Mt. Zion, GA -- Mt. Zion city council met last night for a monthly work session where one of the main topics of discussion early in the meeting was of the $17,000 in city property taxes that have not been paid. “There are property owners in the city that have not paid property taxes over the last two, three, four… some of them five years,” says Mayor Randy Sims. “We’re going to go back and move on those collections.”
The newly elected mayor says another issue the city faces is the lack of a contingency fund. “I don’t know (why the city does not have one),” he says. “I’m sure it has been a cash flow problem in the past but every city should have a contingency fund. We’re certainly going to establish one, not because we are expecting an emergency where we have to have the money but it is just good business practice to have the money set aside.”
The mayor says one way to handle establishing the fund is to take 5% of all incoming revenue to establish a fund over a years’ time.
Mayor and council shared concerns over inconsistent revenue throughout the year leading to tight budget issues sometimes on a monthly basis, even if revenues are looking positive for the year. Potential proposals will be discussed at future work sessions and ultimately voted on in a city council meeting.
Mt. Zion Police may soon be rolling out a service for checking in on the elderly, bed-ridden neighbors, or kids at home alone after school, according to Police Chief Steve Miller. “We have done it periodically in the past for the elderly and sick… the bed-ridden… had home-health nurses coming in, checking on them,” he says. “Our officers would go by and check on them.”
The police department will have detailed forms available for community members to fill out where they can request time of day, days of the week, contact numbers in case of emergency, and a list of medications if an ambulance needs to be called.
“Any kind of concern for welfare,” says Miller. “Vacationing families can come by and let us know (they are out of town) and we’ll keep a look-out on their property, check their doors. We’ll do more than (regular patrols) through the neighborhood.”