Whitfield County’s proposed 2024 budget contains no property tax increase, according to Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen.
“We are not planning on any property tax millage increase to support this budget,” he said Monday before a public hearing on the budget.
“There’s only one net new county employee,” he said. “That’s in our (building) permits and inspections.”
He said with all of the construction going on in the county the building inspection office needed to add an employee to be able to approve permits more quickly and provide better service to developers and citizens.
“This (position) will be paid for by those permit fees,” he said.
The proposed budget can be viewed on the county website https://www.whitfieldcountyga.com. A copy of the proposed budget is available for viewing at the board’s office on the fifth floor at 211 S. Hamilton St. The proposed budget calls for $60.5 million in general fund spending, up 15.83% from the $55.8 million budgeted for 2023.
The budget includes money for 3-4% merit pay increases.
Public safety — which includes the sheriff’s office, the animal shelter, the coroner, the Emergency Management Agency and emergency medical service spending — is the largest item in the budget, totaling $23.5 million.
Whitfield County Coroner Clyde McDaniel asked why case fees for his office were not raised. He said the county has not increased the fees paid to those who work in the office since 2007, when it was mandated by the state.
“This isn’t just me,” he said. “I’ve got four people who work for me I’ve got to explain this to.”
Jensen said total department requests were $12 million above the budget.
“We had to cut somewhere,” he said. “We didn’t cut you but we didn’t give an increase.”
General government — which includes administration and building and grounds as well as the Board of Elections, the tax commissioner’s office and the tax assessor’s office, among others — totals $11.5 million.
Public works would get $8 million in the proposed budget.
Healthcare is budgeted at $7.7 million.
Health and welfare — which includes funding for the senior center and the health department as well as agencies such as the Family Support Council, the GreenHouse and the Northwest Georgia Family Crisis Center — is $951,334.
Funding for the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library would rise to $625,000 from $600,000.
Library board member Kathryn Sellers said she appreciates the additional money but noted the library had requested an additional $100,000. She said that extra money could be used to open a downstairs technology lab. She said the county helped build the lab about four years ago but the library hasn’t had the operating funds to staff it. She said the lab could be used for adult education and workforce development.
Total revenue is projected at $59 million. Property tax revenue is projected at $20.35 million, down from an estimated $21.568 million budgeted for 2023.
In November, county voters approved two homestead exemptions for senior citizens. One measure grants Whitfield County residents 65 and older and whose total household income does not exceed $40,000 a homestead exemption of $150,000 of the assessed value of their homestead for county taxes. The second measure granted Whitfield County homeowners 70 and older a homestead exemption of $250,000 of the assessed value of their homestead for county taxes regardless of their income. The exemptions will take effect next year.
The commissioners are scheduled to vote on the proposed budget on Thursday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room in the courthouse.