The Blue Group

Shown above is Carroll County Superior Court Judge John Simpson as he makes his presentation concerning the proposed split of the Coweta Judicial Circuit. Factors to be considered are caseload, population, number of judges, and one time or recurring costs of the change.

Graph left: Shown is one of Judge Simpson’s slides showing caseload distribution with the two circuits divided into the preferred split of the “West Georgia Circuit” and “Coweta Circuit”.

VICECHAIRCHANCE from page 7

Highway 166 and Highway 27. Brooks emphasized that the city does not want to change the agricultural aspect of Carroll County, but the idea is to bring in the type of growth to the city that is high-end residential, retail and restaurants, while at the same time giving the city control over the growth. He stated that the city is seeking partnership with the county, but in any case they will continue with the TAD as planned. He also said the city will use a pay-asyou-go method for funding, and will not use bonds or borrowed money.

Brooks also listed the types of entities that will NOT be supported by the TAD, including adult bookstores and related businesses, anything that is noise or obnoxious odor-causing, excess chemical or explosive materials, improper dumping, gamboling, schools, training facilities, labs, athletic facilities, dorms, etc. He said the emphasis must be on beautification, desirable improvement and use of blighted areas, and high-end development that would make the city a more desirable place to spend time and money. He also stated the growth will be slow and very well-planned, with every participant presenting site plans that have been shown to add significant value to the city. In answer to District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds question, Brooks said there are no county officials on the nine-member redevelopment authority that will be making the final TAD decisions. Brooks stressed that they have the infrastructure to handle this growth, “We feel like we can pick what we want and when.” They have enough fire and police to handle this.

Commissioner Reynolds spoke in support of this proposal, “Generally, I’m in favor of this TAD, unlike the other one [Villa Rica City TAD] we recently considered. . . you are not focusing on rooftops, unlike the other TAD.”

Major Craig Dodson, Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, presented requesting the board consider giving some of the $17,500 opioid settlement money it received to partner with the sheriff’s department and CCMHA, City of Carrollton, and both school systems to get information to the public about the dangers of the drug fentanyl. Vice Chair Chance asked commissioners if this could be put on the Consent Agenda; commissioners agreed. presented a spend sheet of items that the chairman had approved totaling $4,001,812 to be added to the current budget’s total expenses. This action then served to “balance” the current budget by raising expenses to match the unexpected bonus end-of-year revenues. of the needs of certain departments, their particular challenges, and why monies/amounts were requested. It also allows open, public discussion on budget adjustments.

The Inmate Work Detail Agreement with the City of Carrollton was brought before the Commission, but Vice Chair Chance and Reynolds, as well as a general consensus of other commissioners was that perhaps this contract should not be renewed due to the labor pool shortage and the difficulty of getting enough inmate labor in the county itself, especially since other cities in thecounty were also asking for inmate help. District 6 Commissioner Danny Bailey said, “if we offer it to one, we should offer it to all.” Chance stated this will “also not be put on the consent agenda. It is a stand alone item” for a separate vote at the regular meeting.

Public Works Director Danny Yates and Felicia Rowland of E-911 were acknowledged for efforts in purchasing a much-needed truck for Public Works at a $15,000 savings from what the board had approved. Vice Chair Chance expressed appreciation to Yates at saving this taxpayer money.

Vice Chair Chance pulled the following Agenda Items for stand alone votes at the Tuesday, June 6, 2023 regualr meeting: Item 9.1 Budget Resolution; 9.2 Budget Amendment; 9.5 Hearing for Comprehensive Plan; 9.6 Comp Plan presentation; 9.8 Inmate Work Detail; 9.9 Appointment Election Registration Division; and 9.13 Appointment Development Authority.

With no further business to attend, the meeting was adjourned. Also in attendance were District 1 Commissioner Montrell McLendon, District 3 Commissioner Tommy Lee, County Attorney Aubrey Jackson, and County Clerk Lynda Bingham.

This budget “work session” began at 2:00 p.m. and ended at 3:50 p.m., with almost all concerns and questions about the budget asked from district commissioners being responded to by the finance director as the chairman was working mainly on other paperwork/cell phone most of the first hour, and then left the meeting briefly. When Chairman Morgan returned, she introduced State Representative Tyler Paul Smith, who then joined the budget work session. Smith, a trial lawyer, expressed his appreciation to the board and then spoke lengthly on tort reform, his thoughts on why Georgia has higher insurance costs, and referenced Moses’ (of the Bible) soul.

