At a special called meeting of the county commission on Friday, commissioners approved the millage rates for the county and the board of education. Both rolled back their millage rates for 2023.
The county approved its millage rate at 7.531; last year, it was 8.247. A half a mill goes to the Economic Development Authority, leaving 7.031 for the county.
The commission also approved the board of education’s millage rate. Thursday night, the BOE set its millage rate. However, the county has to approve it as well. The BOE’s millage is 14.622, which is also lower than it was last year.
County administrator Wesley Vickers stated that the reason for the rollback is reassessments in commercial and industrial property.
Commissioners also named Wendell Stone’s replacement on the Board of Elections and Registration. Last week, Stone resigned because he holds a part-time job at South Georgia State College. The board’s by-laws do not allow a member to serve on the board and hold a job from a state agency. The commission unanimously appointed Bobby Tanner to the board. Tanner lives in commission chairman Ted O’Steen’s district, which is the same district in which Stone lives.
The board also approved the following items:
- A box culvert on Alvin Geiger Road to repair damage from Hurricane Idalia. Underground Excavating submitted the low bid of $269,150 for the project. Work should begin later this month and will take about 60 days to complete.The county will pay the bill up front but FEMA will reimburse the county after the work is done.
- An interagency agreement with the South Central Drug Task Force, which includes Irwin and Atkinson counties. The sheriff’s department will assign a deputy to the task force as needed. There is no cost to the county for this partnership.
At the end of the meeting, Larry NeSmith, Patty Morris, Michael Newton, and Judy Worrell spoke to the board regarding the appointment of Tanner to the board of elections as well as other issues related to the January 2021 breach of the Coffee County Elections Office.