County gets first glance at 2020 budget
BOC review future budget and its changes, to host public hearing on June 4.
Gordon County’s recommended budget for 2020 was released this week, with $57,284,203 estimated to cover county expenditures, transfers and projects.
During the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday evening, Assistant Gordon County Administrator Keith King distributed the suggested budget for the next year, which would go into effect July 1.
The recommended total budget is about $1.14 million more than last year’s revised budget, reflecting a 2.04 percent increase.
The general fund expenditures are expected to be $ 37,046,075, which is a 3.37 percent raise from last year’s fund, and was balanced from a transfer from the solid waste management fund ($100,000), jail maintenance fund ($120,000) and general fund reserves ($5.6 million).
Within the recommended budget, raises, SPLOST projects and special revenue funds are addressed.
The county’s portion of health insurance coverage costs were suggested to increase by 13.61 percent ($828,477), though there will be no change for the employee portion of coverage.
FINANCE,
The fire fund budget will be increased by 2.29 percent and solid waste management fund will receive a budget of $1.5 million, which is a 68.44 percent increase from last year. The 2012 SPLOST fund is budgeted for $8.5 million, which is a decrease from last year, and the 2018 SPLOST fund has increased 44 percent.
Projects taken out of the 2012 SPLOST budget will include courthouse renovations and construction, the health department building, the senior center expansion and construction at Brookshire Park.
As far as 2018 SPLOST, currently considered projects are new patrol cars for the Gordon County Sheriff’s Office, renovation of the administration building and construction of a morgue for the coroner’s office.
The budget is available on the county website for review and budget workshops will be held through June 4. A budget public hearing will be hosted at the commissioner meeting on June 4, and a final budget resolution will be offered for adoption on June 18.
Also at this week’s commissioner meeting, though County Administrator Jim
Ledbetter was absent from the meeting, his report reflected Mount Olive Church Road is remaining closed due to potential hazards, and the 2018 SPLOST project list includes a replacement of the dam.
Geo- hydro engineers have inspected the dam and reported the tree roots in the dam, lack of slope on the banks and possible void in the dam structure provide serious hazards for those traveling on the road. Public works has created a detour while the road is closed, and construction on the dam replacement is estimated to begin in the summer of 2020.
The board approved three rezoning requests, each of which asked to be rezoned from A-1 Agricultural District to other zoning classifications. Brock Baxter was approved to have 3.5 acres on Knight Road, Ranger, to be R- 6 Manufactured Housing in order to subdivide the property for two mobile homes.
Kristina Cunningham was approved to rezone an acre of property in Ranger from A-1 to R-6 for the purpose of adding a mobile home. Stacy Stewart and Jason Stanfield were also allowed to rezone their 3.1 acres in Adairsville to R-1 Low Density Residential to build a smaller house nearby an already existing home.