Hart County Board of Commissioners Work Session

June 16, 2005

6:00 p.m.

The Hart County Board of Commissioners met June 16, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. in the Hart County Administrative & Emergency Services Center to discuss SPLOST III.

Vice-Chairman Joey Dorsey presided with Commissioners Daniel Reyen, and Ricky Carter in attendance. Also attending were several members of the Hartwell City Council and the Mayor.

County Administrator Jon Caime presented the SPLOST III schedule which indicated a target date of July 26, 2005 for the BOC to adopt the SPLOST Resolution. August 8, 2005 is the last day to have exact ballot language to election superintendent and August 31, 2005 as the final day to notify US Dept. Of Justice of a proposed November 8, 2005 SPLOST III vote.

Mr. Caime then presented the expected revenues of $15.6M over six years with an intergovernmental agreement six years or $13M over 5 years without an intergovernmental agreement. He also pointed out that with an intergovernmental agreement we will be able to run our 6 year SPLOST past $15.6M if we get to the $15.6M before the 6 year period expires however if we can not have an intergovernmental agreement we will have to stop at $13M or 5 years whichever comes first. He stated that if we get strong retail growth we could get extra revenue from that growth by having a six year unlimited SPLOST.

Mr. Caime explained that the BOC does not have any Level 1 projects which are basically projects that benefit the State government such as courthouse or jail and can take funding priority. He further explained that the State law designates the first 20% to County only level 2 projects. The remaining 80% is to be shared with the City of Hartwell based on population and that the 2000 census is the only officially recognized population figures. The 2000 census has Hartwell at 18% of the population (4,188), (County population is 22,997). He explained that 18% of the 80% remaining for level 2 projects equates to 14.4% of the total revenues.

The City is scheduled to receive 6.3% of the current SPLOST or up to $759,000. He explained that if we have an intergovernmental agreement the City, they will receive approximately $2,160,000 from the proposed SPLOST or $1,401,000 more than the current SPLOST.

He then presented the basic points for the intergovernmental where:

• The City receives 14.4% of the revenues as soon as the funds are received by the County each month.
• The City will be responsible for their own spending of these funds in compliance with State law rather than the having to submit bills to the County for payment or reimbursement. City will be responsible for auditing their own use of their funds.
• Any revenues in excess of the projected $15.6M will be split with the City on the same proportion of 14.4% to the City on a monthly basis as the County receives the funds from the State.
• Royston, Bowersville and Cannon must also be party to the agreement if they are to receive funds.

The Mayor of Hartwell, Matt Beasley asked numerous question pertaining to the distribution of funds and commented that in his opinion the City deserves more money than the law designates. Administrator Caime pointed out that the City may be receiving in excess of 228% more money than the current SPLOST allocation. He further pointed to the fact that the County will be receiving less money and will have to make cuts to make up for the increased percentage the City will be receiving.

The general consensus of the City Council was that they do want to enter into a 6 year intergovernmental agreement with the County. They committed to addressing the issue at their July 5, 2005 City Council meeting for a vote on accepting the agreement.

With no further action the meeting adjourned.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R C Oglesby, Chairman Lawana Kahn, County Clerk