CITY OF GRAY
Gray Council members listened to a proposal about possible sales tax refunds to begin their August meeting of all committees.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ed Barbee. Councilmen Terrell Fulford and Terry Favors were in attendance, along with Mayor Pro Tem James Collins The first report was from the Finance Committee and Fulford, who is the chairman. He introduced Cliff Harpe with Tax Specialists of Georgia Southeast LLC.
Harpe explained that his company helps local governments receive sales tax exemptions, and most small cities and counties are not aware that the sales tax refunds are possible.
He said the city could realize a refund from the new wastewater treatment plant project.
The speaker estimated the refund for the $10 million project could be as much as $200,000.
Harpe said most of the employees of Tax Specialists of Georgia are retired IRS workers. He said the city pays nothing until the funds are recovered, and the fee is 25 percent of the refund.
The speaker said the paperwork the company needs in order to fill out the documents to process the exemption should take city employees no more than a couple of hours to put together.
“Our inspiration is that most small cities don’t have the employees to do this work,” he said.
Favors commented that it sounded like a good idea, as long as it does not cost the city anything.
City Attorney John Newberry said he would look over the documents from the company, and it should be on the agenda in September.
Municipal Court Clerk Chandra Lowe spoke to council members about an issue with having a public defender for municipal court. She said the Ocmulgee Circuit Public Defenders Office has been unable to provide an attorney for the court.
Newberry said he had been in contact with a local attorney, Ben Mitcham, who was willing to provide the service for one court day a month. Newberry said the cost for the private attorney would be more than the cost of the public defender.
Lowe said the additional cost was reflected in the Municipal Court’s budget.
The issue will be placed on the September agenda for a vote by council.
Budget
Councilmen received a copy of the 2023 draft budget. The proposed General Fund budget for 2023 is $2,576,250, which is a $214,971 increase from the 2022 budget. The anticipated property tax increase from the previous year is $107,454.
Budgets from the Gray Police Department, Municipal Court, Main Street Gray, Gray Fire Department and Street Department were also included.
City Clerk Cindy Yancey asked council members to look over the budget and decide if a meeting needed to be called. She said the budget needed to be presented at the Sept. 12 council meeting. “The millage rate isn’t going up, but tax revenues have increased,” she said.
The increase means that advertisements and public hearings are required prior to the adoption of the budget.
Yancey told council members that lights for the crosswalk at the courthouse were being paid out of American Rescue Act funds. Interim City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan said the additional lights were needed because the existing lights are not easily seen. He said the new lights would be solar powered LED lights.
Water & Sewer
Morgan gave a Water and Sewer Committee update. He said the sewer line rehab project was waiting for pricing. He said 500 new water meters had been installed, and 540 more meters were on hand to be installed.
The superintendent said that leaves 880 more meters that need to be received and installed.
Collins asked if the new radio read meters were working better.
Morgan said it seemed so. “We had 20 today that were not reading. That’s better than 300,” he said.
Main Street Gray Director Ashley Roberson presented her report. She said the new Fridays on Main would start Aug. 26. The director said it would only involve Gray businesses, and Music Medics would provide live music. The event begins at 5 p.m. and ends at 8 p.m.
Collins spoke for the Design Review Committee. He said the committee was working on a large change in the design review guidelines, but they had one change they were asking for immediately. Collins said the change was the use of metal siding, and the need is because of improvements in the product. He said there is new metal siding that has the appearance of wood and is very impressive.
The change would allow no more than 20 percent of the metal siding. Collins asked for the change to be added to the agenda of the next meeting.
Roberson said the reappointment of Gray Downtown Development Authority members also needed to be put on the next agenda. She said the terms of five members were up for review, and three of them had already agreed to stay on the board.
Streets
Favors asked that the city pick up unauthorized signs that are not on private property. He noted that any signs placed on stop signs or other street signs were snapped up by GPD officers.
“They are on it,” he said. Collins commended the city’s street department workers for their quick response to trash along the roadway.
“We appreciated their work and want them to know it is noticed,” the mayor pro tem said.
Morgan commented that the crosswalk signs were being installed.
Newberry said he was working on the acquisition of the building in front of City Hall, and the appraisal had been completed.
The next meeting of the Gray City Council is scheduled 6 p.m. Sept. 12. The first Monday meeting was postponed due to the Labor Day holiday.
