2026-10-13 - Mayor and Commission Work Session

00:34All right, everyone. It is October 13,

00:372026. Welcome to the monthly work

00:39session of the Affin County Mayor and

00:41Commission. Um, hard to believe we only

00:43have two items on the agenda today.

00:45Would you like to pack it in on these

00:47Tuesday afternoons, but might get

00:49everybody out of here by dark? Um, uh,

00:53first item is the land bank authority

00:55work plan. Uh, really delighted to have

00:57a couple members of the land bank

00:59authority here. Uh, man cow, is there

01:01anything else you want to say by way of

01:02introduction to this one?

01:03>> Um, not on this one. No, kind of at the

01:05end I'll update you on why we only have

01:06two items. We originally had four and

01:08I'll kind of explain how the other two

01:09are going to play out. But on this one,

01:11I think the only thing I will say is

01:13this is a continuation of the discussion

01:15that started some many months back to

01:17get the land bank authority up and

01:19running and this is kind of the next

01:20phase and up and running and then you

01:22know floss is really kind of the midway

01:24update on that.

01:26>> Great. Thanks. All right. Um, you know,

01:28we often talk about having a full

01:29toolbox of opportunities, but the land

01:32bank authority is really sort of one

01:33more of those tools in the box that

01:35we're building for greater housing

01:37affordability and opportunity. And so

01:40I'll let you introduce yourself and and

01:42take it away.

01:44>> Good afternoon everybody. My name is

01:46Greg Oonnell.

01:47I'm a board [clears throat] member of

01:50the land bank authority. I'm joined by

01:52Jeff Green, another member of the board.

01:55Um we are here to give you an update on

02:00our operations thus far since the board

02:04was installed earlier this year. Our

02:07first meeting was in April. Then we'll

02:10go through our work plan and a proposed

02:12budget and we'll open the floor to any

02:15questions you might have.

02:19Um so the Athens Clark County Land Bank

02:23Authority was originally established in

02:262009.

02:27Um it acquired a few properties which we

02:31still own. There's five lots in total.

02:33Um but then the the authority foundered

02:38and um went dormant for a number of

02:42years until it was reinstated earlier

02:46this year by the American commission. Um

02:49like I said, our first meeting was on

02:51April 27th of this year and we've been

02:53meeting monthly. Since then, we have

02:58adopted bylaws and

03:02Jeff has prepared this budget which we

03:04have approved internally and we've also

03:08formulated a work plan which we'll

03:10present to you today. Here are all of

03:14the board members. Myself, Jeff, Jessica

03:17Fors, the vice chair of the board, and

03:20we're lucky to have Grant Witworth and

03:22Rick Parker who bring a lot of

03:23experience to the board as well.

03:29So our stated purpose uh in the for the

03:34authority is to support affordable

03:37housing development uh mainly by

03:40providing lowcost land for eligible

03:43projects

03:45most typically vacant land. However, the

03:48statutory abilities and functions of a

03:51land bank in general are much broader

03:53than that. And this slide goes through

03:57just some of the laundry list of powers

03:59that the enabling statute um imbuss in a

04:03land bank authority in Georgia. Um so we

04:06are a semi governmental entity. We can

04:11uh enter partnerships into with other

04:14governmental entities with private

04:16entities. We can hold real estate. We

04:19are exempt from adorum real estate

04:22taxation.

04:23Um and when I say we, I mean the land

04:25bank authority.

04:27We can acquire real property, hold it,

04:30gift. Um we can dispose of real property

04:33for consideration other than cash. Um in

04:37our case, that consideration would be

04:40affordability restrictions. Um so that

04:43is one of the advantages a land bank

04:45authority has over uh a

04:49county or city.

04:52>> [clears throat]

04:52>> So, our work plan, we uh we formulate a

04:56two-year work plan currently. Year one

04:59is focused on hiring an executive

05:02director

05:04um and establish firstear operations.

05:08It'll probably be year two before we

05:09actually start developing properties.

05:13We're going to seek to form partnerships

05:17with other players locally in the

05:19affordable housing uh world and we're

05:24going to start working on uh becoming

05:26self-sufficient, self-funding

05:29as well.

05:31Part of this work plan does involve

05:34quarterly reports to HCD which will in

05:38turn report to y'all on our

05:42operation.

05:46So a proposed budget is in front of you.

05:52This is an 18month budget since

05:56we end since since the fiscal year ends

05:59in June 30 at June 30th. So um if you

06:04can multiply all these numbers by 23 to

06:06get a 12 month budget. So

06:10these numbers were um

06:15formulated with a lot of help from other

06:19land bank authorities in Georgia namely

06:23make and bib Augusta Savannah and Rome

06:27all shared lots of information with us

06:31um through a association called Galba

06:34the Georgia Association of Land Bank

06:37Authorities they have bimonthly

06:39roundtable meetings which we've been

06:41taking part of and they are a wealth of

06:44information for us in getting these

06:46operations started. Um and they were

06:49very helpful in in formulating this

06:53budget as well. Uh while these numbers

06:57we believe are based off of the best

07:00information [laughter]

07:01available, given that we're just

07:03starting operations that there is um

07:07certainly a possibility that some of

07:09these items could fluctuate.

07:14Main expenses include hiring the

07:17executive director and possibly an

07:19assistant. that comes with fringe

07:22benefits to attract quality candidates

07:25who have experience in the affordable

07:27housing sector or nonprofit management

07:32will require a competitive salary. We

07:35believe this is a competitive salary

07:36based off the information provided to us

07:39by other land bank authorities.

07:42Um we will need [clears throat] to rent

07:46uh office space. So those numbers are

07:50reflected here. We do have

07:53members of the board who are very

07:54familiar with local commercial leasing

07:58markets and so we believe these numbers

08:00are very accurate. Um we've included

08:04costs for professional fees, accounting,

08:06legal services. We will need to engage

08:09separate outside counsel. Um, the county

08:13attorney's office has been kind enough

08:14to help us at the beginning with these

08:16initial meetings, but we eventually will

08:18need to to find our own and pay for our

08:21own legal services. We've included an

08:24amount for reserves

08:28as well.

08:34On the back of this

08:37budget is our more detailed version of

08:41our two-year work plan that I sum

08:43summarized earlier.

