editorial3@thomastontimes.com

The Upson Board of County Commissioners have called a joint City and County Work session for Wednesday Nov. 19 at 5:00 p.m. at the Thomaston Upson Archives.

The Mayor and City Council met on Tuesday evening for their normally scheduled meeting but, due to previous business, the majority of City Council members will be unable to make the works session meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

The County is conducting the worksession regardless, but will be unable to vote on any joint issues due to a lack of voting quorum.

Numerous issues of concern have kept Board members busy: zoning issues - one key being the erection of the billboard on Highway 19, county leash laws, water concerns, and budget shortfalls.

The County Commissioners have recently been inundated with concerned county citizens regarding water issues, such as the water taps fees in the Potato Creek Heights subdivision (as well as Sunset - Northside systems) .

In a controversial decision, the Board voted 3-1 to pass a proposal to fund the Phase III water tap costs with the 2005 SPLOST (Special Option Sales Tax) initiative.

The water tap (everything but the meter) costs is estimated to cost $72,000.

Concerns have been raised about other area residents having incurred previous costs in the Phase I and II of the neighborhood contraction site.

Also of concern with some local citizens, is the issue of the legality of using public SPLOST dollars for personal allocation.

County SPLOST dollars from the “General” Distribution fund ($9,230,000 allocated) - specifically listed a “Potato Creek Heights Water Line Extension” - are allocated as: $565,000, with $340,000 already used and another approximate $260,000 left in approved budget.

Another recent concern plaguing the Commission Board is insurance budget woes (IDA and Planning Committee coverage, most recently).

Some have estimated an $800,000 shortfall in the county budget due to in part the alleged “miscalculating” of premium fees and related insurance costs.

User fees and raised or special taxes have been mentioned in previous worksessions as possible solutions.

Budget conversation dominates most worksessions as well as current SPLOST expenditures and allocations.

Because tax revenue is down, the 2005 SPLOST initiative is not expected to bring in the estimated $18 million total.

Tax receipts for 2008 thus far for SPLOST are as follows:

February $302,000

March $198,000

April $324,000

May $144,000

June $153,000

July $142,000

August $153,000

September $355,000

($249,000 disbursed)

The General Distribution of SPLOST, mentioned previously, is totaled at $14.2 million and is distributed as: Upson County $9.2 million (65 percent), City of Thomaston $4.8 million (34 percent), City of Yatesville $142,000 (.1 percent).

A summary of Wednesday’s County worksession business will run in Friday’s edition of The Thomaston Times.