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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2019 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Hall approves $276 million budget
County to use rolled back millage rate of 5.098 mills for fiscal year, starting July 1
Zach
Propes, Hall
County’s
financial
services
director,
presents on
the county’s
budget
Tuesday.
MEGAN REED
The Times
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
Hall County’s budget for the next
fiscal year, starting July 1, was
approved Tuesday, and an applica
tion for a farm venue in Clermont
is restarting the approval process
due to an incomplete application.
Hall County will be going with
the rolled back general fund mill-
age rate of 5.098 mills, after com
missioners unanimously approved
the new tax rate and budget on
Tuesday.
Inside
Hall County commission OKs
boat, RV storage business, 8A
One mill is equal to $1 for each
$1,000 in assessed property value.
The rolled back tax rate adjusts for
increased assessed property values
in the county.
The next fiscal year begins July 1.
The total budget is $276.7 mil
lion, a 2.5% increase from the
current year. Hall has seen some
growth and a strong economy over
the past year, leading to increases
in revenues from some sources
like property taxes, sales taxes and
the ad valorem tax.
The Fiscal Year 2020 budget
allocates $56.9 million for capital
projects. Those improvements
include road, sewer system and
building improvements, vehicle
and ambulance replacements, and
technology and software.
New employees will include
five deputies for the Hall County
■ Please see BUDGET, 8A
HALL COUN^ SCHOOLS
Board passes
$270M budget,
slight tax hike
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
The Hall County Schools Board of Education on
Monday, June 24, unanimously approved a $270 mil
lion general fund budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year,
which begins July 1, while shaving a little more off the
property tax rate.
Board members approved setting the tax rate at
17.55 mills, down from the current rate of 18.2.
It’s the lowest tax rate since 2012, but still higher
than the full rollback rate of 17.049.
The full rollback rate is the mechanism under state
law that allows systems to avoid a hike by account
ing for increases in revenue from property tax
reassessments.
■ Please see TAX, 4A
Driver charged
in crash has past
DUI violations
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
The woman accused of DUI in a serious injury
crash Monday night on Thompson
Bridge Road had previously been
convicted of being a habitual vio
lator in March 2017, according to
court records.
Two people were seriously injured
following the wreck around 6 p.m.
Monday, June 24, in Gainesville.
Gainesville Police Sgt. Justin
Martin said Rianne Rider, 32, of
Gainesville, was driving a Cadillac
Escalade northbound on Thompson Bridge Road near
Edge water Drive.
Martin said Rider’s car “crossed into the south
bound lanes” and struck a Ford Expedition head-on.
The Expedition’s driver and passenger, Gabriel
Orozco Suarez, 53, and Lisandro Hernandez, 37, both
■ Please see DUI, 4A
Rider
‘I’m anxious to get to work’
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Newly elected Flowery Branch City Council member Ed Asbridge looks over a map of Flowery Branch at his home on
Thursday, June 20.
Asbridge talks about new role on City Council
BY JEFF GILL
jglll@gainesvilletimes.com
A retired businessman with time on
his hands, Ed Asbridge decided to start
spending Friday mornings drinking cof
fee with neighbors and talking politics.
What started as a social gathering
grew into an organized group, South
Hall Republican Club, in 2011, with
Asbridge as the founding president.
“It grew and grew, and that was
really what got me very interested in
politics and government in general,”
including local issues, Asbridge said.
And that led eventually to him seek
ing and winning Flowery Branch City
Council’s Post 2 seat in a special elec
tion Tuesday, June 18. He is scheduled
to be sworn in Thursday, June 27.
“I’m anxious to get to work,” said
Asbridge, speaking at a victory celebra
tion at Maynard’s At The Corner restau
rant in Braselton.
Asbridge claims a seat that was
vacated in December 2019 by Mary
Jones, who died May 2.
He will serve out Jones’ term, which
ends Dec. 31.
He spent an hour in his home in
Sterling on the Lake last week talk
ing a little about his history and what
lies ahead.
Retired from J.C. Penney manage
ment, the 76-year-old Louisville, Ky.,
native talked — as he did during the
campaign — about delaying an earlier
■ Please see ASBRIDGE, 4A
INSIDE
0 40901 06835
Advice 6B
Bridge 6B
Business 4B
Calendar 2A
Classified 8B
8 Comics 7B
Life 5B
Lottery 2A
Opinion 6A
Our Region 8A
Sports 1B
TV/puzzles 6B
WEATHER 2A
* j High Low
W 8868
Lake Lanier level: 1,071.61 feet
Full pool 1,070. Down 0.08 feet in 24 hours
DEATHS 9A
Edsel Muncy, 53
Weldon Richards, 92
Judy McAllister, 72
Ruby Adcock, 80
Sarah Adams, 72
Shirley Ellison, 83
Patti Lange, 63
Gary Lamb, 61
Sarah Watson, 88
Roy Rhodenhiser III, 80
Doris Reynolds
Beverly Sorensen 90
Gary Taylor 60
Meredith Shahpazian, 37
Robert Anglin, 50
Amy Hughes, 40
Nell Kelly, 76
Sarah Watson, 88
Elizabeth Hall, 90
Shirley Ellison, 83
Ruth Anderson, 85
Alma Briggs, 84
J. Ward, 66
James Corbin, 79
James Whitley, 57
Carolyn Holbrooks, 84
Ronald Batson, 61
Rodney Brock, 53
Lawrence Iker, 87
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