08:46So this slide um just goes through some

08:49next steps.

08:52We will um need a final ordinance

08:57establishing

08:59the boundaries in which we must operate.

09:02And so we work with y'all to finalize

09:06that ordinance and get it approved by

09:09the mayor and commission.

09:11Um there is a trunch of properties

09:14currently owned by the Athens clar

09:16county government that have been

09:18identified for possible donation to the

09:20land bank authority. U those those

09:25donations if they occur would be

09:26governed by anou or intergovernmental

09:29agreement between the land bank and ACC.

09:32So, one of the next steps would be to

09:34finalize that agreement and see what

09:36kind of um

09:39[clears throat]

09:39terms you all want us to operate within.

09:43Of course, we need to find, recruit, and

09:45select an executive director. We're

09:49going to follow through with our work

09:50plan. As I mentioned, we're going to

09:53provide quarterly updates to HCD

09:57um not only about operations in general,

10:00but also uh regarding compliance with

10:02any intergovernmental agreement that we

10:05enter into with Athens clar county. And

10:08then we plan to after our first

10:10approximately 18 months of operation,

10:13we'll present an annual performance

10:15report in January 2028.

10:22I'll open it up for questions.

10:27>> Yeah. I mean, just off the top of my

10:29head, I was looking at the question, the

10:31$45,000

10:34office rent for 18 months. That's like

10:37$2,500 a month.

10:40I'm aware of how how much office space

10:43does this? I'm aware of.

10:46>> So, we need at least we need a

10:48conference room. You know, for example,

10:50downtown space is 20 bucks a foot. I

10:53mean, or 22 really.

10:55>> So, let it be downtown.

10:57>> No, no, we're not even we that's not

10:59going to work. So, I mean, there's just

11:01and we have to sign a lease. I mean,

11:02we're at the mercy unless the county's

11:04got somewhere.

11:05>> Well, yeah, that's what I was thinking.

11:06You know, we just reuped our leases on

11:09some properties.

11:11feel like, you know, the county should

11:13step forward and offer,

11:16you know, more affordable office. I

11:18mean, I'm I'm aware of, you know,

11:20commercial office space that less that

11:24um I don't know there's the shared

11:26working where, you know, you have a

11:28communal conference room and different

11:30share that

11:33a lot for, you know, this this small

11:36operation.

11:39>> Yeah. Well, we were I feel like we're

11:41pretty conservative on that and we do

11:43that every day and it's something that

11:45we if we want to do it right, we got to

11:48we we have to hire a director that's

11:49gonna and we're going to have to have an

11:51office.

11:52>> I mean, yeah,

11:55>> question out there.

11:57>> Yeah. Um

11:59agree with Melissa if we can find

12:02something that we own possible.

12:04>> Yeah.

12:04>> Um again, I don't know what that looks

12:06like. I don't even know what our time

12:07look like, but if we got office space at

12:10the government own be a possibility

12:15put them in I guess for me

12:20y'all really be a phone of the

12:22government not really ran by us same

12:26time in my mind

12:28if we could find the space within our

12:32pocket that we already own say that you

12:35know against There may be some cost but

12:37I don't know whe the cost will be that

12:38much.

12:39>> Sure. And we've even explored options

12:41and we've talked to David Bradley about

12:43maybe sharing with the chamber.

12:44Unfortunately Ricky Chastain doesn't

12:46have any room in that particular

12:47building but we've been searching but we

12:50really kind of can't do much until we

12:52get y'all's approval really start. So

12:56that's but I mean it's and again you

12:59know it's something I check daily. You

13:01know we have searches in place. I mean,

13:03I'm in commercial real estate, so we're

13:06checking. We are being conservative with

13:08those numbers, but we've got to have

13:11couple offices. We'll have to have a

13:13boardroom, which we would love to share.

13:14I mean, currently we've been meeting in

13:17the coast, but you know, we don't really

13:21we're not we wouldn't be the board

13:23members wouldn't be in this a we don't

13:26we just need something that's going to

13:29work that we can have a presence and you

13:32know that's also going to go when once

13:35we start our search to hire a director

13:38who will handle this. So, we're kind of

13:42until we can get that going. We're we're

13:44I'm checking everywhere we can, but it's

13:46just Yeah. I mean, if there was

13:48something

13:49>> I guess I guess I'm about to ask staff.

13:50I mean, how we staff

13:53about this or what it may be?

13:55>> So, um the short answer is there's not

13:59great options. There are some options.

14:02Um, most likely what you would look at

14:04right now thinking about our space

14:06allocation would be some small carve out

14:09of space in the Satoula building.

14:11>> Yeah.

14:12>> And Satoula. Now, as you know, our our

14:15goal is to vacate that building upon the

14:19completion and renovation of the

14:21courthouse, but that's many years to

14:23come.

14:24Um,

14:25a lot of our other properties that you

14:27might think about are actually in

14:29sequence to be used to address staff

14:32needs. Uh, could also reach out to um

14:38potentially the

14:41uh Taylor Grady group because they do

14:44have a commitment to make space

14:45available. Right now they're hosting the

14:47Center for Racial Justice and Black

14:48Futures, but it could be that that's

14:50gonna move over to the museum space.

14:55I would suggest that over the the

14:57intermediate term, what we're going to

14:59find is that staff needs for space are

15:02pretty high. And so if we find a way to

15:06host the land bank in a space, it should

15:08be viewed as more of kind of an

15:09incubation phase while they get more of

15:12their operations and staffing up. And at

15:14some point, much like the downtown

15:16development authority or other

15:18authorities, the baby bird will have to

15:20leave the nest. Well, I guess I'm

15:22thinking about on the east side uh at uh

15:25Commissioner Taylor's office office um

15:27district um over there where um um

15:33more building I know there's space there

15:36where economic development is where Fred

15:38Smith is. There's space there. So space

15:41is that we need to take a look at I mean

15:46the only build that we own. We might

15:48even talk to some of our authority

15:50partners in other governmental entities

15:52that even share submission space,

15:54whether that's the housing authority or

15:56the DDA.

15:58So, I think there are probably going to

16:00be some opportunities out there.

16:04>> Any other questions just about the sort

16:05of the substance of the work? Car.

