LUMPKIN COUNTY Board of Commissioners Special Called Work Session Agenda Executive Conference Room 99 Courthouse Hill Dahlonega, GA 30533 June 25, 2024 9:00 AM  OUNTI  83  CALL TO ORDER DISCUSS 2025 BUDGET 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM-DFACS 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM - Sheriff's Office 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM - Clerk of Court  1:30 PMI BOC Budget, Recycling, & 2026 SPLOST  ADJOURNMENT    LUMPKIN COUNTY Board of Commissioners Special Called Work Session Minutes Executive Conference Room 99 Courthouse Hill Dahlonega, GA 30533 June 25, 2024 9:00AM  CALLTOORDER  The meeting was called to order at 9:00 am. Present were Chairman Chris Dockery and Commissioners Tucker Greene,  Bobby Mayfield, Rhett Stringer, and. JeffI Moran. DISCUSS! 2025 BUDGET 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM-I DFACS  Lumpkin County DFACSI Director. April Arnold began with al PowerPoint presentation. They currently have two vacant positions int their office. There were: 27 intakes ofi foster kids last year and 26 exits. Commissioner Stringer asked what the majority oft the intakes were and shei responded the majority were due to aj poverty issue. They currently have 44 in foster care inl Lumpkin County. The Commissioners asked who makes the reports of abuse. Anyone can put a report in, replied Ms. Arnold, iti is either an immediate response, a 24-hour response time, or a 5-day response time. Their lowi intake months are in. July and December. Most of their reimbursements are in diapers and travel because oft the cost ofg gas. The Baptist Church ini town) has been helping with the need for diapers for the past few months. Their current allocated budget is $17,500 fort the year and they have spent 40% ofitt to date. They are requesting an additional $20,500. They need more quality foster homes ini the county because they dor notl have enough. Ms. Arnold explained the additional funding would Chairman Dockery asked how Lumpkin County's caseload compares to thes surrounding areas. Ms. Arnold: responded Dawson County'sa appropriation is higher and White County has al higher intake than Lumpkin County. Chairman Dockery asked about the office hours. She stated the office hours are Monday Thursday 9 am 4j pm and closed for lunch: from noon to 1 pm. The Chairman asked ift the staff received as state COLA this year and she confirmed. Chairman Dockery askedi ift there was any equipment that was needed and she confirmed they needed ai few monitors and chairs to replace what were broken. Chairman Dockery said there was a line item for $15,000 that says iti is for county incidentals. What are county incidentals? She said that is for diapers, tutoring, and some clothing. Chairman Dockery said there isa clothing linei item, sO) why is there as second clothing request? She responded it can be used for clothing buti iti includes anything that a child would needi in addition to clothing. Ms. Arnold said that any items that are donated can be given to anyone ini need, notj just the foster homes. How does your caseload compare to the past 3 years, asked Chairman Dockery? She responded they had fewer cases coming in during COVID andi now iti is staying about the same. Commissioner Greene suggested she reach outt to Tim Towe at] Park &1 Rec about scholarship opportunities.  go towards sports, clothing, foster parent retention, and a one-time supplement for thes staff.  Commissioner Stringer suggested asking her to prioritize a list of their needs.  9:30 AM to 10:30 AM - Sheriff's Office  Sheriff. Jarrard began by saying the call volume has increased and the deputies do not get tot take off as much as they need tol because therel has to be coverage. The workload is greater here than in areas south of us, so they are going down there to work. He: said he is only asking for the frozen positions to be open. There would be a total of 9 positions unfrozen, 2 Chairman Dockery asked ift they prioritize their requests, what is the mosti important to have? Sheriff. Jarrard responded first would be uniform patrol andi ity would be ai fine line between transport and CID. Major Cochran said Blue Raven is being paid to assist in transports. They would prefer not tol have toj pay Blue Raven andj just be able tot transport themselves. The commissioners asked ift they transported only in the state and locally. No, we transport all over the U.S. responded Sheriff. Jarrard. Major Cochran explained if someonel has a warrant in another state, whether it be in New York  assisting criminal investigations, 61 in uniform patrol, and 1i in transport.  Special Called Work Session June 25, 2024    or Georgia, they have tot transport them there. There are times when transport comes in from delivering one and leaves straight out again to deliver another one without a day off. Sheriff. Jarrard said the exit reviews say thej problems are duet to thej policies that he isn'tg going to change and some ofi it is they can't take offi for vacations. Sheriff. Jarrard said the need isi in UPD: sot they can taket time off. There is an increase in 911 calls due to the City of] Dahlonega establishing its own police department. Commissioner Mayfield agreed they have the immediate need but they alsol have al long-term need that willl be coming due to the growth at the end of400. Sheriff. Jarrard said according to thel E911 Director, 30% of calls have been increased due tot the city police department. Sheriff. Jarrard has requested new positions be supplied by the city for the 911 center due to thei increase int the call volume. Major Cochran commented the city has agreed to calll Blue Raven to stay with any inmate they take in, but thej problem is, when they calll Bluel Raven, they do not have anyone to watch thei inmate so then  iti falls back to them toj provide someone to stay. 1:001 PM to 1:301 PM- - Clerk of Court because they are in dire need.  