truck was pulled out by an
other truck. The dump truck
was not able to drive fully
onto the bridge before the
bridge began to break. No
one was injured and only
minor damage was done to
the county vehicle. The em
ployee driving the truck was
reprimanded by his direct su
perior, Stancil said.
A GDOT inspection re
port shows the bridge has se
vere corrosion and rotting on
some of the wooden beams.
Stancil said replacement of
both bridges was long in the
works before the October in
cident.
The new bridge at
Fairview Road will be two
lanes instead of one. GDOT
details about construction
costs on Fairview Road could
not be found before
presstime.
All funding for both proj
ects is from GDOT. The
county will not be required to
fund any portion of the re
pairs.
General Fund Revenues
FY 2022 Proposed Budget
General Fund Expenditures
Revenue Item
FY *22
Proposed
FY ’21
Adopted
Real Property
Taxes
$11,245,395
$10,850,000
Local Option
Sales Tax
$4,300,000
$3,900,000
Other
Taxes
$6,798,411
$6,475,700
Licenses &
Permits
$517,400
$517,400
Intergovt.
Revenues
$2,231,467
$2,022,242
Charges for
Services
$4,170,700
$4,163,800
Fines &
Forfeitures
$270,400
$255,900
Other
Revenues
$4,128,110
$842,310
Use of Fund
Balance
$0
$0
TOTALS
$33,661,883
$29,027,352
A chart ofproposed revenues for 2022. The county will
hold public hearings for the FY2022 budget on December
2 and December 16 during their regular work session at
4:30p.m. Pickens County Government / Graphs
million. The COVID-relief
funding, new insurance costs,
and new contingencies ac
count for $3.88 million of
that increase. The only other
significant change was to the
public works department ex
penditures, which are up
from $3.88 million to $4.6
million. This increase in
cludes $831,471 for projects
being funded by Georgia De-
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Experienced. Established. Effective.
Function
FY *22
Proposed
FY ’21
Actual
General
Government
$8,235,217*
$4,042,471
Judicial
Services
$4,017,570
$3,936,781
Public
Safety
$14,514,265
$14,870,773
Public
Works
$4,595,827**
$3,867,203
Health &
Welfare
$282,981
$286,881
Recreation &
Culture
$1,200,399
$1,130,900
Housing &
Development
$815,624
$892,343
TOTALS
$33,661,883
$29,027,352
•ARPA, new insurance costs and new contingences account
for $3,878,553 of the increase.
•• LMIG funded projects account for $831,471 of the in
crease in expenditures. Otherwise Public Works costs are
reduced by $118,597
partment of Transportation’s
Local Maintenance & Im
provement Grant (LMIG)
road and paving program.
Other highlights of the
budget include: the county
increased its general contin
gency fund from $92,508 to
just over $200,000, and used
none of its fund balance,
which is $10.08 million, or
35.8 percent of FY 2020’s ex
penditures. This fund balance
is well above what is recom
mended, Stancil said in a
later interview.
The county will close out
FY 2021 with a significant
decrease to the short-term
Continued From 1A
Market
Coberly at the end of the day
Saturday, during the Vendor
of the Year presentation.
“I asked Beth if we could
honor her by name, and make
name the award ‘The Beth
Coberly Vendor of the Year,”’
Daniel said to the vendors
and shoppers, going on to ask
Coberly to present this year’s
award to Marble County Tof
fee.
In a later comment on so
cial media, Coberly wrote,
“This was the 10 year an-
Tax Anticipation Note (TAN)
loan it has used for many
years to fund operations. The
county used $500,000 TAN
in 2021, down significantly
from the $4.5 million TAN
used last year to fund opera
tions. Stancil noted that most
departments have operated
under budget in 2021; and
that this year, full-time em
ployees will receive a $3,000
bonus, with part-time em
ployees to receive a $1,000
bonus. There are currently
311 full-time employees; 57
part-time employees; and 11
open positions.
Stancil said the bonuses
are “one way that we can stay
competitive. I know several
other counties have found
ways to do something fairly
niversary and I’m so proud to
have been a part of the origi
nal team. Shout out to Kay
Lawrence, Linda Barnes,
Nancy Unziker, Pat Martin,
Sarah Mansfield, Stephanie
Ray, and of course, Michelle
Daniel. Over $100,000 has
been returned to the commu
nity over the past 10 years.”
Proceeds from the event
go to support non-profits and
charities in the community.
similar, and we want to make
sure we show how much we
appreciate and care for all of
our employees - and even
though we may not be able to
change all the salaries at
once, since we did have the
ability this year to do it we
went ahead and made the de
cision to issue that bonus.”
The county was able to
give bonuses because depart
ments came in under budget,
and also because the
COVID-19 money the
county received this year was
used to fund public safety
salaries and freed up that
money for other uses.
The county created a med
ical contingency fund of
$515,000 for FY 2022 as
well.
“We have our fixed costs
for our medical insurance,
but then as claims start to
come through because we’re
a partially self-funded insur
ance program those claims
can eat us alive toward the
end of the year,” Stancil said.
“I think if we can have a
budget in place to where
we’re prepared for that as we
go through the year it’s defi
nitely a solid.”
Public hearings will be
Thursday, Dec. 2 and
Thursday, Dec. 16 at
4:30 as a portion of the
commissioners’ work
sessions.
The budget is slated for
adoption at commissioners’
Dec. 16 meeting at 5:30 p.m.
The budget is available for
public viewing on the county
website at www.picken-
scountyga.gov. There is also
a hard copy at the Pickens
County Administration build
ing in the clerk’s office.
Stancil thanked the county
finance team for long hours
in the last few weeks prepar
ing the budget presentation.
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