16:08>> Yeah, actually I'm trying to get my head

16:11into this here. Um, in terms of the

16:14substance of the work, if I'm looking at

16:15the proposed budget, um, really what

16:20this is all about, if I go to that page

16:22that says proposed budget, anticipated

16:25results include increased opportunities

16:27for affordable housing developers to

16:29acquire and construct rehab units,

16:32development of sustainable funding

16:33sources to keep it going, and

16:35disposition of properties for productive

16:37reuse.

16:39You said you were looking a lot at the

16:40the uh the authority in um the land

16:44authority in Mon. Did did you see I mean

16:49[laughter]

16:50I was just doing my homework for for our

16:53manager included four-year goals and

16:56viewing things out in the future and and

16:58one of the things is seeing a certain

17:00number of affordable housing units in a

17:03couple of years. Did you see any um

17:06timeline that could be expected until we

17:08see some results from this? U because

17:11there's a lot in here about the whole

17:13you know setting up of this authority.

17:15Um

17:17but how long

17:19what's our fastest what's our fastest uh

17:22timeline you know how can we how can we

17:24make this timeline go as fast as

17:26possible

17:27>> right

17:28>> and and with quality. Uh it's a great

17:31question. I

17:33as part of our membership in Galba uh

17:36the the land bank association

17:40>> uh we have witnessed several other

17:43counties and mi municipalities who also

17:47have fledgling land banks. Um most of

17:50them are a few years in and don't expect

17:53to have any finished units ready for

17:56delivery um within probably the next 12

18:00months. I expect we will be a little bit

18:03faster if not a lot faster than those

18:06other counties um including uh Cherokee

18:09County. That's one we've been I've been

18:11talking to a lot. Um

18:15the reasons we're going to be a very

18:17highly functioning land bank is one the

18:20commitment that uh my fellow board

18:23members and I have already put into

18:25laying this groundwork.

18:26>> Um two the

18:29uh county's willingness to fund

18:31operations immediately which seems to be

18:34the number one struggle that other land

18:36banks are facing. And three, we already

18:40have five lots of vacant property ready

18:43to market. Um, clear, due diligence on

18:48and and put out there for development.

18:50Um, so I I think we will be very quick.

18:55Um, I think we'll be very highly

18:57functioning. Um,

19:00exact dates. Yeah, it's hard to put a

19:02date because a lot of this and a lot of

19:04what's in this budget is more we've got

19:07to we've got five properties. There's

19:10another group that we are looking at

19:12that have been proposed. Now, a lot of

19:15those lots we're in the process, Mr.

19:17Taylor. Some of those are in your

19:18district. We're looking at

19:22are they buildable? What approvals need

19:24to come to to us? What do we need to do?

19:27So, we're working with planning on that.

19:28But some of these are just single family

19:31lots that we can and we would look to

19:33partner on these and get them get those

19:35out there as quickly as possible because

19:37our goal is to be self like self-

19:40sustained. So once we but at the same

19:43time our goal is to keep affordable

19:45housing. So, a lot of these costs that

19:48we have to incur on the front end are

19:51going to be title work, things like

19:52that. You know, clearing title. We want

19:55to be proactive and take out all the

19:58uncertainties when it comes to the

20:00zoning. And we want we're not going to

20:02go through permitting because that would

20:03be a whole another line item that would

20:06be pretty hefty. But we're going to be

20:09fasttracking these lots because our goal

20:11is to move get them out there as quickly

20:12as we can. But at the same time, those

20:14funds aren't going to be I mean, we have

20:17to keep them affordable. So, but we do

20:19have at our disposal several currently

20:23that we can start on pretty quickly, but

20:26you know, we have to run time. Yeah, we

20:28got to make it

20:31I guess what our mission is is to

20:33package these things up so we can

20:35partner with a builder or whoever that

20:38would be, you know, and the single

20:41family lots will be quicker. The

20:42individual lots, I mean, versus a larger

20:46project, you know, that might be

20:48incorporate some grants and things like

20:50that. So, um, but that's the goal. But I

20:53mean that being said, 12 months I think

20:56would be our goal.

20:58>> So the the self- sustaining is in terms

21:01of just explain it to me like you're

21:04explaining it to a, you know, middle

21:05schooler. It's going to be self-

21:07sustaining because the money is going to

21:08come from the sale of these properties

21:11to a developer, affordable housing

21:13developer. And and then on another thing

21:16I guess helping out with the land bank

21:18authority as well you guys and this is

21:21where I'm still after many years here

21:24working at the land bank authority. This

21:27is like the downtown development

21:29authority and the downtown development

21:32authority executive directors are not

21:35ACC employees. Right. Correct. So that

21:39means that you get you all the board

21:41will be doing the hiring at those that

21:43position. That's correct.

21:45>> Correct.

21:47>> So um so the first question is about how

21:51you make money to be self- sustaining

21:53and I guess that's just the you can tell

21:55it to me and then the second one is on

21:58on the hiring of this.

22:00I'm assuming tell me how you do do you

22:04have you put together a sort of like um

22:07I don't know a job description for the

22:10executive director and how did you come

22:12up with this robust salary here which is

22:16you know more than people

22:20government

22:22leaders

22:24places

22:27>> um I'll take the first question. I I

22:31think I think we'll be partially self-

22:33sustaining. The ways we would generate

22:35income um we have the option and the

22:39ability to

22:42ret retain properties and lease them uh

22:45affordably instead of outright sales. So

22:47that could be one potential source of

22:49income. Another source of income is um

22:52disposing of of property as you

22:54mentioned.

22:56Those two items probably would totally

22:59fund our budget. We'll probably be

23:01relying on

23:05on funds from I believe they're sourced

23:08from the pilot program right now to some

23:11extent as long as we're operating the

23:14>> affordable housing fund.

23:16>> Yes, I believe that's correct.

23:17>> Especially

23:19>> so that would be an anticipated cost

23:20going forward.

23:21>> Can I add to that a little bit? Um, I

23:24think if our goal is to have our land

23:26bank authority focus on affordable

23:28housing, which has been recommended in

23:31the workforce housing study and our

23:33affordable housing investment strategy

23:35and others, that it would be really

23:38helpful for this body to recognize that

23:40affordable housing requires subsidy,

23:42right? And so that subsidy comes in many

23:44ways. We manage grants. We've done ORFL.

