County Commissioners adopt FY 2021 budget
News December 6, 2020
DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the $30,788,031 FY 2021 General Fund budget during the Thursday (Dec. 3) voting session, following a third and final public hearing. The overall budget is $47,399,332.
The new budget is 2.12 percent less than last year’s budget and will conform to a reduction in the millage rate from 8.088 to 7.885. Commissioners anticipate using $1,926,355 from the fund balance. Property taxes are expected to generate 40 percent of the revenue and the local option sales tax should generate 20 percent.
Christie Moore
The largest expenditure for 2021 is expected to be the Sheriff’s Office budget of $8,478,523 followed by Public Safety at $5,995,561. The county will hire six new firefighters for Fire Station 8.
The meeting started on a somewhat emotional note as Dawson Chamber of Commerce President Christie Moore announced that after eight-and-a-half years, she will leave at the end of the year to accept the position of president of the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber.
“We have a lot of great memories and I want to thank you for what you have done and the time you put in for our community and our citizens at large,” she said. “People don’t always see what you do. I’m sad to be leaving. Thank you so much for the last eight-and-a-half years.”
Commissioners also unanimously approved a motion to purchase a ladder truck for the fire department at a cost of $1.2 million with a decision to be made later regarding funding. Commissioners could elect to make the purchase from special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST VI), the General Fund or enter into a lease agreement.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Christmas parade, tree lighting postponed
News December 4, 2020
DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. — Dawson County Chamber of Commerce President Christie Moore has announced that the Christmas events scheduled for today (Dec. 4) have been moved to Saturday 12/5 due to due to the rainstorms headed to north Georgia today.
The Christmas Parade and Jingle Market will now start at 4 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the city of Dawsonville’s food trucks and photos with Santa at 4:30 p.m., and the annual tree lighting at 6 p.m.