Floyd County Commission budget workshop set for Monday

Floyd County Commissioners will be meeting in the caucus room of the County Administration Building Monday to discuss the 2022 budget.

County Manager Jamie Mccord said they’re still working on a list of capital projects, purchases over $10,000, that they want to do next year, along with the noncapital list of equipment and supplies that will cost under $10,000.

Commissioners had a general review of the operating budget and general fund at their pre-meeting caucus Tuesday night.

“We’re wanting to put a lot of focus not only on revenue but also salary for 2022,” Mccord said during the meeting.

County officials are planning a base pay increase for all employees, averaging $2,500. This would also be added to the starting pay for new employees.

Some employees would get a different pay increase, depending on how recent their last raise was. This category includes law enforcement officers, who had a major pay plan increase last year.

Mccord said the new pay plan proposed would be covered by the recent increases in the tax digest as well as sales tax revenue.

The tax digest is the total value of all taxable property according to the Georgia Tax Assessor.

According to Finance Director Susie Gass, the county is expecting a $2.4 million increase in property tax revenue. This is based on a 97% collection rate and a 10% increase in the tax digest.

Commission Chair Wright Bagby said he’d be interested to see if the uptick in sales tax revenue is related to the marketplace facilitator bill that was passed in Georgia in early 2020. The bill imposes state sales tax on the online purchases facilitated through big marketers such as Amazon and Etsy.

The budget workshop will take place in the caucus room of the Floyd County Administration Building at 12 E. Fourth Ave. and go from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The session is public.