23:47We've done infrastructure. But more than

23:49likely, the land bank authority, what

23:51you're hearing from them, would require

23:52ongoing subsidy to help fund staff to

23:56manage the program and to do some of

23:58those land transactions.

24:00Once that land is in play, there is some

24:04return of capital. Um, and so there may

24:06be the occasional tax sale or other item

24:09where that that return can be positive.

24:12or uh what we've heard is if this body

24:15decides to uh take current ACC gov

24:19ownership, invest that to the land bank

24:22authority, that becomes a bit of a

24:23seeded fund. But over time, I think

24:27you're more likely to have to continue

24:29to have some subsidy if you want to

24:31continue to support the actions of the

24:33land bank authority. And so that's

24:36correct

24:36>> that the subsidy would come from the

24:39>> what we've looked at is the pilot

24:40payments payment in l of taxes that are

24:43coming out of our partnership projects

24:44with the housing authority and those are

24:48sufficient to cover um the kinds of

24:50budget expenditures that you see

24:52proposed here. Um

24:55and then there's also the potential for

24:58something like the strike fund where

24:59y'all designated funds. Well the land

25:01bank authority could be a player in the

25:02strike fund. In fact, we saw a

25:04resolution from the commission on that,

25:06or not a resolution, an action from the

25:07commission on that last Tuesday.

25:12If we had a staffed and ready to go land

25:13bank authority, they could be an

25:15important tool that's being used there.

25:17So, there's there's different sources of

25:18funds, including some of the ones

25:20they've spoken about. But end of the

25:22day, much like you would pay for staff

25:25or any other uh of infrastructure

25:28investments, other things, this would be

25:30an ongoing investment that y'all would

25:31consider.

25:33To be clear, we're not aware of any land

25:36bank authority in Georgia that operates

25:38without subsidies from their local

25:40government.

25:43>> To your next question on how how did we

25:45derive this salary? This is and

25:49and again this is a yearly salary of

25:51twothirds of the number in front of you.

25:55So 100k a year. Okay. We got that number

25:59um from talking it was me talking to uh

26:03the executive director for um two other

26:06similarly sized uh Georgia land bank

26:11authorities and they've both had 20 plus

26:14years of experience and got paid from

26:18about 20 to 30% more than the number in

26:21front of you. Um, so we thought this was

26:24a number that could attract a quality

26:26candidate with some real experience. Um,

26:29and I think the if one expense you don't

26:33want to skimp on is the quality of the

26:35person that this

26:40uh your question about

26:43uh a job description.

26:45We do have examples of similar job

26:49descriptions from other land bank

26:50authorities. We haven't um combined

26:54those and gone through them and and uh

26:58consolid consolidated them into our own

27:01yet. But that is as soon as we get

27:03funding, that's the the top of our list.

27:06>> And I assume with all these great

27:08contacts you have, we might be able to

27:09get some ideas from them about places to

27:12do outreach for that job announcement,

27:14get the right people looking at it.

27:16>> Absolutely, 100%.

27:18>> Thank you.

27:19I would say on the administrative person

27:23I would raise that a little bit more to

27:25on the um in my opinion think you know

27:28we talking about quality

27:29>> right

27:30>> I think you should it should be it

27:31should be competitive at least

27:34>> we pay our systems here

27:37>> that's from an executive director you

27:39want to have somebody quality

27:42the office person or you office manager

27:44you want have a quality person working

27:46with that executive director so I think

27:48you probably to pay at 30,000.

27:50>> Yes. And that this is we should have

27:53design uh designated this as part-time.

27:56We're we're envisioning for beginnings.

27:58That's what why it is as low as it is.

28:02>> We'll make that clear.

28:04>> Any other questions?

28:07>> I'm excited to uh see this get underway.

28:10Of course, anyone who drives through

28:12banks streets of this town knows that

28:13there are a bunch of effectively

28:15abandoned properties that would be well

28:17situated as indoor affordable housing

28:19stock. Excited to get this underway and

28:22this is uh going to be subject of an

28:24agenda item on the coming cycle I

28:26believe.

28:28All right. Thanks y'all. I really

28:29appreciate it.

28:30>> Thank you.

28:31>> Thank you.

28:35As Jeff is coming up and getting things

28:37ready, uh we had indicated to you that

28:42some several weeks ago or a couple weeks

28:44ago, we started the outreach efforts um

28:46both in communication and outreach

28:48associated with loss. And of course, all

28:50we can do is survive education loss

28:53materials and information. We can

28:54obviously advocate um for um for it's

28:57lost. Um and we're well on the way of

29:01actually moving this forward. I've

29:02included a lot of those, you know,

29:03weekly updates so that you can kind of

29:05see where things were progressing, but

29:07we also thought it would be advantageous

29:08to have Jeff present to you all kind of

29:10everything in a package to show you all

29:12that's going on. And they'll continue to

29:14go on all the way up until election day

29:16associated with with it. And of course

29:18um you all know that it's picked up um

29:21from those informations. There has been

29:22media coverage also. Um media can

29:26reflect what's included in those

29:27informations and they can take positions

29:29and have begun to take positions. Um,

29:31again, we can't we can't really do that.

29:33But so that's what this item is for is

29:34to kind of give you an overview of what

29:36is going on with the communications

29:39piece of the frost part of it and have

29:42any further discussion.

29:44>> Okay. Yeah, I'm not used to sitting at

29:46this section as many of these as I've

29:48been to. So um but allow me to kind of

29:51go over this and um obviously if you

29:54have any questions when we get to the

29:55end, let me know. Um just a few sort of

29:57initial kind of facts before we talk

29:59about it which you know Bob has

30:00mentioned some of these but um floss is

30:041% sales tax for anyone residents or

30:07visitors uh who dine stay or buy items

30:09in Athens clar county. It does apply to

30:11digital purchases from an address in

30:13Athens clar county. So that's one thing

30:15to note as well. And of course proceeds

30:17can only be used uh to reduce property

30:20taxes that is by law and the battle

30:22referendum is on the third. Um just some

30:26general information on that. The timing

30:28was designed to kind of start towards

30:30the fall closer to November 3rd. So we

30:32really sort of started mid August and

30:35September. Um we cannot advocate one way

30:38or another on a vote with that as well.

