BLUE RIDGE, Ga – Fannin Commissioners set the overall county millage rate at 14.253 mills and accepted the county and school system’s rollbacks. Fannin County Schools rolled their millage rate back from 10.593 to 10.391 mills on Thursday, August 27. Previously, commissioners proposed to roll the county portion of the millage rate back to 3.938 […]
Read More »Secretary of State unveils new absentee ballot request portal
ATLANTA-Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger unveils a new online portal to make it easier for Georgia voters to request absentee ballots for the November elections. Georgia voters with a driver’s license or state ID card will now be able to request an absentee ballot entirely online. “Georgia is constantly searching for new and innovative […]
Read More »Fannin “preparing for growth” according to 2019 audit
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – New auditors believed Fannin County demonstrated acceptable money management practices and “preparing for growth” during the 2019 audit presentation. Amanda Wilkson, CPA from BatesCarter Company, presented their overall findings for the 2019 audit. Fannin received a clean/unmodified opinion for 2019, which is the best report a government organization under audit can attain. […]
Read More »Commissioners accept 2021 millage rate rollback
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – The Board of Commissioners approved lowering the county’s portion of the 2021 millage rate to 3.862 from 3.938 at the August 10, 2020 meeting. If the millage rate remained at 3.938, tax revenues for Fannin would have increased by $186,000. Additionally, Fannin County would have to legally declare a tax increase. […]
Read More »Andrew Clyde declares victory in Georgia’s Ninth District
NORTH GEORGIA – Earlier tonight, Andrew Clyde said, “I’m declaring victory tonight” to a room full of supporters in Commerce, Ga. after he clinched the GOP nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives Ninth District seat. The night ended fairly early for the gun shop owner and Navy Veteran with the race being called before […]
Read More »Fannin County August 11 runoff election returns
FANNIN COUNTY, Ga – The polls have closed for the August 11 runoff election. To review the unofficial election returns for your local, state, and federal races, check out the list below. Please remember all the results are unofficial until certified by the Secretary of State. COUNTY Precincts: 12 of 12 reporting Commission Chairman Republican […]
Read More »Dump-truck overturns on Collins Ave, traffic rerouted
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – A dump-truck driver left from Lance Trucking with its bed up and caught a cable line that overturned the vehicle, according to reports. No one was injured in the accident and only one car was involved. The accident occurred on Collins Ave and near Windy Ridge Circle around 10 a.m. on […]
Read More »Head-on collision ends in two fatalities on Georgia Hwy. 60
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – A tragic car accident resulted in the deaths of two of the three people involved on the evening of Saturday, August 1 on Georgia Hwy. 60. According to the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) report, the wreck occurred at 9:43 p.m. approximately 400 feet south of Old Mill Road. Elvin Wright,80, the […]
Read More »Getting Fannin residents jobs during a pandemic
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – Fannin County’s faring better than neighboring counties when it comes to unemployment. Currently, at 4.6 percent unemployment, Fannin is the lowest in the Northwest Georgia Region. The Fannin County Development Authority has also taken measures to assist citizens in finding jobs. When COVID-19 closings hit the community the hardest, it jumped […]
Read More »Georgia State Board of Education holds off on delaying school
NORTH GEORGIA – During Thursday’s Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) meeting, the state board of education opted not to discuss a delayed school start of September 8. For now, school start dates still remain in the hands of local school districts. Many have already pushed back the first day of school for either a couple […]
Read More »What does it cost to clean a courthouse?
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – In the past week, two county courthouses closed due to confirmed COVID-19 cases. This week county commissioners revealed two vastly different bills for sanitization services. However, neither expenditure is feasible as a regular expense for counties if more virus cases arise within government offices. Gilmer County paid Restoration 1 out of […]
Read More »Financial impact of courthouse cleaning, new COVID-19 protocols
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – After experiencing a COVID-19 exposure, the entire Fannin County Courthouse closed for deep-cleaning and sanitization. Due to the unexpected health hazard, the county approved a $70,059 emergency expenditure to pay American Property Restoration for its service. Chairman Stan Helton stated that he is continuing to try a negotiate the price down, […]
Read More »Cities, county, and fire department iron out a plan for hydrants
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – Fannin County Fire Department (FCFD), the cities, and the water authority developed an effective plan to fix current and future out of service hydrants. In the July 8 meeting, Fire Chief Larry Thomas led representatives from Blue Ridge, McCaysville, Morganton, and Fannin County Water Authority to fix the hydrant issue before […]
Read More »Financial report delivers good news for Fannin County
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – The county financial report through May 2020 provided some good news in the era of COVID-19 economic uncertainty. Overall, Fannin’s revenue was only off by two percent compared to 2019, and SPLOST and LOST collections were slightly ahead of last year. LOST and SPLOST went up around $50,000. “We were really […]
Read More »Hydrants remain damaged months into the ISO reevaluation plan
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – Commissioners raised questions about the status of fire hydrants within the county. Fire Chief Larry Thomas revealed that several are still out of service months after broaching the subject with city mayors. Post Two Glenn Patterson asked about the hydrants, “Are we moving forward on that are far as the ones […]
Read More »SBA Physical Disaster Loan Deadline is July 20 in Georgia For April thunderstorms, excessive rainfall and tornadoes
ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) encourages businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters to apply for a disaster loan before the July 20 deadline. Anyone in the declared counties in Georgia with damages caused by thunderstorms, excessive rainfall and tornadoes on April 12 – 13, 2020 should apply for […]
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