HIAWASSEE, Ga. – Towns County has nearly completed its budget amendment calculation for 2019, with positive news of an underspending of approximately $100,000. Sole Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw estimated the amount between $80K to $100K at the 2020 county budget adoption on Dec. 31, with the exact amount undetermined at the time due to delayed bill submissions by unspecified departments. Bradshaw stated that a few outstanding bills still need to be paid in order to arrive at an exact figure.

“It may be a little bit more. I don’t think it will be any less,” Bradshaw said. “But we can safely say $100,000. So I’m very, very proud of that. The auditors have already started again, auditing. They should be able to work through our books through June so we’re looking forward to getting that one done as well.”

The commissioner held a called meeting in his courthouse office on New Year’s Eve to finalize the adoption of the 2020 county budget while amending the budget from the previous year. “Every year, at the end of the year, we go over the previous year budget, and then we make any amendments that we need to amend. We might have an overage of one department, and under in another department, so we just move the money around so that we stay in budget,” Bradshaw explained.

Click to review Towns County’s 2020 budget

In other news, Towns County was approved for a Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) in the amount of $316,000. Towns County will provide a 30-percent match. “Last year we receive $284,000 so it’s definitely up and we’re very thankful for that,” Bradshaw said. The grant assists with road repaving and resurfacing.

According to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the annual LMIG allocation is based on the total centerline road miles for each local road system and the total population of each county or city as compared with the total statewide centerline road miles and total statewide population. The LMIG program allows local governments greater flexibility and quicker project delivery while allowing the GDOT to effectively administer the program with a reduced workforce and new funding match requirements.