The members of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners are expected to vote on Monday on whether to approve the transfer of $2.5 million from the fund balance of the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority to the county government.
The commissioners will meet Monday at 6 p.m. in the meeting room of the county courthouse. The meeting will be livestreamed on the county’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
Authority board members voted in December to transfer $5 million to the county and to the city of Dalton because they believe the authority has a sufficient fund balance. The authority is owned by the city and the county.
“We exceeded our goal of 29 miles of road resurfacing for 2023,” said Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen. “Some of these funds will go toward fully staffing public works and to push us above 30 miles a year. Also, the transfer will help with the voter-approved new senior exemption for county property taxes. It will ease that reduced revenue burden so we can continue to roll back the millage rate for families. We expect with new homes and apartments being added to digest soon, we won’t need a transfer payment in 2025.”
The commissioners are also expected to vote on whether to:
• Accept a $30,000 digital equity grant from ConnectHumanity to complete a community connectivity plan. The purpose of the connectivity plan is to create a blueprint for providing high-speed and affordable internet for county residents. This is a federal grant passed through the Appalachian Regional Commission to ConnectHumanity. The grant requires a $20,000 in-kind match. Dalton Utilities has offered its help with this grant. Its staff time, along with county staff time, would cover the match requirement.
• Apply for a 2024 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for sidewalk and pedestrian safety projects near county schools. This grant requires no local match.
• Extend to March 31 the time for the Boy Scouts of America to draw down a $75,000 grant from the county’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds. The scouts are using the money to fund a full-time district executive in Whitfield County.
• Set qualifying fees for county offices that will be up for election in November.
Those fees would be:
— Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, $306.
— Commissioners, $270.
— Sheriff, $2,891.46.
— Tax commissioner, $2,591.46.
— Clerk of Superior Court, $2,591.46.
— Probate judge, $2,591.46.
— Chief Magistrate judge, $2,643.29.
— Magistrate judges, $1,686.60.
— Coroner, $450.
— Board of Education, $18.