County commissions faced a variety of topics and a room full of constituents this week.
Commissioners requested several options last month on how to approach financing roofs for three of the county schools. After a discuss of the options, questions arose concerning the wheel tax and its longevity. No financing plan was selected, instead commissioners decided to table any action and request an attorney general’s opinion on the county’s tax wheel.
Again the commissioners reviewed the possibility of an impact fee for new construction. The action is identified as the school facility tax. The issue was discussed and again commissioners voted to reject adoption.
For many in attendance at last week’s meeting of the county commission, the topic that brought them to the courthouse was not even on the agenda.
In the week prior to the meeting, an email circulated about fees being charged for use of the county fairgrounds. The action was credited to the county’s facilities management committee however, the action came from the county’s fairgrounds board in 1998.
As the new facilities management committee reviewed files on how past boards generated funds to maintain the facilities, they discovered notes from the fairgrounds board meeting of July 20th, 1998. At that meeting, member Wayne Prater made the motion for use of the grounds for a regular horse show to charge $200.00 for local groups and $300.00 for out of county groups and for the working arena, $50.00 for local groups and $100.00 for out of county groups. A $300.00 refundable clean-up deposit is to be charged for any event.
At that meeting, Grady George made the motion to waive the fees, except clean up fees to non-profit youth organizations such as 4-H, FFA, etc.
The facilities management committee is following procedures placed into action twenty-years ago.
Any party interested in renting the fairgrounds for a horse show should pick up a form at the county executive’s office.
Another item revisited was the hotel / motel tax. The revenue generator carried an unexpected action of placing the tax on the lodging part of events at Short Mountain Bible Camp. Commissioners approved action to remove not-for-profit camp grounds from the tax.
