About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2020)
OUR REGION £hc Srrnes gainesvilletimes com Weekend Edition - August 22-23, 2020 Nate McCullough News Editor | 770-718-3431 | news@gainesvilletimes.com Oakwood rate could mean tax hike Public can comment at set hearings; tax bills expected to go out around Nov. 1 BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Oakwood is proposing to keep its tax rate the same, but that could still mean a tax hike for some homeowners. The city is considering a rate of 4.174 mills, with 1 mill equal to $1 for each $1,000 in assessed property value. The owner of a home valued at $250,000 would pay $417.40 in taxes. The proposed rollback rate, or the rate at which the city would draw the same amount Public hearings What: Proposed 2020 tax rate in Oakwood When: 6 p.m. Sept. 1,6 p.m. Sept. 8 and 6 p.m. Sept. 14 Where: City Hall, 4035 Walnut Circle of property tax revenue as last year, is 3.909 mills. Under state law, if a government seeks to set its tax rate above the rollback rate, that’s a considered a tax increase and public hearings must be set. Homeowners who saw their property val ues increase through a reassessment would pay more taxes, even if the rate stayed the same. Those who saw their property val ues drop would see their taxes go down, and those who saw their property values remain the same would see no change in their taxes. The public can comment on the proposed tax rate at hearings set for 6 p.m. Sept. 1, 6 p.m. Sept. 8 and 6 p.m. Sept. 14 at City Hall, 4035 Walnut Circle. Tax bills are expected to go out around Nov. 1, with taxes due 60 days later, or around Jan. 1, City Manager B.R. White said. The city uses the revenue to cover expenses in the current year’s budget. This year’s budget began Jan. 1 and ends Dec. 31. Because the city covers its budget when the fiscal year is almost over, “Oakwood has a hurdle to overcome each year (finan cially),” White said. “Oakwood monitors budget expenditures very closely and main tains a little money in reserve to cover pos sible shortfalls until the taxes begin to be (paid).” Teen finds profit in tomatoes Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Ahrhyan Akins, 13, and father Tim sell tomatoes in downtown Flowery Branch Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Flowery Branch farmers market. Ahrhyan is selling the tomatoes to pay for a car and other things she wants to buy. Eighth-grader hopes to save up $2,000 by end of summer BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Thirteen-year-old Ahrhyan Akins doesn’t much like toma toes, but she sure likes selling them. Encouraged by her father, Tim Akins, to grow and sell them to make a little extra cash, the ris ing Davis Middle School eighth grader has made about $1,000 this summer, mostly peddling tomatoes to her father’s friends. She has expanded her selling efforts, setting up a booth the past two weeks from the bed of her father’s 1918 Ford Model-T truck at the Flowery Branch Farmer’s Market on West Pine Street. “I didn’t like any of this at first,” Ahrhyan said, while watch ing for customers at the farmer’s market on Thursday, Aug. 21. “I hated it so much. Nothing was happening (with the tomato plants). But once they started (ripening), they all started turn ing and I had to pick them every two days.” And now, she has a bumper crop. She said she had picked more than 200 tomatoes earlier in the week. She recalls her father first approaching her about the idea. At the time, she thought it “was kind of random” and that “it was going to be like three or four tomato plants. But then it turned into 40.” “It was kind a spur-of-the- moment thing,” Tim Akins said. He said he built her a 100-foot- by-15-foot raised garden bed “with some pretty dirt,” at their home in North Gwinnett, at the Hall County line near Friendship Road. “And she went out there and got to working,” Tim Akins said. “I did the dirt work. She did about everything after that. ” Plump, bright red tomatoes are on display in her booth, but when asked about her own tastes, Ahrhyan said she eats, “fried green tomatoes — that’s about it. ” Through her efforts this sum mer, she hopes to raise $2,000. “It looks like a reasonable objective for her,” Tim Akins said. She has splurged on a few things, including a bicycle, but otherwise, she is saving up for a car. And she doesn’t plan to quit the tomato business after this sum mer ends. “We’re planning on doing 60 (plants) next year,” Ahrhyan said. Above: Ahrhyan Akins, 13, unloads tomatoes to sell in downtown Flowery Branch Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Flowery Branch farmers market. Below: Ahrhyan unloads tomatoes while father Tim helps Lamar Presley, right, set up his booth. Lula man dies in crash A Lula man died in a single-car wreck on Browns Bridge Road Friday morning less than a mile from Little Mill Road. The Georgia State Patrol said in a statement that Jordan William Jenkins, 24, of Lula was driving a 2001 Honda CR-V down Browns Bridge Road when the car veered onto the shoulder of the road. The vehicle hit a culvert, which then sent the car into the air before colliding with a utility pole. Jenkins was dead at the scene when first responders arrived at approximately 6:30 a.m. Jenkins was the only person in the car, and no one else was injured. Georgia State Patrol Post Commander Cur tis Bradshaw said that Jenkins was wearing his seatbelt, and they do not believe drugs or alco hol were a factor. Sabrina Kerns, Forsyth County News Health officials offer vaccines for students BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com District 2 of the Georgia Department of Pub lic Health is offering parents of children enter ing kindergarten, middle school and high school opportunities to ensure their children are up to date on their vaccinations. In addition to Hall County, District 2 covers Banks, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns and Union counties. From Aug. 31 to Oct. 2, District 2 of the DPH will be designating certain clinic hours at area public health clinics to provide vaccines for school-age children. Each county in District 2 will have one week to bring their child into a clinic for vaccination. All vaccines will be administered by appointment only. Masks will be required and social distancing observed inside DPH clinics. Hall County’s DPH clinic is located at 1290 Athens St. in Gainesville. Below is the county-by-county schedule dur ing which residents may bring their children in for immunizations: ■ Aug. 31 - Sept. 4; Dawson, Forsyth, Frank lin and Lumpkin Counties ■ Dawson: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ■ Forsyth: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ■ Franklin: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ■ Lumpkin: Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 8-11; Forsyth, Hart, Stephens and Union Counties ■ Forsyth: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ■ Hart: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ■ Stephens: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: ■ Please see VACCINES, 3B Flowery Branch OKs new water, sewer rates Higher water and sewer rates were approved Thursday, Aug. 20, by Flowery Branch City Council, but low water users could see smaller bills. Overall, rates are being increased 5% for water and 7 % for sewer, “but with the new rate structure lowering the cost to the low-usage cus tomers and reallocating the costs to the appro priate levels of service used,” according to a city document. “The new rate structure was created because of the COVID-19 impact on low-volume custom ers,” city Finance Director Alisha Gamble said Friday, Aug. 21. The new rates are effective immediately and will be part of September bills. Flowery Branch has raised rates the past three years to help pay for water and sewer improvements being made to stay up with growth. The city is planning sewer and water projects totaling $28 million, including $23 mil lion for an expansion of the city’s water recla mation plant. Jeff Gill
