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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. AUGUST 18. 2022
Board of Assessors approve returned
assessment notices, assessors office
clarifies timelines in third Aug. meeting
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens County
Board of Assessors held the
third meeting of a busy Au
gust on the 16th.
Of note was the approval
of the returned assessment
notice for the 2022 digest.
The notice lists all assess
ments that were returned by
the post office as undeliver
able and will be posted at the
assessor’s website for 30
days.
If you did not receive your
property value notice in the
mail then it is asked that you
check the list and let the as
sessors office know. Doing
so will open a 45-day appeal
period for you, but only if
you respond within the 30
days. The easiest way to
check the notice is on the
qPublic website.
Following the meeting,
the assessors office was
asked about timelines per
taining to preparing the
yearly tax digest. It was
pointed out that the statutory
date for submission by the
tax commissioner to the de
partment of revenue is Sep
tember 1, and that with all the
moving parts, extensions are
not uncommon and do not
carry any penalties or fines.
According to Deputy
Chief Appraiser Stephanie
Gooch, the assessors office
plans to have a preliminary
version ready by the end of
this week to forward on to the
tax commissioner’s office,
saying they are careful to
make sure everything is cor
rect because of the man
power and paperwork
involved in making a fix after
the fact.
There were also 17 ap
peals forwarded along to the
Board of Equalization in this
week’s meeting, in addition
to the 25 from last week.
Piedmont Village homeowners turn out with questions
City sets up for tax rate discussion
But lacking digest information
has to punt until later meetings
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The Jasper City Council
held a meeting on August 8th
to begin preparing to set the
city’s yearly tax rate. How
ever, as the meeting opened
the city’s financial director
Lindsey Williams informed
the council she did not have
the tax digest needed to pro
ceed.
Discussion indicated they
had expected those numbers
at the end of July.
She noted there are state
deadlines, but the tax asses
sors didn’t have a complete
digest and Williams had not
been given an indication of
when the property tax infor
mation would be ready.
Hearing this, the council
could take no action. Council
member Sonny Proctor noted
they “should” have had the
digest numbers. Then he
added that perhaps should is
too strong a word, but
nonetheless they couldn’t do
anything at that meeting.
The city manager, CFO
and others stressed that they
are required to hold hearings
and advertise everything they
do with a tax rate and that no
one should read anything into
this meeting regarding the
forthcoming millage rate.
Proctor added that nothing at
this meeting should be con
sidered indicative of what
they plan in the future.
City Manager Sonia
Jammes explained that due to
increases in property values,
the total digest will almost
certainly increase and if the
council does not roll their tax
rate to meet state standards
for a flat revenue stream,
they are required to treat it
like a tax increase.
Jammes emphasized they
would need to be sure they
maintain enough revenue so
that the services they provide
citizens are funded. At one
point saying, “[We must]
make sure we have the rev
enues in place to sustain our
services.”
[Editor’s Note: in sim
plest terms a government sets
a tax rate that is applied to all
property in their jurisdiction.
If the values of the property
increase (based on county as
sessor’s values) and the tax
rate remains the same, they
will receive more taxes. All
property owners whose prop
erty increased in value would
pay more taxes even if the
government keeps the exact
same tax rate as the year be
fore. Governments may “roll
back” tax rates to incorporate
higher values and keep their
revenue flat to avoid having
a tax increase.]
Piedmont Village residents
seek answers
Seeing a large number of
new faces watching the meet
ing, Mayor Steve Lawrence
closed the meeting, saying at
the official millage hearing
there was no place for public
comment. But if all parties
wanted to stick around they
would be happy to hear and
address concerns in an infor
mal manner.
Based on questions asked
it seemed the residents of the
new senior community on
Highway 515 were there to
inquire about rising property
tax assessments.
The mayor, council mem
bers and manager responded
and explained some basics
for the group:
• All property values in
the county are assessed by
the county assessor’s office.
The city doesn’t have their
own assessors.
• The county, the school
board and the cities (for resi
dents inside their limits) each
impose a tax bill. The county
and school board are lumped
into the same bill and the city
sends their own bill. City of
ficials noted that their bills
are much less than the com
bined county and school bill.
Council member Jim Looney
said he couldn’t give an exact
percentage but based on his
personal home, the
county/schools would be
about $2,000 a year and the
city would be about $600.
Hearing that the city was
the lower amount and had no
control over assessment, one
Piedmont Village resident
said, “So we are at the wrong
meeting.”
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Available at the
Pickens Progress of
fice on Main Street,
Thursdays and Fri
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Call 706-253-2457
to check availability.
