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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 15. 2009 — PAGE 3A
BOC to approve tax rates
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Several Madison County
tax-levying boards plan to set
their millage rates this week,
with tax rates remaining
steady despite a slight drop in
property values.
Property tax bills are expect
ed to hit mailboxes sometime
early next month.
The county commission
ers will set their incorporated
and unincorporated millage
rates for 2009 at 6:30 p.m.,
Thursday, Oct. 15, in the
county government complex,
then officially approve all
tax rates for Madison County
Oct. 21 at 6:30 pm. The coun
ty government will bring in
$104,598 less in property tax
revenue, a 1.36 percent reduc
tion, this year compared to
2008.
The county school board
will also see a one-percent
reduction in property tax rev
enue in 2009. (See related
story to the right)
Meanwhile, the county
industrial authority is plan
ning a .013 mill increase,
from .926 to .939 mills. That
will generate roughly the
same tax revenue for the IDA
in 2009 as in 2008, up $3,029,
from $628,226 to $631,255.
The IDA will approve its tax
rate at 6 p.m., Oct. 19, at
the historic Madison County
courthouse in the center of
Danielsville.
Madison County munici
palities are also approving
their tax rates for 2009. Ila
approved its rate Oct. 5, with
the city seeing a $1,349 or
five-percent reduction in
property tax revenues, from
$27,491 to $26,142. Comer
will renew its 4.4 mill tax rate
Oct. 22 at 2 p.m., with the
city taking a $8,980 or eight
percent reduction in property
tax revenues this year.
Colbert will set its tax rate
at 7 p.m., Oct. 19, with the
city taking in $4,727 less in
2009, an 8.9 percent reduc
tion in property tax revenue.
Meanwhile, Carlton will
approve its tax rate at the
city council’s regular meeting
Nov. 3. The town will bring in
$495 less in revenue this year
than in 2008, a 4.3 percent
drop in property tax revenue.
The Danielsville City
Council was scheduled to hold
a budget meeting Wednesday
evening. The council has not
yet determined when it will
set its tax rate. Hull does not
levy property taxes.
It’s official:
MCHS sets new mark for grad rate
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The following news was
met with applause by those
remaining in attendance at
Tuesday’s night’s Madison
County school board meeting:
Madison County High School
has set its best-ever mark for
graduation rate at 70.3 per
cent, according to numbers
officially released.
“The highest we’ve ever
had,” superintendent Mitch
McGhee said.
Schools started officially
keeping track of gradua
tion rates in 2000. Madison
County bottomed out at 49
percent one year, but now has
the rate going in the direction
it wants.
“We’re not satisfied, of
course, but it’s certainly a
step in the right direction,”
McGhee said. “That 70 per
cent mark was a big milestone
we wanted to try to get past.”
The 70.3 mark is above
the national average but still
below the state average of
78.
“That’s our next goal,”
McGhee said. “We’ve made
it to the national average and
now we’re after the state aver
age.”
Absentee ‘spike’
levels off
For the most part, the high
absentee rate in Madison
County Schools last month
due to numerous illnesses has
subsided.
“We had that early spike,
and then we leveled off,”
McGhee said. “And for the
last week, 10 days, attendance
hasn’t been an issue.”
McGhee, however, did note
that Colbert has seen a recent
rash of the flu.
“So we’re watching that,”
he said.
As for enrollment, Madison
County School System has
4,821 students at the 40-day
count. That’s below the sys
tem’s projection of 4,904.
Hull-Sanford and Ila ele-
mentaries are the only cam
puses above projections cur
rently.
“Except for the high school,
most of the other schools will
steadily increase during the
year,” McGhee said.
The BOE also approved a
new class-size waiver policy
to allow it to exceed the state
mandated student-per-teacher
limit. The state has relaxed
those restrictions and allowed
more waivers since it’s had
to cut funding to local sys
tems. That saves systems, like
Madison County, the expense
of having to hire additional
teachers when budgets are
lean.
But since the state’s being
inundated with waiver
requests, it’s now requiring
local systems to ask for all
waivers now, so it won’t have
to go through the process
multiple times.
BOA approves conservation application, consent orders
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County’s new
board of assessors held
an uneventful, 20-minute
meeting Thursday, approv
ing a conservation land
use application, a refund
request and a two consent
orders to resolve appeal
cases that have gone to
Superior Court.
