MoCo Commission Sets Qualifying Fees
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The Montgomery County Commission handled several annual tasks associated with the New Year, including setting the qualifying fees for upcoming local offices, during their regular monthly meeting on Monday, January 8.
According to the commissioners, the fees are set at 3% of each office’s base salary. Positions up for election include the commissioners for Districts 1, 2, and 3, as well as the Board of Education seats for Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4 among other offices. Qualifying fees are set at: Commission — $108 Board of Education — $72 Coroner — $36 Probate Judge — $1,465 Sheri- — $1,678 Clerk of Court — $1,465 Tax Commissioner — $1,465 The commissioners shared that these fees will begin being advertised in local media, and that the Montgomery County Board of Elections and Registration will soon announce the qualifying dates, which are expected to be scheduled near the beginning of March.
Also during the meeting, commissioners agreed to reappoint Leland Adams as the Commission Chairman and Clarence Thomas as the Commission Vice Chairman. The County Attorney was also appointed, as commissioners selected Ron Daniels of Eastman to replace the position recently vacated by former County Attorney Paul Cook.
Arren Moses was reappointed to the District 2-Uvalda seat of the Montgomery County Development Authority, while Elizabeth Williams was reappointed to the Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission.
Commissioners also agreed to update the Georgia Department of Transportation local road list to remove Rabbit Run Road and declare it abandoned by the county. The road was determined to be a private road during a court hearing a few years ago, but was recently discovered to have not been removed from the list.
During the work session of the meeting, commissioners discussed the future construction of a new EMS building within the county, which was previously worked on prior to 2023. The leaders shared that the bids that were received during the planning period were extremely high, and agreed to relook at the building’s plans to see where costs may be cut without sacrificing the efficiency and quality of the facility. They plan to discuss their findings at next month’s work session.
County Works Director Robert Lewis also informed the Commission that the Road Department was working hard to create efficient drainage within roadways and proper grading of dirt roads when the weather permitted. He said the recent Tire Amnesty Week event collected over 3,500 tires, which helped to keep the debris from being thrown along the roadside.
County Manager Brandon Braddy reviewed the completion of the 2023 budget, as he cited several offices that went over budget: Elections – 11.8%, Superior Court – 2.3%, Jail Operations – 24.6%, Participant Recreation – 43.7%, Forest Resources – 7.4%, Code Enforcement – 1.2%, and Debt Services – 39.5%. Braddy said these costs came from unexpected expenses, county growth, and other unplanned expenditures. Yet, regardless of these budgets exceeding their maximum amount, the county’s overall revenues exceeded expenditures by $1,766,241.64, as the county received 39.8% more revenues than expected in the budget.