30:39We can only educate. Um, and as a

30:42first-time program in Athens, it did

30:44require some research on our part uh and

30:46working with the manager's office. We

30:47also worked with the tax commissioner's

30:49office uh with providing some of that

30:51information and them providing some

30:53calculations to us. So, most all the

30:56calculations that you'll see in here

30:57were ones that came uh in conjunction

30:59with the tax commissioner's office. Um,

31:02so just kind of running down some of the

31:03efforts so far. Um, first of all, there

31:06was a legal notice that went out. the

31:08elections office has to put out a legal

31:10notice. Uh and so as part of that, the

31:13elections department actually sent out a

31:16a release through their notification

31:19system and then we sent out one that was

31:21more specific and more details. The

31:23first one was really more about, hey,

31:25this is on the ballot. Ours went out in

31:27conjunction uh with the flyer that you

31:29all received uh here um ends

31:33midepptember with information kind of

31:35about that uh and the production of the

31:37flyer as well with that um again legal

31:41notices did go out from elections and

31:43are still going out. Um this is just

31:45kind of their process of that. Um, and

31:49again, I don't presume to say that this

31:51is wildly educational to a lot of

31:54people, mind you, a legal notice, but we

31:55did want to at least point it out as

31:57another form of of some of the things

31:59that are being done from the election

32:01side that they're required to do in that

32:03as well. Um, we had developed some

32:06pretty specific social media posts uh

32:08that went out last week um on Facebook

32:11and Instagram where we took some of the

32:13information from the flyer and did some

32:15other things to try to produce something

32:18um that uh that was a little more

32:20specific and a little more visual um on

32:23those elements of that. Um we also um

32:27last month had sent out kind of more in

32:29conjunction with the release in the

32:31flyer when we went out sent something

32:33out on next door to provide some

32:35information on that. Both of these have

32:37gotten um variety of comments on them as

32:40well. Uh the flyer which of course you

32:43have um here that we've developed uh

32:45hopefully you've seen it prior to this

32:47as well. Um and we developed this in

32:50conjunction too with the manager's

32:51office and looking through this unlike a

32:54lot of programs that we do which are

32:55department specific. Lost is a little

32:58bit different. It sort of doesn't have

32:59an owner if you will. Uh and so um so

33:02that's why we want to work with those

33:04departments and producing uh some of

33:06that information on it. Just a little

33:08bit of information on some of the

33:10locations that we have our flyer

33:11distribution. Uh they have been sent to

33:13the neighborhood leaders. Uh we do have

33:16them on some of our kiosk centers and in

33:18locations and we check those to update

33:20them because might surprise you

33:22sometimes flyers disappear from those.

33:24Uh last week we had Lead Athens ACC Gov

33:27Day and we talked to them about that

33:29provided flyers to them as well. Got an

33:31Athens Tech fall festival coming up

33:33later. Uh we do have publication racks

33:35that we have around town that we put

33:37information as well. Uh and we've also

33:39provided them to the ah

33:42the Athens Community Council on Aging.

33:45um and the meals on wheels and as part

33:47of their senior staples program. So

33:49we've delivered several hundred of them

33:51down there as well. And also as an

33:53offer, I know some of you give out a toz

33:56guides and other materials that we

33:57produce. We're more than happy to

33:59produce some of these. I know there's

34:00some town halls coming up that you have.

34:02Um and we're always open to providing

34:05you with those or other materials if you

34:07have some needs for that.

34:10Um few other minor things. We do have a

34:12front page website banner uh that's a

34:15little more of a improved um visual

34:19component on our on our website than

34:21some of our other media stuff. So this

34:23rotates on the front page as well. Um

34:26all a lot of our stuff tries to point

34:28people if they need more information to

34:30go to slashfloss. The slash floss has

34:32actually been up since you all approved

34:35the res uh the resolution back in June.

34:38So, initially for a while it had that

34:40actual resolution that was approved as

34:42part of that. Again, our our hope is

34:44really that on things like the social

34:46media post and the flyer that this is

34:48really all you need. Shouldn't really

34:50have to go and get some more

34:51information. We do have a few more items

34:53on here. Sometimes um some things like

34:57that Ocorp County has has proven loss,

35:00which some people don't know. They

35:01actually have a 9% sales tax there.

35:03Okay. Um, kind of the first thing that

35:06sort of went out was our um, some of you

35:08may be familiar with ACCFG quarterly,

35:10which is our quarterly water bill insert

35:12that goes out. They produce about 40,000

35:15of these to go in 30,000 plus customers

35:17that we produce every month as kind of a

35:20newsletter to the community. Um, and it

35:23was kind of the first information that

35:25we went out that went out all sort of

35:27September long in there. we have to

35:29produce those kind of several weeks

35:31ahead of time to get them to the print

35:33shop and to get produced. And so this

35:35was kind of the basis for us forming our

35:37information that led to the flyer and

35:39some of these other things as well. Um

35:41tomorrow it will go out in our uh

35:43mixtape monthly e newswsletter as a

35:46featured item on there. Um obviously on

35:48those we only feature about 8 to 10

35:50things each month on there. Uh so that

35:53is uh being finalized today to go out

35:55tomorrow as part of that with other

35:57information on there. Um we do have ACTV

36:02um which a lot of people

36:05don't get in the same way that they used

36:06to from back in the day when we used to

36:08do uh and it's still a cable channel.

36:11You can still go to channel 180. You can

36:13still view it. We still do hear about

36:15people that watch stuff, including

36:17former commissioners that all the

36:19watching the mayor and commission

36:21meeting on channel 180. Um,

36:23unfortunately, it's a terrible signal

36:25because of the uh the cable company here

36:28and how they operate with it. But years

36:30ago, some of you may have seen that we

36:33have a digital display system that we

36:35have in public uh lobbies and other

36:38locations throughout the community, the

36:40TAG office, the multimodal center, city

36:43hall, um and other locations. So we

36:47treat ACTV the cable channel sort of

36:49like a distribution outlet to some

36:52degree but we really provide um just as

36:55much information on our digital display

36:57sides the board theater or some other

36:59places that have our Roku channel also

37:02use it in between um locations as well.

