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Guardian of the park School budget spending details draw comments at Milton forum

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

MILTON, Ga. — Fulton County District 2 School Board member Lillie Pozatek held a community meeting on April 18 where educators and community members gathered at Hopewell Middle School in Milton to hear details on the school district’s proposed 2023-2024 budget. Pozatek, who represents areas of Alpharetta and Milton said the meeting was also an opportunity to get feedback from her district on the proposed 2023-24 budget, rounding out at about $1.1 billion.

“I know this is a team effort, I am here to represent you,” Pozatek said.

Fulton County Schools Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef presented the budget, which is scheduled to be adopted on June 6. The budget has been discussed at previous school board meetings, and it calls for employees to receive a 7 percent salary increase for the 2023-2024 school year.

Dereef said the compensation increase is the highlight to the budget, because “we’re

See BUDGET, Page 6

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Couple pays for pool, left with hole in ground

MILTON, Ga. — A Milton couple, who paid more than $105,000 to have a pool installed in their backyard, filed a fraud report with police April 10.

The woman said the project has been left unfinished for months.

She said construction on the pool had begun, and it appeared to be going well until the company owner and his sub-contractors stopped showing up.

After several failed attempts to contact the owner, the woman found out the owner inquired with the City of Milton for a building permit but had not completed the necessary paperwork. Several contractors also contacted the woman to say they had not been paid for the concrete or fill dirt used on their pool project.

Because a contract was signed and some work was completed, Milton Police said the issue was a civil matter and could not be resolved by police.

Morris Road gas station reports burglary, damage

MILTON, Ga. — An employee of the Exxon gas station on Morris Road reported a burglary to Milton Police April 11.

When the employee arrived at work around 6 a.m., he discovered the glass on the front door was busted and called 911. Police also observed the ATM door open, a strike mark on the plexiglass surrounding the cashier and register, and two strike marks on the entry door to the cashier’s register area.

A large glass display case was also shattered, the police report said, and what appeared to be multiple vape ma- chines were missing.

Video footage showed a young Black male around 5-foot-5, wearing a black Reebok hoodie, gray pants and black slides, approach the front of the store wielding a two-handed ax, which he used to break into the store at 12:44 a.m. that morning.

The video also shows the suspect attempting to use the ax to pry open the ATM door, then using a screwdriver to take screws off. But the suspect ultimately failed to open the ATM safe.

Police were not provided with a value or quantity of the items taken, nor an estimate to replace the damage.

Police ran the vehicle’s license plate number but returned to a black Nissan Rogue Sport rental from an Enterprise in Roswell. Police also issued a BOLO to surrounding agencies for the vehicle and suspect.

The scene was turned over to the Investigations Department.

Scam takes woman for thousands of dollars

MILTON, Ga. — A Milton woman informed police April 13 that she had provided thousands of dollars to an individual in a scam that covered three days.

The victim said she was on her computer when several ads began to pop up, rendering her computer unusable. She said a message then popped up, saying her computer was locked and advising her to call a number to regain access.

The individual on the phone said someone had gained her information and was attempting to purchase online pornography with her bank information. The victim was then provided instructions to obtain around $20,000 in gift cards through specific stores.

The victim bought $20,000 in gift cards from Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes, then provided the individual with the gift cards’ numbers and security codes via text message. She also converted nearly $13,500 of her bank account money into Bitcoin using Coinflip.

The individual banks and Social Security Administration have been notified.

Man’s credit report shows added account

MILTON, Ga. — A Milton man informed police about an unauthorized account he found on his credit report April 14.

The victim was notified by Experian about a “potential threat” to his credit and upon viewing his account, he saw he had an outstanding debt of around $5,562 to a collection agency by the name of “MRS BPO.”

The agency told the victim they were collecting debt in reference to a purchase from AT&T Mobility, which the man said he had not made. Representatives from AT&T said an account was opened using his information in Mobile, Alabama, last year.

The victim said he noticed other recent charges, which he did not make, to his business credit card connected to his account. But he was reimbursed.

Police advised the victim to speak with his bank about further steps he could take to protect his information while the matter is being investigated.

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