THE big day is here. After weeks of politicking, thousands of signs and a lot of the usual political hot air, voters will end the Primary season when polls close at 7 p.m. tonight. Elections supervisor Monica Franklin is predicting a turnout of 20-25 percent. In-person absentee voting ended at 7 p.m. Friday, with 1,839 people casting ballots. Another 200 had returned paper absentee ballots as of Friday evening, but paper ballots may be brought to the elections office all of the way up until the polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Democrats have no contested local primary races, but Republican voters will pick five nominees — in districts 1, 2 and 3 of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners, District 8 of the Barrow County Board of Education, and for Barrow County Chief Magistrate. Of those, the District 3 BOC nominee will be the only one facing Democratic opposition in November’s general election.
Election results will be posted on BarrowJournal.com tonight.
[Full Story »]
County Government Archives - Topics from July, 2012
Look for election results here tonight
Tuesday, July 31. 2012
County's voter turnout surprisingly low — so far
Tuesday, July 31. 2012
Despite a decent number of advance voters, turnout so far today for Barrow County's primaries has been below expectations. Ken Young, chairman of the Barrow County Republican Party, said he was surprised when he arrived at the Winder Community Center to vote during the lunch hour and there was hardly anyone else there.
"The lady said I had just missed a big bunch of people," Young said. "It's hard to tell. It seems to me like turnout may not be as high as we thought it would be."
Barrow County elections supervisor Monica Franklin confirmed Young's impression.
[Full Story »]
"The lady said I had just missed a big bunch of people," Young said. "It's hard to tell. It seems to me like turnout may not be as high as we thought it would be."
Barrow County elections supervisor Monica Franklin confirmed Young's impression.
[Full Story »]
Busy morning on final day of early voting
Friday, July 27. 2012
About 110 early voters cast ballots on the final morning of early voting for the July 31 primaries and other elections.
That brought to 1,667 the number of people voting in person as of noon Friday. That is off slightly from the 1,842 people who voted early and in person for the 2008 county primaries.
The opportunity to cast advance absentee ballots ends at 7 p.m. today. All early voting is at the county government's administration building at 233 E. Broad St.
That brought to 1,667 the number of people voting in person as of noon Friday. That is off slightly from the 1,842 people who voted early and in person for the 2008 county primaries.
The opportunity to cast advance absentee ballots ends at 7 p.m. today. All early voting is at the county government's administration building at 233 E. Broad St.
Is new industry in the works?
Wednesday, July 25. 2012
Five months after the announcement of plans by Caterpillar Inc. to bring more than 1,400 jobs to a new manufacturing facility five miles east of Statham, there are some encouraging signs of potential economic development activity in Barrow County. The Winder-Barrow Industrial Building Authority held a closed meeting early Tuesday morning to discuss “the disposition of real estate.” Following the 30-minute meeting, the group took no public action and made no announcements. When asked about a tip the newspaper had received concerning a company’s possible interest in a tract the county owns at the intersection of highways 53 and 316, WBIBA attorney John Stell said he could “neither confirm nor deny” the validity of the information.
For the full story, see the July 25 issue of the Barrow Journal.
For the full story, see the July 25 issue of the Barrow Journal.
County’s finances OK now, but a challenge for FY2013
Wednesday, July 25. 2012
Two county meetings this week brought into sharper focus the current status of the county’s finances and what the county is facing in the next budget. CFO Rose Kisaalita told the Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night that this year’s revenues through June 30 were a little higher than they were in the first eight months of the previous fiscal year. But spending also was up. Nevertheless, she projected the county would end FY2012 in the black and at the end of September would be able to add another $311,000 to the county’s reserves. That would bring the “unassigned fund balance” of the General Fund to about $6.2 million, which is significantly higher than the cash reserves just two years ago. However, whether that unspent money will survive the FY2013 budget process is an open question.
For the full story, see the July 25 issue of the Barrow Journal.
For the full story, see the July 25 issue of the Barrow Journal.
BCWSA proposes wholesale rate hike
Wednesday, July 25. 2012
The Barrow County Water and Sewerage Authority informally agreed this week to propose a rate hike that would nearly double the cost of wholesale water sold to the county’s municipalities. Additionally, members expressed interest in taking over all business matters and funds management for the county's wholesale and water transmission system, a move that would increase the BCWSA’s control over the added revenue expected to top a million a year.
For the full story, see the July 25 issue of the Barrow Journal.
For the full story, see the July 25 issue of the Barrow Journal.
