The Morgan County Board of Commissioners has set the FY24 millage rate at 9.686 mills, a full rollback from last year’s rate of 9.99 mills.
The BOC voted 3-1 to approve the millage rate at its Aug. 6 meeting.
District 2 commissioner Blake McCormack cast the dissenting vote.
McCormack had asked the rest of the commissioners to consider lowering the millage rate even further, since property values are still increasing.
“People wanting to age in place who have moved here want to be able to afford to live here,” he said. “How do we, as a board, ensure that we’re not taxing people out of here by not reducing this millage and looking for other ways to increase revenues?”
The BOC discussed reducing the rate, with proposals from McCormack and District 3 commissioner Ben Riden. McCormack suggested reducing the rate to 8.686 mills, which would cut the county’s tax revenue by $1 million.
Riden suggested reducing the rate to 9.5 mills.
County finance director Lori Sayer said Riden’s proposal wouldn’t make much of a difference for property taxes. Based on the 9.686 rate, a property valued at $100,000 would obligate its owner to a tax of approximately $368. Based on that figure, Sayer said, reducing the rate to 9.5 mills would save an owner only about $7.
She also cautioned the BOC against making major millage rate reductions, like McCormack’s proposal, until the next budget season. She said the BOC should have discussed any reductions earlier in the budget process before funds were committed to the FY25 budget.
“I’m not opposed to decreasing the millage rate in the future,” Sayer said in a follow-up. “Our approved budget was based on an estimate of the rollback millage rate, so those funds have already been committed for FY25. The decision to decrease the millage rate more than the rollback rate takes some preplanning._Our budget process usually begins in February. By March, we have a good idea of what property values will be, and most revenue projections have been completed by then. Discussing a change in millage rate at this point will not allow enough time for planning the upcoming fiscal year budget.”
FUEL STATION DENIED
Also, at the meeting, the BOC unanimously denied a variance to setback requirements for a fuel station proposed for 2.01 acres on Fairplay Road.
Karim Ali, applicant with Sean Fairplay Properties, LLC, proposed a convenience store and fuel station with four pumps for a property at the corner of Prospect Road and Fairplay Road.
The site is catty-corner to Fairplay Grocery, another convenience store owned by the applicant.
Ali sought the variance to eliminate the 300-foot setback required for fuel stations and replace it with a 50-foot commercial setback. The property, zoned C1, is only 245 feet wide and abuts AR zoning on all sides. Ali expressed the need for gas in the area and noted that Fairplay Grocery’s fuel pumps are not functional because they are too small and require refilling too frequently.
Multiple residents opposed the proposed station, citing noise, light, and traffic pollution concerns.
“I’m opposed to this variance mainly because I have come from two communities where variances such as this have been passed,” resident Randy Minor said. “What happens is it sets a precedent, and they’re allowed to do it. Then you get a lot of people that move there because progress is progress, and then you go to widen the road, and you can’t, and so traffic is a complete nightmare.”
“The second reason I’m opposed is because of the light and noise and traffic pollution that would be a direct result of having a gas station or convenience store,” she added. “I understand that the variance is based on the gas tanks, but it would dramatically, drastically, and detrimentally change that piece of property and basically the Fairplay community.”
Resident Chas Moore expressed concerns about the proposed gas station's ownership and maintenance after seeing problems with Fairplay Grocery.
“[The proposed gas station] would be maintained in accordance with how they are currently maintaining the current property, to include dust on the product, dirty bathrooms, restrooms that may or may not be useable, and worn-out floors," he said. ". . . When these gas stations or fuel stations are not corporately owned, they are not maintained properly, and that can be seen across every county in Georgia.”
Like Minor, he also made comments about light pollution.
“The lighting is a big issue to me,” he said. “We have the observatory right down the street, which I enjoy multiple times throughout the year when they have open houses. We already know how light pollution is affecting that. The first thing the current owners did at the existing gas station when they purchased it was light it up like the Fourth of July. They plastered the wall with lights with no consideration about how that affects the existing residents. A new gas station with a new shelf and everything else is going to be even worse.”
Ali offered to increase the landscape buffers to help mitigate the pollution and said he would increase fuel tank inspections to keep them in order, but the BOC voted unanimously to deny the variance request.
Commissioner Riden, the representative for the area, shared the reasoning behind his vote.
“A lot of people I talk to, people on both sides, would love to be able to have the convenience of a gas station because right now they have to drive either to Rutledge or Bostwick or 83 to get gas. I understand totally, but I also understand the other side of it. You have options on the other side of the road,” he told Ali. “You can develop [Fairplay Grocery].”
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Aug. 6, the BOC:
• tabled the Farmland Protection Advisory Board bylaws vote to allow time for changes.
• tabled the vote on a conditional use for a telecommunications tower on 149.6 acres located on Paxon Dairy Road. The BOC will discuss it again on Sept. 3 to give the applicant more time to gather the requested information.
• approved a conditional use for a farm stay on 10 acres located at 1401 Beaverdam Rd. The applicant wanted to operate the farm stay to educate others on the area’s “thriving ecosystem.”
• approved a three-way stop for Riverwalk Road in Riverwalk Subdivision after the Homeowners’ Association expressed concerns about speeding and many close calls.
• approved awarding the 2024 Pavement Preservation Project to Scruggs Company for $424,447.60. The project involves resurfacing 7.62 miles of road with chip seal and lightweight aggregate.
• approved declaring a list of property as surplus.
• approved an alcohol license for Hirenkumar Patel at Apalachee 2024 Inc., 1010 Apalachee River Rd.
• approved an alcohol license for Ghanshyam Das at Nadia Gas Express, LLC, dba Fairplay General Store at 2700 Fairplay Rd.