Chairman Dockery reviewed thel Board of Equalization changes and requests first. Then they reviewed the requests from the Clerk of Court. Ms. Harkins isi requesting two additional positions. She asked they consider at least one position  1:301 PM: BOC Budget, Recycling, & 2026 SPLOST  Recycling - Ashley Peck, Director of Operations, showed thel BOC1 the proposed engineered design for the recycling center. Commissioner Mayfield asked ift there would be a dumpster for household trash prior to the recycling part. Yes, they will have one there sot the citizens dor not have to go through the recycling. Ms. Peck said there willl be a shop/shed out there for 2 part-time people to. be at. Thel Department of] Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division (EPD) willl havet to approve thej plan because it goes fromj property line toj property line, notj just because oft the cap. Ms. Peck 2026 SPLOST-Ms. Branan discussed the approved project lists. There are items on thel list that will need to be bonded, so they can be completed as soon as possible. Three items werei removed. The generators at the fire stations are being funded another way and thes scoreboards and bleachers are not needed at this time. They willl be funded from another source when it is determined they are needed. Chairman Dockery said we: need to acquire land for ai fire station but ifyou have stations built and no one1 to1 man them, then what's the point? Commissioner Stringer asked ifthe Board could agree onj purchasing the property and then back into thet time it takes tol build it with the amount ofs staffing needed. Chairman Dockery asked ifit wouldi make sense to go ahead and order thel ladder truck because it has a 2-year lead time. Ms. Branan confirmed and staff could come to thel Boardi in. July with a work plan for funding ofa quick-response vehicle, ladder, and engine. Ms. Branan said Trey Monroe at Stifel gaves some information on the bonds and the interest. The Commissioners asked what happens ifthey doi notl have the land to build thes station they! have bonded for. She explained thei money wouldj just be given back tot thel bond. Chairman Dockery asked without land and a concept plan how do you determine the cost? He asked ift there was anything set aside for firei in the 2020 SPLOST. No, there was nothing set aside in 2020 only the 2026 SPLOST. The question to thel boardi is, do youi include thei fire station in the bond numbers or wait? The consensus oft the BOCis to get a clear path forward and then bond the fire station ati that time, everything else will Mr. Zeimer briefly reviewed HR 1022 which willl be on the ballot in November. He explained the way iti is worded; it will probably pass. Ifit passes inl November, it willj put] HB: 581 into effect. There are a couple of good things that willl happen like removing aj portion oft thel language on thel bottom oft the assessments. The estimated tax bill portion on the assessment willl be removed andi replaced witht the estimated rollback rate. Mr. Ours asked how they are supposed to know what the rollback rate isi ifthat! has not been determined yet. Mr. Ziemer responded they would have to work with the' Tax Commissioner's Office and come up with an amount that hopefully is pretty accurate. Mr. Ours asked how they would find out what thei inflation growth is. Mr. Ziemer said the state would decide on a standardized method to determine thei inflationary growth. They willl have to go back tot two values onl homestead-only properties. Chairman Dockery advised stafft to check with the counties that have this already inj place because this is not a new method. Hes said Chairman! Dockery began with the discussion from Thursday whent they met with the library. The concern hel had was providing the staffa COLA and paying thes state benefit plan increase. The commissioners discussed the budget deficit andi its cause.. Ms. Branan read aloud the justification theyl had given were for additional costs in utilities, goods, and services. Shes said thes state health benefit plan was already included in the amount that was recommended by thel budget committee. The Commissioner's consensus on a priority list was first thes staff COLA, second the budget deficit, third  saidi it will be 4-6 weeks for the cost estimates.  stayi in thel bonded projects.  to ask howi it changed things and what effect it had on them when it went intoj place.  increased hours, and fourth library materials. Special Called Work Session June 25, 2024 2    Chairman Dockery reviewed the requests from DFACS. Thej prioritized list created by the group was first foster home recruitment, employee retention, conference andj per diem, equipment, clothing, medical, incidentals, and general assistance. Commissioner Stringer requested budgets for the surrounding counties tol look atl before ther next budget meeting. Ms. Arnold requested a $21,500 increase int thel budget, contingent on the digest, the Board will try toi increase it When asked, the Sheriff prioritized the need for the uniform patrol division first and then he said it was a tie fort the other two. The Commissioners are concerned ift they unfreeze aj position, it can be moved into another department and then they Ms. Branan discussed the FY251 budget talking points shel had emailed earlier. The FY25 budget as presented totals $30.6 million. According to GFOA recommendations, the fund balance should be between $4.61 million and $7.71 million. The Tax Assessor's office iss still working ont the digest. They expect tol havei the digest ready for submission to the Tax  by $10,000.  would need that position filled again. They requested an organizational chart from the Sheriff.  Commissioner between July 9 and. July 12. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 4:25 pm. Julyll,a0sH  CA  Chris Dockery, Chairman Lumpkin County BoarlurCommisioners  Attest:  Melissa Witcher Clerk, Lumpkin County  Adlosllicl  Special Called' Work Session June 25,2024 3