In a later interview with StarNews, District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds said, “Independent from district commissioners’ input, the BOC chairman compiled ways to spend all of this $4 million of additional revenue and plopped this on district commissioners’ desks at a recent meeting.

District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds said, “Independent from district commissioners’ input, the BOC chairman compiled ways to spend all of this $4 million of additional revenue and plopped this on district commissioners’ desks. .

. “Neither in this case, nor in the case of the upcoming 2024 fiscal year budget, did the chairman have any county department heads present at the meetings for us district commissioners to ask budget-related questions.

Over the decades that StarNews has attended commission budget work sessions, it has been the general rule of thumb that some county department heads attend - two or three at a time at each work session, not all department heads at each session - so that district commissioners’ questions/ concerns can be responded to directly from the person responsible for generating that particular department’s budget. This process has allowed for a better understanding

“Neither in this case, nor in the case of the upcoming 2024 fiscal year budget, did the chairman have any county department heads present at the meetings for us district commissioners to ask budget-related questions.

“Beyond such necessary county employee wage increases, however, we should budget frugally and conservatively. Our job is not to ensure that all taxpayer funds collected are spent. However, it seems our chairman has adopted a more spendthrift mindset in this economy, commenting that ‘the money is in the budget,’ so spending it should not be a problem,” the commissioner said. In fact, during the May 10th session, at one point Reynolds remarked, “I feel somewhat lost.”

During the May 10th budget “work session”, the chairman did not respond or engage with the board until almost the second hour (2:54 p.m.) when a concern was raised about moving costs for the administrative building staff/ contents during the construction of the new ad-min building. District 3 Commissioner Tommy Lee was unsatisified with the rounded figure of about “$500,000” that was given. A long time and seasoned commissioner, Lee pressed for some details on what that amount represented and what funds would be dipped into to pay for the move which would require moving out of the old ad-min building, moving into a temporary place, and then moving into the new ad-min building. Lee was concerned the moving costs had not been calculated, nor what account it would be deducted from. Lee said he was concerned they were “stealing from the ad-min building” funds. His questions remained hanging.

Commissioner Reynolds said, “Beyond such necessary county employee wage increases, however, we should budget frugally and conservatively. Our job is not to ensure that all taxpayer funds collected are spent. However, it seems our chairman has adopted a more spendthrift mindset in this economy, commenting that ‘the money is in the budget,’ so spending it should not be a problem.”

In the later interview, Commissioner Reynolds wanted to clarify his support for spending taxpayers dollars where it needed to be spent, that is to help ensure competitive wages for county employees and retaining good employees. He remarked, “The BOC chairman’s proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget contains a roughly $6 million increase from the prior year. Of this $6 million increase, I am definitely in support of $4 million, which is targeted to increase our county employees’ wages. We need to ensure that county employees’ wages keep pace with market increases, so that we retain our county work force. We cannot afford to lose sheriff deputies, public safety personnel, etc. to other jurisdictions, so targeting funds for such routine pay increases is necessary.”

Reynolds also said, “The chairman’s proposal was all about ways to spend all of these

$4 million of additional 2023 fiscal year revenues - without any proposal to, instead, not spend these funds or to credit any funds back to taxpayers or to pay off any county debt or take any such frugal actions. Thankfully, my fellow district commissioners readily expressed possibilities of taking more frugal actions.”

During the May 10th session, a question was asked about the monies for the unfilled county jobs: Was the funding in the new budget to cover those open positions as employees may be hired during the coming year? In reponse to a recent Open Records request, StarNews learned that as of May 5, 2023, there were 58 full time vacancies in the county government. The finance director answered the commissioner’s question that “All positions are in the new budget except for two in 911.”

This public meeting was recorded and is available for viewing on youtube.com “Carroll County Board of Commissioners Budget Workshop May 10, 2023”. Unfortunately, the sound is distorted and conversation is difficult to understand.

Present for this public open work session were: Chairman Michelle, Morgan; District 1 Commissioner Montrell McLendon; District 2 Commissioner Clint Chance; District 3 Commissioner Tommy Lee; District 4 Commissioner Steve Fuller; District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds; District 6 Commissioner Danny Bailey; County Attorney Stacey Blackmon; Finance Director Alecia Searcy; and one baliff.