Rome Reporter

FINANCIAL REPORT

• CASH AND INVESTMENT REPORT:  This report is in your material for your review. The Finance Director Reports: “Overall, it’s about a $3.5M decrease from August, but we have had a few large expenditures. Our property & liability insurance payment to ACCG was $472k, Paving materials were $673k, the loan payment on the jail to Truist was $538k, we purchased a grade-all for $426k and we had a third payroll in this particular month which runs around $765k.” These total to about $2.9M.”
• SALES RATIO APPEAL:  The Georgia Department of Audits has made a determination on the County Appeal of the State’s 2021 Sales Ratio Study. After reviewing the concerns and documentation submitted by Gordon County, the State has agreed to revise the ratio from 33.45% to 36.3%. The State still contends the Board of Assessors undervalued the FMV of property in the County by at least 1.7%. Current assessments and tax bills will not change based on this result.

SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITY

• 1960s Courthouse: Drywall is completed on the first floor and will begin on the second floor next week. Framing is completed on the third floor. Electrical and low voltage will begin on the third floor next week. Piedmont Road will be closed on Wednesday October 19, 2022 in order to install a new water main into the Courthouse.
• Senior Center: We are 90% completed with just a few items remaining, including new storefront doors and an attic access ladder. Expected to be completed in the first half of November.
• Comprehensive Plan Update: Gordon County continues to meet with the internal Steering Committee as well as the large group of stakeholders. The next public Stakeholders meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 20, 2022 from 4pm-6pm. The next internal Steering Committee meeting will be held late October or the first of November. Date TBD. The county website has been updated with all of the information concerning the Comprehensive Plan update as well as the Community Survey.
• Community Survey: The survey was made live on Tuesday, October 17, 2022 and shared via the County website, social media platforms, and emailed to all local media outlets.
• GeoPermitting: Code Enforcement is live and we will begin working on Planning and

  Zoning and Business Licenses on Wednesday, October 19, 2022. Expected completion for all departments is the end of March 2023.

• ContractSafe: The Administration Office Intern, Hannah Jones, has been working every Tuesday and Thursday scanning in our archive of contracts. We will open this program up to the staff in the New Year.
• Leadership 2023: The following members of the County staff will be enrolled into the

  Leadership Calhoun-Gordon County class of 2023:

  • Derron Brown, Building Inspections Office
  • Dylan Nicholas, Sheriff’s Office
  • Shane Hall, Public Works Department
• ELECTIONS: Early voting for the November 8, 2022, General Election began yesterday and continues through Friday, November 4th. Office hours are Monday – Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm. We will have Saturday voting on: Saturday, October 22nd and Saturday, October 29th. All early voting and Saturday voting will be held in the Gordon County Board of Elections Office from 9 am until 5 pm, located at 408 Court Street, Calhoun, GA 30701.
• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Keith and I have been researching whether Impact Fees might be appropriate to recommend to the BOC to address the impact major industrial projects, such as massive warehouses, have on the county infrastructure, transportation and public safety services. We recently spoke with the Jackson County Administrator (Jackson has seen about 50 logistics centers locate there recently) about their experience in establishing impact fees. It took a little less than a year and $100,000 in expert fees to conduct the studies and develop the rules necessary to comply with the statutory requirements to establish the Jackson County Impact fee. As a result, Jackson County now collects a one million dollar impact fee on a one million square foot warehouse with the money earmarked to offset the impacts of the theses types of development.

OTHER ACTIVITY BY ADMINISTRATOR AND/OR ASSISTANT:

• Oct 3, 2022 Live Streamed the Chamber’s Candidates Forum
• Oct 4, 2022 COVID-19 Task Force Meeting
• Oct 4, 2022 Board of Commissioners’ Meeting
• Oct 5, 2022 Met with Mike Reynolds of Hero Agriculture
• Oct 6, 2022 Project Meeting with Admin, Finance, and CM at Risk to discuss Courthouse and Senior Center costs.
• Oct 7, 2022 Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Meeting.
• Oct 9, 2022 Met with Project Superintendent concerning electrical in the courtrooms.
• Oct 9, 2022 Met with furniture vendor for the Courthouse Project.
• Oct 11-14 Georgia City County Managers Association. Classes included:
  • ARPA Lessons From Around the State;
  • HR Fire Drills;
  • What is changing for Managers?;
  • Infrastructure, Planning, and Implementation; and,
  • Assistant Managers Breakout Session.
• Oct 17, 2022 Attended the Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting

Original source can be found here.