Henry County Update - Newsletter

January 14, 2016

Board of

Commissioners Regular Meetings January 19 at 6:30 PM February 2 at 9:00 AM Meetings held at: Administration Building Community Room 140 Henry Parkway McDonough, GA 30253 Regular Commission meetings air daily on Henry TV Channel 180 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, at 9 a.m. & 7 p.m.

Henry County Sets Qualifying Fees for Elected Officials

The Henry County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution setting the qualifying fees for elected county offices for 2016. The action came at the January 5, 2016 Commission meeting.

The county is required by state law to set and publish qualifying fees for county offices no later than POSITION TOTAL GROSS QUALIFYING February 1 in any year in SALARY FEE which a general primary, Chairman, Board of $54,752.00 $1,642.56 nonpartisan election, or Commissioners general election is to be County $35,000.00 $1,050.00 held. The qualifying fee Commissioner is three percent of the $501.36 salary of the office being Board of Education $16,712.00 sought and is a fee that State Court Judge $140,744.25 $4,222.33 a candidate must pay Probate Judge $84,458.82 $2,533.76 in order to run for an elected office. The three Clerk of Superior $84,458.82 $2,533.76 Court percent qualifying fee is $86,592.30 $2,597.77 a set amount established Sheriff by the state and is based Tax Commissioner $84,458.82 $2,533.76 on the previous year’s Coroner $55,825.00 $1,674.75 salary for the position.

County offices to appear on the ballot this year include the Henry County Commission Chairman, and Commission seats for Districts 1 and 2. Also to appear on the ballot are the Board of Education seats for Districts 1, 2 and 3, State Court Judge, Probate Judge, Superior Court Clerk, Sheriff, Tax Commissioner and Coroner. The qualifying fees for the office of the Superior Court Judge and District Attorney are set and published by the office of the Georgia Secretary of State.

The qualifying period for elected offices in Henry County will run from March 7 through March 11, closing at 12 noon on March 11, 2016.

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January 14, 2016

Published by Henry County Communications Department The Henry County Board of Commissioners

Editor Melissa Robinson

Graphic Designer Meredith Butler Samantha Watson

Layout Designer Samantha Watson

Contributors Samantha Watson Melissa Robinson Kevin Williams

henrycounty-ga.org

Henry County EMA Collecting Travel Size Toothpaste to be used in Comfort Kits for Red Cross Relief Efforts

After a house fire or other displacing emergency, sometimes the only thing that might stand between despair and a sense of normalcy is a toothbrush and toothpaste, and along that vein, the Henry County Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with the American Red Cross, is putting together comfort kits to be given to individuals that they serve locally.

The comfort kit is a small bag of toiletry items and currently, organizers are in need of donations of new, travel size tubes of toothpaste with an extended expiration date. Individuals or groups are encouraged to assist in the effort by donating the much needed toothpaste, and recently Girl Scout Troop 316 out of McDonough led by troop leader Ty Williams, began their service project by organizing a donation drive to help the collection effort.

Last month the American Red Cross hosted a training session at the Henry County Emergency Operations Center in an effort to build a team of volunteers that will support responders in Henry, Clayton and Rockdale Counties.

The American Red Cross is a non-profit, humanitarian organization that provides relief to those affected by disasters and helps people across the nation prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

Donations of travel size toothpastes with extended expirations dates may be dropped off to Shelita Broomfield at the Emergency Operations Center, located at 526 Industrial Blvd. in McDonough, GA.

For more information on the Red Cross, visit www.redcross.org.

New Tax Assessors Office Position Approved

The Henry County Tax Assessors Office was authorized to create a new Personal Property Appraiser position and to amend their budget to accommodate the new position at the January 5 Commission meeting.

The office’s workload has almost doubled in the past year and will continue to grow with the increase of commercial and industrial development entering the County. In order to deal with the current workload and prepare for future development needs, a new Personal

Property Appraiser position has been created. The Tax Assessors Office hasn’t had an increase in staffing levels since 2000.

The approved budget amendment will allocate $30,000 for the new position to supplement the salaries/ benefits line item of the Tax Assessor’s Budget for this position.

For more information on the Tax Assessor’s Office please visit www.henrycounty-ga.org.

2015 Rabies Report

The Henry County Animal Care and Control Department delivered the 2015 Rabies Report Update to the Board of Commissioners at the January 5 Commission meeting.

In 2015, Henry County tested 18 animals for rabies and confirmed 12 cases of the infection. Ten of the 12 infected animals were raccoons and the other two were cats. In 2014 there were 18 confirmed cases of rabies outbreaks.

To keep up with Animal Care and Control news, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/animalcontrol.

Public Safety Receives Funding

Henry County Public Safety received two donations from the Tanger Outlet Center as well as a grant from the Georgia Association of Emergency Medical Services.

The Henry County Police Department was honored with a $500 donation from the Tanger Outlet Center in Locust Grove. The shopping center attributes its success to local public safety personnel working hard to create a safe environment for merchants and shoppers. The donation does not require a match of funds and has no use restrictions.

Tanger Outlets continued their charity with another $500 donation to the Henry County Fire Department. This donation will be used to fund an

upcoming firefighter award ceremony and banquet and requires no match from the County.

The Fire Department is also the recipient of a Georgia Association of Emergency Medical Services grant in the amount of $47,435.58. These funds will be used to purchase trauma equipment and general supplies as well as fund EMS related training for department staff. A match of funds by the County is not required.

For more information on Henry County Public Safety visit www.henrycounty-ga.org.

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