First come, first
serve
Writing group to meet
August 18
Submitted by Sassafrass
Literary Exchange
The local writing group
will be meeting Thursday
evening, August 18 at the
Southern Appalachian Folk
School, 68 D.B. Carroll
Street. The meeting time is
6:30 p.m. As usual, mem
bers will pass around
copies of their work and
read them aloud for com
ments and discussion.
In addition, plans for the
upcoming Creative Writing
for Youth contest will be fi
nalized. This will be the
41st consecutive year for
the contest. It will be open
for any high school or mid
dle school student who
lives in and is educated in
Pickens County.
Hopefully, the contest
will get underway in the
near future. It takes the co
operation of teachers, stu
dents and family along with
members of the community
to be a successful endeavor.
The Sassafras Literary Ex
change takes pride in put
ting on this yearly contest.
The smiles on the faces of
the winners and the pride
shown by their parents
make the effort very grati
fying.
For anyone interested in
writing, Sassafras always
welcomes visitors at their
meetings.
Free English Classes for 2022-2023
Classes begin next week,
August 25, 2022 at
Pickens County Parks & Recreation,
1329 Camp Road.
Students have 2 class time choices:
- Thursdays at 6PM
- Fridays at 9AM
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Appeals board approves variance to
build chicken houses on existing pads
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens County Ap
peals Board heard the second
variance request in as many
months after nearly two
years without any business
before them.
The request was for the
construction of two poultry
houses on already existing
chicken house pads, at 170
Moore Road. The lot had
chicken houses on it previ
ously that were torn down,
and the existing pads make
the project more of a rebuild
and update, than something
completely new, according to
discussion at the meeting
Monday.
The applicant in the re
quest was Chin Hill LLC, a
group that already owns the
parcel to the south of the one
in the request and one that al
ready operates chicken
houses there.
According to require
ments, poultry houses and
swine operations must be at
least 550 feet away from any
residence and in this case,
one home is 337.5 feet away.
The homeowner at that par
ticular residence sent a letter
to the board stating that he
has no objections to the con
struction, while the other
homes in the vicinity are
over the 550 foot threshold.
Wes Frye, the county’s
planning director, explained
that his staff recommends the
application be approved as
he showed the property and
distances on a projected map.
Two people spoke during
public comments, worried
mostly about the effects on
nearby property values. Clar
ification on rides were dis
cussed and it was asked that
easements and roads be well
maintained in the area.
The meeting ended after
less than 30 minutes with
unanimous approval.
Nelson Council approves special
election, revises garden rules
Three
candidates vying
for open seat on
council
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
Members of the Nelson
City Council held their regu
lar meeting on August 15,
after it was postponed for
two weeks.
Of note was approval of a
special election to fill the
council’s vacant seat on No
vember 8. The qualifying
candidates are Ellen Ahlberg,
Kristeen MacNeill, and
Michael Haviland.
The community garden
was also discussed with re
vised rides. A three person
board will oversee the garden
and can bring problems to the
city council, if necessary.
These board members will
be voted on by garden partic
ipants. The council expressed
a desire to see the members
run the garden, with the
council only an avenue for
them to go to in special cir
cumstances. The revised
rides and setup were passed
unanimously.
Stealing from the garden,
as commented on last month,
was found to have been a
misunderstanding and no
other problems of that nature
are expected.
The installation of a new
irrigation system along Ken-
nesaw Avenue through
Chapel Valley Landscape
Company was also passed
before Frank Leist presented
the expansion plan for Veter
ans Memorial Park [see the
April 14 issue for story on
the park and monument].
A three-person board will
oversee the Nelson commu
nity garden.
After Leist’s presentation
the council voted to grant
$5,000 for a bench in the
park tentatively labeled “City
of Nelson” from the city’s
grant funds. The vote passed
unanimously.
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Work Session
AGENDA
August 18, 2022 4:30 PM
Commission Conference Room
Suite 168
Items for Discussion:
1. Recreation Department Update
2. Fire Department Update
3. General Discussion
4. Adjourn
Pickens County Board of
Commissioners Agenda
Thursday, August 18, 2022 @ 5:30 PM
1266 East Church Street,
Jasper, GA 30143
Commission Conference Room
I. Call to order
II. Prayer
III. Pledge of Allegiance
IV. Amendments to Agenda
V. Employee Recognitions
VI. Consent Agenda
VII. Old Business
VIII. New Business
IX. Action Items
A. Approve Minutes
*Regular Meeting - August 2,
2022
*Work Session - August 2, 2022
X. Guests/Comments
XI. Executive Session
XII. Approval of Executive Session
Minutes
XIII. Adjourn
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