37:05So that digital display system um is

37:09able to provide a lot of that content in

37:11ways where kind of to go where people

37:12are uh in that location. And so we have

37:15sort of a series of those running on

37:17kind of both of those. Few other sort of

37:20random components that we have it

37:22currently doing. We have a uh audio

37:24announcement on our ACC gov hold music

37:26system. So if you call anywhere in

37:28Athensclar County and you're put on

37:29hold, there's a series of items that we

37:32use to announce some general

37:33information. So it's updated on there.

37:35Uh we have kind of an ongoing uh

37:37component with WGA announcements that

37:40allows us to change things out very

37:41quickly in there. So we have some

37:43running on there um that uh uh provides

37:46some basis information. You might have

37:48heard message brought to you by Athens

37:51clar county government which reminds you

37:53to want a variety of things. We'll be

37:55having we have some election items that

37:57are running things like that. Those

37:58change out throughout the year. So it's

38:00not a specific expense related to this

38:02but it is something that we do that

38:04we're able to kind of quickly change

38:05messages on with them throughout the

38:07year. Um, I've seen some things in

38:09commissioner newsletters. Certainly um

38:11you're you're welcome to um continue to

38:14put any of that information and

38:15certainly put links um on here to our

38:18flyer or attach our flyer in there as

38:20well. Uh and we do have what's called a

38:22splash modal. So if you go to the front

38:24page of the website, there's a popup on

38:26there that um notes people uh about

38:29floss and kind of point them to there.

38:31it's on that main page of the website

38:33because it it is one of those things

38:34that sometimes gets a little um um

38:39irritated to people if they see them

38:40throughout other departments pages and

38:42other departments sometimes have some

38:43other things there. So at the moment

38:45it's just up on sort of the website. Um,

38:48and that's kind of a brief run through

38:50of of some of these things that we've

38:51done uh so far. And again, as we have

38:54other opportunities, particularly with

38:56flyer distribution, some social media,

38:58there will be some more uh additional uh

39:00postings of it on social. We continue to

39:03find places that we can put this flyer

39:04out, send to people as well. Uh, and we

39:07will be answering some questions. We

39:09wanted to hang off a little bit with

39:10this weekend's weather on a couple of

39:12some questions that came up particularly

39:14on some Next Door stuff as well. So

39:16that's kind of a brief overview of what

39:18we've done so far and I'm glad to answer

39:20any questions you might have.

39:20>> Yeah. The only thing other thing I'd add

39:22to that is

39:24based off of there's been quite a bit of

39:26media coverage of the floss in different

39:29columns and stories. So so I think it's

39:31a good indicator that you know the word

39:32is getting out it's out there. If I

39:34compare that for example to the east

39:35floss election I don't think there may

39:37have been one article that was written

39:38in local media about that. So I do feel

39:41like, you know, the efforts are at least

39:43reaching certainly parts of our

39:45community and then being amplified

39:46through our local media as well, which

39:48is what we would hope would be taking

39:49place.

39:50>> And I will say too, now granted, it is

39:52something that's a little more common

39:53because people know about it. But um if

39:55you also compare it to kind of ELOS

39:57that's out there, I've seen or heard

39:59very little about the ELOS program in

40:02terms of that thing as well. Again,

40:03that's not ours, of course, that's

40:04school districts. But, um, we have seen

40:07kind of and heard a lot more commentary

40:09um, related to floss sort of in the

40:12community. And again,

40:15we can correct some factual things that

40:16are wrong, but I haven't seen a lot of

40:18factual stuff that's wrong. Honestly,

40:20it's more of So,

40:24>> yeah, couple.

40:26So one of the question I get asked once

40:30we have met our threshold for was going

40:33to go into the general budget is there

40:36any excess happen to those funds those

40:39those funds go what do we do with those

40:41>> for for floss

40:42>> yes

40:43>> there is there is no excess is my

40:46understanding is that whatever now you

40:48know the calculation I've learned more

40:49about floss in the last few months than

40:51than um feel like I stayed at a holiday

40:54express last night um the the excess

40:58from floss basically still just there is

41:00no excess because it would all of it

41:02would go to property tax reduction now

41:04the first year and this is where the tax

41:06commissioner was very helpful in because

41:09you know notices go out in sort of the

41:11August time frame so that first year if

41:14approved it's those six months and then

41:17year after sort of it's that 12 month

41:20cycle so that's why in the first one

41:23people wouldn't necessarily see as much

41:24of the savings as they would in future

41:26years. Um, and my understanding is even

41:29still like let's say that it went into

41:32place

41:33and you know it's a fiveyear term unless

41:37it's renewed.

41:39So obviously that last year you would

41:42have like six months of collected. My

41:46understanding, and everybody can correct

41:48me if I'm wrong, is that that would just

41:50simply apply to the next year's property

41:52tax, even though a floss wasn't in

41:54place.

41:56>> Yeah, that is. And I think that's going

41:57to that is a key fact to make sure folks

42:00are aware of is that every penny that is

42:03collected through this tax can only go

42:05to property tax revenue. There is there

42:08is no other purpose for it or use

42:10associated with it. and and certainly

42:13the way that the state implemented

42:15didn't help because of the timing and

42:18you end up with this like six-month

42:20window and then you kind of reset it at

42:22that point. But there's now I think

42:23approaching 40 communities across the

42:25state that have approved floss. So there

42:28is kind of some good running examples of

42:30sort of how has that played out as it

42:32works through. But the key message is

42:34that those dollars can't go for any

42:36other purposes. Now that piece I

42:38understand I'm saying is um we always do

42:42our budget you know we do not right now

42:45we based our budget on property taxes

42:48with the floss it's be a little bit

42:50different because we don't know where

42:52the collections because sometimes might

42:54be down and they talk about access here

42:59we have a maybe I question right

43:03so the I think the answer to your

43:05question commissioner Fischer is that it

43:07may slightly differently impact your

43:10property tax from year to year.

43:12>> Okay.