The group approved a
refund request for a woman
who had been incorrectly
taxed for a boat, when she,
in fact, owns two jetskis.
The refund, if approved
by commissioners, will be
$215.
The board approved two
consent order agreements in
appeal cases that have gone
to Superior Court, reduc
ing land values in one case
from $50,000 to $36,000
and $18,826 to $12,000 in
a separate case.
The board approved a new
conservation use applica
tion for a 281-acre parcel,
which includes 20 acres
of timber, last harvested
in 2007, and 260 acres of
open space.
The board also learned
that a Madison County
resident will face a $2,943
penalty for a breach of the
conservation use contract.
The three-member board
was short one member, Janis
Ellis, who had planned a
trip prior to accepting the
board position.
The group’s next meeting
will be at 6 p.m., Nov. 12.
School millage rate
vote slated for tonight
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Madison County school board will meet tonight
(Thursday) with the recommendation to maintain the
same 16.99 millage rate it’s approved the last three
years.
The board of education (BOE) will vote on the millage
rate at 7:30 p.m. at the professional learning center.
The 16.99 mills recommended by Madison County
Schools Superintendent Mitch McGhee will amount to
a one-percent tax decrease, marking the second straight
year school taxes have dropped.
“I know y’all have been committed, and we have been
committed as a staff to not raise taxes during this time
with the economy like it is and the burden on the citizens,”
McGhee said to the BOE.
McGhee also noted that property owners will be hit
with an additional tax this year with the state cutting the
Homeowners Tax Relief Grant.
“That is not related to us,” McGhee said. “That is
because the governor and the state legislature is no longer
giving that tax relief grant.”
By keeping the same millage rate, Madison County
Schools will generate $350,000 less in revenue than
stipulated in the 2009-2010 budget, but McGhee said the
system should be able to cover that shortfall.
“We are being as frugal as we can be on all the budget
items,” McGhee said. “We feel fairly confident that we
will come in under budget in a lot of areas and we will
continue to be able to provide quality education to the
students.”
Madison County’s bond rate will also remain the same
at .826 mills.
The school board must levy that tax to make the annual
bond payment for Danielsville Elementary School. Voters
approved a referendum in 1992 to construct that school.
The system covered that expense in 2007 and 2008 for
taxpayers with funds remaining from the 2003 SPLOST.
Those funds, however, have since expired.
Contested municipal races
ahead in Madison Co.
Contested races for local municipal seats on Nov. 3
include:
•Glenn Cross (incumbent) and Philip Croya for mayor
of Danielsville.
•Billy Burroughs (incumbent) and David McMickle for
mayor of Comer.
•Ellyn Trinrud, Timothy Wyatt and Reginald A. Hunter
for a Colbert City Council post.
•Paul Cook (incumbent) and Paige Phillips for a Hull
City Council post.
Early voting in Hull will be Oct. 20 and Oct. 27 from
6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Hull Civic Club on Old
Elberton Road, while early voting in Colbert will be
through Oct. 30 during normal city hall business hours.
Early voting in Danielsville will be held through Oct. 30
between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. at city hall, while early voting
in Comer began Oct. 12 at city hall during normal busi
ness hours, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
Sanford Men’s Club to sponsor forum
The Sanford Men’s Club is sponsoring a
forum with Madison County commissioner
chairman Anthony Dove on Tuesday, Oct.
20, at 7 p.m. The forum is being held in
order to discuss and answer questions about
issues facing the county and the Sanford
Community, organizers said.
The forum will begin at 7 p.m. in the Sanford
Community Center. Everyone is invited, club
members said.
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MADISON CHAPEL
963 Hwy. 98 East
Danielsville, GA 30630
FUNERAL HOMES
706-795-5116
Lord and Stephens Funeral Home would like to
welcome our newest staff member, Michael
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A note from Michael:
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their support through the years. I will continue serving
families at Lord and Stephens Funeral Home in Danielsville
as well as at their other locations. Any prearranged services
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Please contact me or any of the staff at Lord and Stephens at
(706) 795-5116 with any questions or concerns. ”
~ Michael Tittle
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Athens, GA 30605
(706) 546-1587
FAX (706) 548-7984
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1211 Jimmy Daniel Road
Bogart, GA 30622
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