More projects than money. That was the resounding theme of this year’s state of the county address delivered Thursday by county commissioner Bruce Harkness and county manager Alicia Vaughn. The two presented an overview of the county’s finances, projects, and challenges during the Economic Development Council’s monthly meeting on December 15 at North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville.
Revenue
Last fiscal year, that ended June 30, 2022, the General Fund collected $29,742,531 in revenue. Property taxes made up 55% of that amount or $16,070,849. The county spent the same amount collected. Public Safety made up 45% of those expenses or $13,381,887.
Currently, SPLOST 7 revenues are being collected at a higher rate than last year. SPLOST 7 was originally projected to be collected at approximately $8 million a year. Last fiscal year it collected just shy of $9 million dollars, about an 11.25% increase over projections. That growth continues into the first quarter of FY 2023 at an average rate of 12% more per month compared to the same quarter last year.
Commissioner Harkness explained why the increase in SPLOST, “the reason why it is going up is that the “Marketplace Bill” on sales tax passed by the General Assembly, in other words, if you buy anything online now, it goes by your zip code, and so the county can collect sales tax.”
The county received over $13 million in various grants in FY 2022. For FY 2023, the county has applied for approximately $3 million in grants. Vaughn explained that one reason the county doesn’t receive as many grants is that the county doesn’t have plans in place. In order to receive the grant, the county must already have a plan in place and the county is working on that now.
Capital projects
Harkness and Vaughn addressed current capital projects. The airport has a waiting list with 49 people waiting to rent hangar space. With demand at this level, the county commission has moved forward with Phase 1 of the hangar expansion project that will take its current capacity from 68 fixed base aircraft to 91. Once the airport has over 100 fixed base aircraft, it will become an airport of regional significance. This designation will double the amount of federal grant funding the airport will receive.
The county is still working on replacing the current radio system and is still in negotiations with property owners for two of the nine sites needed to provide 95% coverage throughout the county. The county has hired a Radio Systems Administrator that will provide support for all users with radio maintenance and upgrades and will oversee the maintenance of the whole system. The goal of the county is to become a regional radio system where more users will sign on and reduce the overall cost to all users. Once the project begins, it will take approximately 18 months to implement. The cost will be approximately $10.2 million and ARP (American Rescue Plan) funds will be used to complete the project.
The E-911/Habersham County Emergency Services Headquarters (Central Fire Station) will be a centrally located facility that will house Fire/EMS and E-911. It will be a two-story 25,000 sq. ft. building. The floor plans have been received and filed. However, the project is on hold pending site acquisition. The current cost of the facility is estimated to be $11 million. The current SPLOST budget for this project is $4 million.
The Animal Shelter will be a single-story facility with 15,000 sq. ft. The new facility will house at least 25 dog kennels and 80 cat kennels. It will have a livestock corral and 4 livestock stalls. It will have space for veterinarian use, adoption and bonding area, and administrative offices. It will have a fenced area for animals to exercise. A concept plan for the Animal Shelter / Parks & Rec area has been developed with three layout options on a 57-acre tract of land on Old Athens Hwy. The county has given the go ahead for the preliminary floor plans to be developed for the animal shelter. In this concept, there is currently no funding source for the Parks and Rec portion of the project.
LOST and homestead exemption
During the state of the county address, Harkness and Vaughn identified the challenges that the county faces at this time. The TSPLOST has failed twice in four years. This last TSPLOST would have generated approximately $44 million for the county and the cities for road and bridge projects. The county has an annual budget of $2.6 million for Public Works with a portion of that coming from the state’s LMIG grant. The county does not receive LOST and is only one of eight counties in the state that doesn’t receive those funds. Funding is a problem for all major projects, Harkness and Vaughn said. Costs for those projects are coming in significantly higher due to high inflation and supply chain issues. Vaughn stated that “the county does have a revenue problem. I really don’t know how to say it.” She continued, “The county’s budget is challenging. We don’t have a lot of areas for growth in revenue.”
One thing discussed during the challenge section of the presentation was the tax digest, more specifically the parcel counts. Residential properties make up more than 80% of the tax digest parcel count. Vaughn indicated that homestead exemptions are at least partly to blame for the lack of revenue growth, stating that the county has over $158 million covered under homestead exemptions.
“We have one of the biggest homestead exemptions in this county,” she said. “It (the homestead exemptions) could be crippling for us going forward.”
Jail and landfill
The jail was another challenge discussed. It was pointed out that it is a potential liability to the county. It does not address ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements. There are issues with staff and inmate separation. The jail was originally built to house 160 inmates, but it does not allow the separation of inmates based on severity of charges. The county must house inmates out to other facilities due to the charge severity issue. This is costly to the county. Officials say the county must figure out how to build a new jail, but options are limited.
Another challenge that has been discussed for a while but has gained recent attention is the landfill. In 2012, a landfill survey was completed. That survey stated that the landfill would be full in 2072. However, a 2022 survey revealed that the landfill will be full by 2037, if not sooner. The reason for this is that the construction and demolition cell is full. Construction and demolition debris is now going directly into the cell with household garbage. There is a lack of recycling options and other counties are bringing trash to our facility.
Habersham County is currently looking at installing three new recycling centers in the county with tentative locations in the Amy’s Creek area, West Cornelia, and Toccoa Highway near the Clarkesville Recycling Center. The county will use the designs that Union County is currently using. The county is looking into grant opportunities, but they will require plans and projected costs.
Another challenge that is uncertain is the hospital. Rural hospitals across the state and the country are struggling financially. Added to those difficulties are labor force shortages, the high cost of contract labor, and supplies. Currently, the Hospital Authority, the county, and Northeast Georgia Health Systems are in year three of a 5-year agreement. The hospital is a large economic driver for the county. Vaughn, stated “the economic impact of the hospital in this community is about $117 million a year. They employ over 400 full-time employees. They support another 2,200 jobs in this community. And last year, they provided over $6 million in indigent care.”
Old county courthouse and industrial park
On the Economic Development front, the county seems to be moving forward. They have partnered with the Development Authority to address the Old Courthouse. Proposals for developing the facility are due January 7th and will be graded by a 5-member committee. The goal is to award this project that best fits downtown Clarkesville’s redevelopment goals.
The county is also moving forward with the industrial park as well. The Development Authority has three industrial sites under contract, and they should close in the first quarter of 2023. They have plans in place to grade the next section of the Industrial Park (Phase 1) and have received bids to construct a cul-de-sac road (Phase 2) off of Duncan Bridge Road. They also have plans to upgrade the landscaping at the Industrial Park and update the covenants to the 2022 standards.
Habersham County Highlights by the Numbers:
- Habersham County hired 130 employees bringing the count to 475
- 409,639 calls were made to the E-911 Center
- There are 28,181 registered voters
- The Animal Shelter had 2,209 intakes
- 730 building permits were issued with 199 of them being single family residential
- 8,956 Emergency Services responses
