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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016
Chillin' in the downtown
Sitting with their car
Gerald Willoughby of Commerce checks his email as he sits behind his Mary Seabolt and Fred Haas sit behind their 1964 Ford Thunderbird during
1967 Camaro parked along South Broad Street during Cruisin’ Commerce the Cruisin’ Commerce event Saturday evening in downtown Commerce
Saturday.
Cruisin' Commerce brings classic vehicles
Retro Rock-its on stage
The Retro Rock-its provided music from a stage in Spencer Park during the were on display in the downtown, attracting hundreds of classic vehicle
2016 fall Cruisin’ Commerce event Saturday night. Scores of classic vehicles enthusiasts.
Jackson County BOC considering
slight drop in property tax rates
Interviews for
Commerce police
chief to begin soon
Tax rates for the Jackson
County government could
dip slightly this year.
Tom Crow, chairman of
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners asked coun
ty manager Kevin Poe Mon
day night to reconfigure the
county’s proposed budget so
that the board would have an
option to cut its tax rates by
1 / 10th of a mill.
The BOC had earlier
looked at keeping the rates
the same as last year — 9.7
mills in unincorporated
areas and 11.210 in incorpo
rated areas.
But the county’s tax digest
went up about six percent
this year, meaning that some
property owners will see a
tax increase despite the mill-
age rates staying the same.
The BOC plans to have a
final public hearing on the
budget and tax rates at noon
on Oct. 12 in the auditorium
of the county administrative
building and then set the tax
rates at 6 p.m. during the
board’s regular meeting at
the courthouse.
Two people spoke during
Monday night’s public hear
ing about the county’s tax
rate. William Carlyle of Pen
dergrass told the BOC that
senior citizens should have
their school taxes lowered.
He said some seniors were
going to retirement com
munities in other counties
because tax rates were lower
for seniors there.
“Give us a break,” he said.
Crow said that for the
county to lower senior tax
rates, the county would need
a lot more commercial and
businesses in its tax digest.
“We’re too heavy with res
idential,” he said.
Crow said that as the coun
ty’s economic condition
improves, the board would
take another look at lower
ing senior tax rates. Those
rates are typically lowered
by increasing exemptions for
senior citizens.
Medical Unit
Supervisors
A move by commission
er Chas Hardy to give EMS
supervisors more time
off ambulance calls to do
administrative duties failed
for the lack of a second
Monday night.
Hardy said giving EMS
supervisors more time to
take care of administrative
tasks would provide “better
service for our community.”
After a lengthy verbal
dance on the issue, Poe said
that there are “some com
pelling reasons to expand
(time off ambulances) from
where we are now.”
Of three options consid
ered last year, Poe recom
mended giving EMS super
visors the first 12 hours of
each shift off for administra
tive duties. Currently, super
visors have the first 12 hours
for administrative duties
only on Mondays, Wednes
days and Fridays. The cost
of expanding that to seven
days would be around
$37,000 per year.
Hardy made a motion to
put that plan on the board’s
next meeting agenda for
a vote, but no other com
missioner seconded his
motion.
Interviews should begin soon the process of hir
ing a new Commerce police chief.
City manager James Wascher told the city council
Monday night that he’d received 45 applicants for
the position vacated by Brandon Sellers’ resignation
on Sept. 9 and had selected 10 applicants to be
interviewed.
“I will do some preliminary interviews and nar
row that to five applicants,’’Wascher said. Those five
will be interviewed by a panel comprising Wascher;
human resources director Tracey Williams; Michael
Williams, executive director of the Boys and Girls
Club of Jackson County; and John Adams, a retired
Georgia State Trooper.
That group will narrow the field to a pair of final
ists. Wascher said he hopes to bring in the finalists
for a “meet-and-greet” with the city council prior to
making the final decision.
He declined to predict when the new police chief
would be hired.
“The drawback (to a panel interview) is that it is
hard to get their schedules and the interviewees’
schedules together,” he said. “It can be a chal
lenge.”
Nicholson council sets
meeting to discuss budget
BY CHARLES PHELPS
The first budget meeting
for the city of Nicholson is set
for Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:30
p.m., before the city coun
cil’s work session, Mayor
Jan Webster announced at
Monday night’s city council
meeting.
The second meeting is
scheduled for Monday, Nov.
7 at 6:30 p.m.
Old Business
The council unanimous
ly approved the city’s new
cemetery policy at Mon
day night’s meeting.
The policy details the
maintenance of the cem
etery, what type of grave
stones, access, hours of
operation, the way the city
utilizes and sells lots and
more.
An issue that sparked
comments among the
council at the Aug. 25
work session meeting was
the proposal of burials on
Sundays and what to do if
someone needs a funeral
plot on the weekends.
Webster addressed
those concerns at Monday
night’s meeting.
The city will have a list
of telephone numbers
that people can call in the
case that someone needs
a funeral plot that includes
Webster as a person of
contact.
The deadline for
submitting news or
photographs to this newspaper is noon
on the Monday prior to publication.
J*E
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