43:12>> So, uh so you know one year you know

43:16your effective property tax rate may be

43:197.8 mills the next year because the

43:22amount of sales tax take might be

43:24slightly different. It may be 7.73 mills

43:27the year after it might be 7.89 mills.

43:30So that's actually why they use the

43:31floating language is is because of the

43:34slight variation from year to year. And

43:36I think also do I think you're also

43:37asking about kind of as we do our

43:39projections for the general fund piece.

43:42You know, there's always a bit of

43:44speculation that goes into that.

43:46Hopefully, it's educated speculation.

43:48And you know, one of the one challenge

43:50that does exist anytime you have a sales

43:52tax that's providing funding instead of

43:55the property tax is there's a little

43:57more volatility that floating aspect of

43:59it. And so it it, you know, does

44:01introduce a little bit more speculation

44:03into our projections um with it. And so,

44:06you know, I would think that would get

44:08smoothed out in those projections over a

44:10couple of years when we start seeing

44:11kind of the consistent pattern, but you

44:13know, that first year we'll we'll

44:14undoubtedly end up taking a relatively

44:17conservative position when it comes to

44:18the the budget, the general fund

44:21projection for revenues and stuff. So,

44:24yeah, I mean, I think it could affect

44:25that a little bit in the beginning

44:26because we don't exactly know where

44:28that'll play out, but it won't affect

44:30the collection piece or any of those

44:31kinds of things. It's really just how we

44:33then account for in the general fund

44:34budget.

44:35>> And the other thing I get asked once we

44:37get through five years and we don't

44:40where would our military go back to? Do

44:42we go back to the original or

44:46the commission will pick that level in

44:48place where our military need to be?

44:50>> Yeah. I mean I think absent action by

44:52the commission to go back to where it

44:54was because this is the source of its

44:56replacement will go away. You all of

44:59course every year set the millage rate

45:01and so you at that point it would be a

45:03concern if you wanted wanted or could do

45:05anything different

45:06>> and even within the context of those

45:08five years the commissions could say hey

45:10we want to tick up or we want it to tick

45:12down to deal with some desires around

45:14expenditure and revenue. Um and the

45:16other thing kind of that the fiveyear

45:18time frame

45:21injects into the conversation is what

45:22happens at that point. Well, at that

45:24point, the local delegation from the

45:26Georgia General Assembly would have to

45:28write local legislation just impacting

45:30Clark County. They would have to pass

45:31that at the general assembly level and

45:33then there would be another referendum

45:35just like there is with SPL.

45:38And I do think that's a good besides I

45:40do think it's a good point also is that

45:42even though this is a fiveyear if

45:44approved it's a fiveyear window during

45:47those five years there is nothing

45:49binding the commission relative to you

45:52setting the millage rate. It's a

45:54separate conversation because it's

45:56really whatever's collected in the sales

45:58tax or that penny goes to sales goes to

46:00property tax relief. You're still

46:01setting the millage rate every single

46:02year up or down. So I think it's

46:04important to folks to understand that

46:05that it's not, you know, it doesn't lock

46:07the commission in one way or another,

46:10any commission as you move through year

46:11after year. It just locks what that

46:13penny can be used.

46:15>> And I and I will say too that I'm sorry

46:16I misunderstood your question.

46:18>> No, I didn't frame it right.

46:19>> Um that's been one of the challenges as

46:22we put this together. Um you know,

46:24because one of the questions people have

46:26is what do I save and how does that

46:29compare to what I spend? And it's so

46:31individual to people that we had a real

46:35challenge with trying to figure out how

46:36best to do it. In fact, you know, you

46:38can even see that it's a range of what

46:40you might save because exemptions come

46:43into play and other factors come into

46:46play with the tax commissions and that

46:47was kind of about as close as we could

46:49get to here's kind of about what you

46:52might save. And when it comes to well,

46:54how much more will I pay? That's all

46:56dependent on how much you spend. So

46:58that's why we tried to break it down to

47:00say well if you spend this much here's

47:01how much more you would spend versus A

47:04or B and then it's you know calculate

47:08that on and we tried some different

47:10numbers uh as to what that might be but

47:12because of the floating nature and the

47:14individual nature of it it's it's a very

47:17complicated thing especially when it's

47:19an addition.

47:21So, has this been used for some time by

47:25other entities out there in the world?

47:27And do we have data on whether it has

47:30any impact on rents? Are potential

47:34landlords passing any savings down to

47:36tenants?

47:38Is there any evidence of that?

47:40>> I have not seen any in the research that

47:42we've done, but I think also a lot of

47:43them are pretty new.

47:45>> It's it's new enough in Georgia that

47:47even if research is going to be done in

47:49that, it's too soon. Is it out is it has

47:51it been around out there in other

47:53states?

47:53>> There are other states that certainly

47:55use some version of sales tax

47:56replacement for property tax. But I

47:58don't they're their environment is so

48:02different. I mean each each state their

48:04tax policies are so different than from

48:06one states to another that even if

48:08research existed I don't know how

48:09applicable it would be. But I actually

48:11don't know if there's any research tied

48:12to those other states that have done it.

48:15And I don't know what if any research

48:18was done leading up to the to the

48:19general assembly enabling communities to

48:22have this option. There may there may be

48:24some things back when that first came. I

48:26doubt it because it doesn't tend to be

48:28way the way that legislation is crafted

48:30at the state level. But but yeah, in

48:33Georgia certainly not. All it's it's so

48:35>> if you're not a property owner,

48:38you're only paying there's little

48:40evidence you're going to see any kind of

48:43rent decrease.

48:46>> I don't know that there's evidence in

48:47any direction is is kind of what you

48:49were hearing.

48:51>> Yeah. Just the property in terms of

48:53quantification. You know, one of the

48:55things that, you know, we recognize

48:58generally is that money comes into

49:01Athens, Clark County, you know, when it

49:04pertains to sales taxes, you know, the

49:06probably the easiest bit to quantify is

49:09um is hotel use. So, this would be about

49:11a million new dollars every year to our

49:13general fund budget just through kind of

49:16hotel night stays, ballpark million

49:19dollars, you based on what we know from

49:21hotel motel tax. Of course, hotels

49:23charge not only hotel motel sales tax. I

49:26guess I'm asking staff, do we have any

49:28other quantification like do we know how

49:30many Amazon packages are landing at

49:33Brumy Hall?

