Oconee County Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue increased by less than a percentage point in the third quarter of 2014, while neighboring Clarke and Barrow counties experienced strong growth.
The third quarter report included only about six weeks in which electronics retailer Best Buy was operating in the county, since tax distributions are a month delayed. But other major retailers in Epps Bridge Centre have been operating for nearly a year.
Three people wanted to know about complaints filed with Animal Control.
Seven wanted information from Code Enforcement.
Mark Thomas, a businessman and member of the Oconee County Board of Education, got a slot on the county’s Industrial Development Authority tonight, but only after two rounds of balloting by the Board of Commissioners.
In the end, BOC Chairman Melvin Davis broke the deadlock, casting his support for long-time IDA member Larry Benson, owner of Benson Bakery in Bogart, at the expense of Robin Chasman, a realtor and Tanglebrook subdivision neighbor of Benson.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, if all goes to plan, will make appointments to five citizen committees or boards on Tuesday night in what normally is a routine procedure.
Eight of the citizens applying for appointment appeared before the Board at last week’s meeting, and two others sent word they wanted to be considered but could not attend the session because of scheduling conflicts. One of those had applied for two different assignments.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners tonight voted to move forward with design work for an extension of Parkway Boulevard, which will run behind Wal-Mart and Lowe’s parallel to Epps Bridge Parkway and open up more land in the area for development.
Oconee County Administrative Officer Jeff Benko told the commissioners that he, County Attorney Daniel Haygood, and county Public Works Director Emil Beshara had reviewed the submitted proposals and their costs.
Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenues increased 10.1 percent in Oconee County following the opening of a cluster of stores, including Marshalls, PetSmart and Gap, in Epps Bridge Centre in the third quarter of 2013.
But Clarke County also increased its revenue from its SPLOST tax during that same period even while it was losing stores to Epps Bridge Centre.
The contract for design of the extension of Parkway Boulevard is back on the agenda for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night, but this time there is no indication that the county is prepared to award the contract.
The BOC tentatively agreed at its meeting on Aug. 26 to accept the low bid of $96,925 submitted by ABE Consulting of 2410 Hog Mountain Road but reversed course a week later–on Sept. 2-- and decided to review the five submitted bids another time.
