MoCo Commissioners Deny Tax Commissioner’s Request
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During their meeting on Monday, July 14, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners denied Tax Commissioner Renee Wooten-Perry’s request not to require mobile home permits within the County anymore, as they shared concerns of the impact of this change on property taxes.
Wooten-Perry’s request comes after the state legislature passed a bill that allows tax commissioners to choose whether they continue to issue these permits and decals. She did not share details behind her reasoning for the proposal to eliminate the process.
Commissioner Amie Vassey spoke about her worries with the change. “I’m not opposed to not having mobile home decals, but I do have some concerns there,” she told her fellow commissioners. “Obviously, the purpose [of this decal process] is to ensure that property taxes are being paid on mobile homes. We know that properties that have a mobile home on them are not taxed in the same way or at the same value that a stickbuilt home is. My concern is that there may be unintended consequences [to eliminating these permits] and we may shift the financial burden even more so to our stick-built homeowners. I want to better understand how getting rid of these will not impact the ability to track and make sure that mobile homeowners are paying their taxes.”
County Manager Heather Scott shared that the tax commissioner did not detail any plans for ensuring that this tracking occurs or for making sure that mobile homeowners pay their taxes. Vassey replied, asking if the commissioners should wait for Wooten-Perry to address these questions before the commissioners voted.
“We’ve had our discussions on Thursday [(July 10)] and I think all of us are leaning towards not approving this,” Commissioner Leland Adams remarked. “The state changed the law and they just want to not have to issue the permits.” He continued, as he told Vassey that the lack of guarantee of ability to track taxes had been several of the commissioners’ primary concern.
Adams added, “I think there are mobile homes out there that aren’t being taxed now, and I don’t think this will help that. I think this will create more opportunities for that.”
Commissioner Pedro Sharpe reiterated several of these concerns and stated that he feared that if the County eliminated these permits, individuals would move from other counties and reside in Montgomery County without paying property taxes.
Vassey told the commissioners that she felt like if the law had passed through the State Legislature, there could be information about tracking these properties that the commissioners did not know. She said that she would support tabling the issue.
Adams motioned for a vote, seconded by Commission Vice Chairman Clarence Thomas, and the request to not require mobile home permits was unanimously denied.
Other Action Items
The Commissioners agreed to accept the recommendation from Hofstadler and Associates to utilize Sikes Brothers, Inc., for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project of paving Hardeman Road and Bowtie Circle. Both Sikes Brothers, Inc., and McLendon Enterprises submitted bids for the project, but it was Sikes Brothers, Inc., that had the lowest bid, which came in at $489,621.75 total. This project will be funded through grant money.
Commissioners also authorized a change to the Heart of Georgia Language Access Plan, which helps the county to secure grants through the Department of Community Affairs. County Manager Scott explained that this plan is required by the Department, which requested that the wordage in the plan be changed to their liking. This change does not affect the County financially.
The Commissioners agreed to throw out previous bids for the purchase of a skid steer for the County Road Department, and to submit a new request for proposals with more information regarding what the County was looking for, as they have discovered more specifications needed for the equipment. Development Authority Introduction New Montgomery County Development Authority Executive Director Michael Stanley attended the meeting on July 14, and introduced himself to the Commissioners, while also sharing his plans for the future.
“I have my own plans for the county, but whether it be individually or in a group setting, I would love to hear what each of your ideas and things that you would like to see in Montgomery County would be,” he told the commissioners. “I have a lot of ambition for what Montgomery County can be. Personally, I have my family here and plan on raising my kids here. It is only a win for me to see Montgomery County do well.”
Stanley continued, “I don’t think we are going to be a Vidalia anytime soon. I have heard a lot of people say, ‘Well, we don’t want to be a Vidalia.’ I don’t think that’s what anyone wants. What I do want is for every time there’s an issue, for us to not have to feel the impact personally as taxpayers. I want to take the burden off of you all having to manage finances down to the penny.”
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity there that we can grow as a county and still maintain the heritage that we have here – that’s a big part of my goals and mission,” he concluded.
Commission Chairwoman Ginger Morris responded to Stanley’s comments, saying, “We’re excited about your vision and the work you’re going to do. Welcome aboard.” County Manager Report
During her report, County Manager Scott explained that she has received numerous complaints regarding transportation conditions within the county. “We have numerous complaints about fields, flooding roads, pipes, and things like that,” she explained. “I am actually talking to other counties to see how they are handling that.”
Scott shared that there is nothing she can do to force private landowners to address issues in their own property that complicate issues with the roads but is exploring options that the county may do to mitigate the issues, such as clearing pipes and other roadwork.
She told commissioners that she recently attended a webinar on the new Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) 1% sales tax which counties can implement to help offset property taxes. This new tax comes from the passage of House Bill 581, which creates the tax and designates guidelines to set it apart from other sales taxes. Scott shared that she had gathered several sample resolutions enacting the tax in other counties and a recording of the webinar and planned to send it to the commissioners in hopes of discussing potentially implementing the legislation within the county.
Scott also informed the commissioners that county departments were currently working on budgets to prepare for the presentation of the annual budget approval.
EMA Report
Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency Director Tristan Willis provided information to the commissioners regarding the recent train derailment, which occurred along Old Water Tank and Hilton Memory Roads at around 5:30 p.m. on July 6.
Willis said that during the derailment, five train cars came off of the tracks, as four minimally shifted from the tracks and one car being fully derailed. He told the commissioners that the railroad company is working to repair damage to the intersection of the railroad and the roads at the site of the derailment, but residents of the roads are safe to travel the area.
He also shared that the railroad company had offered training with the local fire departments to help prepare emergency responders on how to work on the train and turn off any necessary controls in the event of a crash or derailment in the future.
In addition to this, Willis informed the commissioners that railroad leadership within the state were pushing to bring an unmanned electric railcar to Montgomery County for testing, as the county had been named a test site for the vehicle several years ago. Recreation Department
Though Montgomery County Recreation Director Kendall Bennamon was unable to attend the meeting, he sent a report to be shared with commissioners.
Bennamon said that he had been busy maintaining fields at J.M. Fountain Park, as excessive rainfall had required him to cut the grass much more often than usual. He currently cuts the grass two days a week each week.
Fall sports registration begins on Friday, August 1.
New soccer goals must be purchased because of damage from Hurricane Helene. The loss has been reported to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in hopes of reimbursement.
Bennamon ended his report thanking commissioners for their support, as he said that they have helped enable him to continue to elevate and improve the county’s recreation department.
Next Meeting
The next work session of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners will be Thursday, August 7, and the next meeting will be Monday, August 11. Both the work session and meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at the Montgomery County Government Annex, located at 251 S. Richardson Street in Mount Vernon.