49:35I

49:36>> mean, I think I think Bob or Andrew can

49:38answer this a little better, but I one

49:40of the challenges is obviously we just

49:41don't get much sales tax information

49:43from the state. That's one of one of the

49:45disadvantages of Georgia compared to

49:47other states is the opakqueness of our

49:50sales tax receipts in the community is

49:52really difficult to discern

49:54>> what is coming from outside what's

49:56coming through sort of if you will mail

49:58order what is that piece is challenging

50:02there definitely is evidence that the

50:04majority of sales tax collected within

50:06the community a significant amount of

50:08sales tax collected in the community is

50:09coming from folks outside the community

50:11who are coming in and spending their

50:13dollars I mean that that piece is true.

50:15I was going to add to Commissioner

50:17Link's question regarding kind of the

50:20rent piece. Remember similarly there's

50:22you know there's this of course would

50:25apply to all property owners. So those

50:28that own retail space, those that own

50:30industrial space and so on. And so

50:33similar question could be asked would a

50:35customer see a reduction in the cost of

50:38products if the property tax went down

50:40on the property? similar answer. I just

50:42wanted to kind of point out I mean the

50:43answer is I don't know because I don't

50:45think that research is certainly not

50:47present in Georgia. Just want to make

50:48sure it's understood that all property

50:50owners would receive the benefit

50:53associated with lost. Whether or not any

50:56of that translates into a reduction in

50:59their products or services don't know.

51:04>> What what kind of traction are you

51:06getting those social media posts?

51:09So, it's a little bit, you know, new.

51:11Um, and obviously we've had some stuff

51:13in that time frame that's gotten a

51:15little bit more play. Um, I would say

51:18that it's kind of in mid-tier right now.

51:21Um, but what we found on some things

51:23like that is that as we get sort of more

51:25comments and again, it went out just

51:28last week, we obviously had a lot of

51:30conversation going on about other things

51:31this weekend. So, you know, it's had

51:35some kind of mid-tier. I was looking at

51:37it this morning. Um, and it's, you know,

51:40kind of within our top 20 of the last

51:43couple months, but I expect that that

51:45will probably ramp up as more and more

51:47comments

51:49on both sides of that tend to, you know,

51:53kind of barrel roll that a little bit

51:55more

51:57>> and we can also share it on our social

51:59media.

52:00>> 100%. Yes. If you if you have social

52:02media, yes, if you have

52:04>> if you have you know officials social

52:06media, I would share

52:09really important that if you share it on

52:11your social media, share it in your

52:13newsletter or you share it at your town

52:15hall meetings, you are an extension of

52:17ACC gov and so you have to remain

52:19fact-based

52:22either way.

52:24>> Thank you on that note,

52:26>> but it would definitely help because it

52:27would amplify it. I will say we looked

52:29at a lot of places um to try to find

52:32information. Um and I think that we

52:34arguably have have been more proactive

52:38in trying to produce some things than

52:41any community that I've seen in in

52:42Georgia when we were trying to research

52:44it. So

52:46>> well thank you. I think this is really

52:48>> Yeah, it is great great information.

52:50>> It's hard to process. The other thing

52:54that would help too is as you all engage

52:56with folks what through any of those

52:57means that we've talked about if you're

52:59getting questions that you're not seeing

53:01answered in any of the information that

53:03we've produced let Jeff know let me know

53:05because if it's something we can respond

53:07to with facts we could get those out

53:09there because that may just be a piece

53:10that people don't don't know because you

53:12know we're just sort of

53:14>> doing our best to understand what kinds

53:15of questions we anticipate getting but

53:17there may be others that we just haven't

53:18answered yet

53:19>> and anybody is I have a handful more

53:21here if anyone wants them but And if you

53:23need them for any reason um please let

53:26me know. For example,

53:28>> I think one question we get is what

53:31goods are be tax

53:35what goods be taxed?

53:36>> Yeah. And that I think the safest answer

53:38is anything you pay sales tax on today,

53:40you would continue to pay sales tax with

53:41this. It that was one of the tough

53:43things when Jeff was putting this

53:44together was we really we knew it would

53:47make more sense to someone to say, "Hey,

53:49every time I go to the grocery store,

53:50how much more is this going to cost me?"

53:52Well, there's some things in there that

53:53get taxed, some things that don't. So,

53:55that's why you see kind of the default

53:56to say, you know, if you were if you

53:58purchased $1,000 worth of things that

54:01are taxable, this is what you would pay

54:03in taxes. This is what you will pay in

54:04taxes because but yeah, the safest

54:06answer to that is anything you pay sales

54:08tax on currently. This would be added to

54:10it. And I went in and looked at my

54:13public's bill to kind of check on it,

54:15which they note all the various sales

54:17taxes that they're on there to verify

54:19some aspects as well. But it's way more

54:23of the

54:25things that are have sales tax on it

54:26than the few exceptions, I would say.

54:30>> All right.

54:31>> Thank you all for this word. This is

54:33great.

54:33>> Yeah. The only other the only other

54:35thing I wanted to mention to you, so we

54:36had originally had a couple weeks,

54:38months ago, whatever, we had talked

54:39about two other items that will still be

54:40coming forward. We just had to kind of

54:42set those aside for the moment. So, one

54:44of those is on the enterprise

54:46operations. We want to give you an

54:47update well in advance of the budget

54:49next year starting with public

54:51utilities. That was ready to go with the

54:54departure of the public utilities

54:56director. I wanted to kind of pull that

54:57back to get that organized. So, it'll

54:59it'll still come probably I'm thinking

55:03at the beginning of the year, but

55:05definitely before budget formulation.

55:07The other one was the Sandy Springs um

55:10Sandy

55:12Springs Sandy Creek Basin study. Um and

55:15that one wasn't quite ready to go, but I

55:17would expect that one similarly could be

55:20um probably January is when that'll come

55:23through. So, those are the other two

55:24items that we'll bring forward, but

55:26that's why I've only had two items. Not

55:27that anybody's complaining. They only

55:29had two items, but just so you know,

55:30there was supposed to be more coming.

55:34>> Thanks for the update, Bob.

55:36>> All right, everybody. You are free.

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