River Ordinance exception and TAN note approved for 2020

ELLIJAY, Ga. – A short but important meeting, the Board of Commissioners held their May Meeting officially approving the 2020 Tax Anticipation Note (TAN) and a change to the river ordinance for the year among others.

The TAN saw only one bid this year according to the board, United Community Bank’s bid for tax exempt rate at 1.9 percent. The board unanimously approved the new TAN after Financial Officer Sandi Holden said they could get the tax exempt rate this year because they don’t have any larger property funds or similar needs this year.

The next approval just for this year came with a change to River Outfitters. Chairman Charlie Paris said that the idea is to still collect the tax and continue as normal in the coming years. However, due to shutdowns and quarantining, the board is looking to help these businesses recover. The motion came to change the collection from a dollar per person to one cent per person just for the year of 2020.

The commissioners discussed the businesses with Post Commissioner Ferguson bringing up the topic of social distancing and the transportation needs. Paris said he had discussed it with one outfitter who said he planned to just make more trips, transporting families and small groups together without other strangers packed into the same vehicles.

Additionally, another outfitter spoke in the meeting saying they would only be putting different groups on one vehicle with their longer buses to allow social distancing during transport.

Also in the meeting, the board re-appointed Don VanLandingham to the Kids Kottage Commission and approved the naming of a bridge on Highway 15 in Honor of Billy Burnette, an action done by the general assembly but requiring a motion from the county.