Open FY2013 budget process starts today; BOC also to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday
Monday, July 23. 2012
The first open meeting for Barrow County’s FY2013 budget process is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday, July 23, in a conference room on the second floor of the government center at 233 E. Broad St. During the meeting county staff and some of the county commissioners will discuss how to close the spending plan's multi-million-dollar funding gap.
Also on Tuesday night, CFO Rose Kisaalita will make a representation to the full Barrow County Board of Commissioners concerning that budget — which must be adopted by the BOC in September — as well as about how well the county staff and elected officials as of June 30 have managed spending in the current fiscal year. The meeting is a work session and will start at 6 p.m., which is an hour earlier than usual. The BOC recently designated the second meeting of each month as a work session and set the new time of 6 p.m. [Full Story »]
Also on Tuesday night, CFO Rose Kisaalita will make a representation to the full Barrow County Board of Commissioners concerning that budget — which must be adopted by the BOC in September — as well as about how well the county staff and elected officials as of June 30 have managed spending in the current fiscal year. The meeting is a work session and will start at 6 p.m., which is an hour earlier than usual. The BOC recently designated the second meeting of each month as a work session and set the new time of 6 p.m. [Full Story »]
Early voter turnout strong in Barrow County
Thursday, July 19. 2012
Advance absentee voting for the July 31 primaries is strong in Barrow County, according to numbers released Wednesday evening by elections supervisor Monica Franklin.
“We have had 683 vote early in person, and 230 ballots were mailed out,” she said. “Of the 683 in-person votes, 603 were Republican, 77 were Democratic, and three were Non-Partisan.”
Of the 230 ballots mailed out, 187 were requested by Republican voters, 42 by Democrats, and one by a Non-Partisan voter. Only half of the mailed ballots have been marked and and returned to the elections office, however.
Early voting began July 9 and ends July 27. That includes one day of weekend voting on Saturday, July 21, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. All in-person voting is at the county government's administration building at 233 E. Broad St. For information, call the elections office at 770-307-3110.
“We have had 683 vote early in person, and 230 ballots were mailed out,” she said. “Of the 683 in-person votes, 603 were Republican, 77 were Democratic, and three were Non-Partisan.”
Of the 230 ballots mailed out, 187 were requested by Republican voters, 42 by Democrats, and one by a Non-Partisan voter. Only half of the mailed ballots have been marked and and returned to the elections office, however.
Early voting began July 9 and ends July 27. That includes one day of weekend voting on Saturday, July 21, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. All in-person voting is at the county government's administration building at 233 E. Broad St. For information, call the elections office at 770-307-3110.
Barrow budget faces $4 million funding gap as property values plunge 15 percent
Thursday, July 19. 2012
Though preliminary work on the county’s budget for fiscal year 2013 was a closed affair until Tuesday, CFO Rose Kisaalita over the past several days has complied with the Georgia Open Records Act by promptly providing the newspaper with copies of requested documents. Based on the newspaper’s preliminary analysis of spreadsheets, it appears that the county at this point is facing a $4 million gap between projected revenues and requested expenditures. Cecil Highfield, the county’s chief appraiser, says property values countywide plummeted more than 15 percent this year.
“The real number on the real property values — which includes Residential homes and land, Commercial improvements and land, Industrial improvements and land, Agriculture land and improvements, and land in Conservation Use — went down 15.19 from the 2011 fair market values to the 2012 fair market values,” he said. “This is the total of all of the real property values when comparing the 2011 digest and the 2012 digest.”
For the full story, read the Barrow Journal's July 18 edition.
“The real number on the real property values — which includes Residential homes and land, Commercial improvements and land, Industrial improvements and land, Agriculture land and improvements, and land in Conservation Use — went down 15.19 from the 2011 fair market values to the 2012 fair market values,” he said. “This is the total of all of the real property values when comparing the 2011 digest and the 2012 digest.”
For the full story, read the Barrow Journal's July 18 edition.
County holds private budget talks; for first time in four years, early sessions closed
Thursday, July 19. 2012
While the attention of voters — and reporters — has been focused on this year's political campaigns, Barrow County officials have been quietly working behind the scenes on a challenging county budget for the upcoming fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. For the first time in four years, the meetings of county commissioners and top administrative staff have been closed. That apparently was the preference of chief financial officer Rose Kisaalita, who skirted the requirements of the Georgia Open Meetings Act — which requires all committee meetings of public agencies to be open — by renaming the "Budget Committee" a "Budget Group."
For the full story, read the Barrow Journal's July 18 edition.
For the full story, read the Barrow Journal's July 18 edition.
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