CLEVELAND, Ga. — In a marathon two-and-a-half hour called meeting Monday, the White County Board of Commissioners grappled with the inevitable, a slight millage increase in the FY 2016-17 budget. Currently, it looks like the increase will be one-half mil which translates to about $20 annually on a $100,000 home when the proposed budget is adopted in July.

Commissioners authorized County Clerk Shanda Murphy to advertise public hearings for 8 a.m. June 23 and 30.

At the start of the meeting, the Board was battling a $800,000 differential between proposed revenue and expenditures in the proposed $13.4 million spending plan and they looked for cuts anywhere they could find them.

The biggest cut came in funding for the YMCA. Commissioners voted 3-2 with Chairman Travis Turner and Commissioner Terry Goodger discontinue the agreement with the YMCA and bring those services in house. The proposed budget for the YMCA had been $575,000. Commissioners will give those responsibilities to Parks and Recreation and reduce the budget to $500,000, a savings of $75,000.

The Board’s decision to end its agreement with the YMCA was not just about the money, however. Commissioner Lyn Holcomb cited a lack of communication and failure of the YMCA to develop a feeder system for the middle school and high school. Commissioner Edwin Nix said he had fielded numerous complaints from citizens about the YMCA, including failure to open concession stands during hot summer months so people could buy cold drinks.

The Board also found an additional $61,000 in savings by reducing the amount of the hotel/motel tax it distributes to organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sautee Nacoochee and the Historical Society and another and by reducing its payments to the Health Department by $25,000. But, in the end, it wasn’t enough.

“I was hopeful we wouldn’t have to raise taxes,” Holcomb said.
Turner said this is the first time since he’s been on the Board that taxes had to be raised.

“I don’t want taxes to go up,” he said. “Nobody on this Board does.”
Nix said, “People here can’t say we haven’t beaten ourselves up over this.”

The Board also awarded bids to two contractors to do the preparation work associated with the paving of a portion of Mt. Pleasant Church Road, Gene Nix Road, Yonah Valley Road and Barret Mill Road. The votes were unanimous, however, Commissioner Craig Bryant recused himself from the discussions because he had a relative who is one of the bidders.

The prep work Gene Nix Road and Yonah Valley Road was awarded to the low bidder Crumley Creek Construction in the amounts of $56,163 and $45,258 respectively.

The prep work for Barrett Mill and Mt. Pleasant roads was awarded to the low bidder Nelson Construction in the amounts of $95,631 and $44,727 respectively.