Montgomery BoC retain mobile home decal requirement and discuss future road work

The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners reconsidered a resolution proposed by the Montgomery County Tax Commissioner’s office to no longer require the office to issue mobile home decals and discussed future road repairs during their monthly meeting on August 11 in the Montgomery County Government Annex.

The decals are issued by the office in accordance with Georgia state law, so mobile home owners can display them as evidence of paid taxes and permit ownership. However, changes to state law have allowed counties to opt out of the decal requirement.

The board originally considered the proposal in their July meeting, in which they voted against the resolution unanimously, citing concerns the lack of decals would result in poor mobile home tracking and uncollected tax money.

No board members offered a motion regarding the resolution, allowing it to fail and retaining the decal requirement.

During public comments, Tax Commissioner Renee Wooten-Perry criticized the board for their decision. According to Wooten-Perry, the permit and inspection process for most mobile homes would be enough to track mobile homes in the county without the decals.

Wooten-Perry claimed using a streamlined registration process to track mobile homes in the county would save $1,000 annually in decal production and postage costs. The Tax Assessor’s office would also save time and money without annually checking each mobile home for a displayed decal.

She also noted Bacon, Toomes, Jeff Davis and Treutlen counties have adopted the resolution without issue.

“So my question and request is you all to reconsider your vote, your motion to not adopt the resolution, and if you don’t, you’re going to see me every month, because I’m going to put myself on this schedule every month until I get a resolution done, and I would love for you all to work with me,” said Wooten-Perry.

Betty McLendon also spoke to the board during public comment, asking the board to consider road work on Petross Road and McLendon Road. According to McLendon, rain runoff has eroded her driveway, and her drainpipe is also clogged, preventing proper drainage.

The board discussed similar road issues at length during their August 7 work session. Several roads and driveways have been damaged or worsened by heavy rain and runoff from plots of land where timber has been cut, particularly Old River Road.

The board has plans to contract out various roads in need of repair in order to lighten the load placed on the Montgomery County Road Department, though no specific plans have been announced.

“We need to quit Band-Aiding and fix what needs to be fixed,” said Vice-Chair Clarence Thomas.

The board also reviewed the July 2025 financial report, delivered by County Manager Heather Scott. According to the report, the county earned 57.4 percent of its projected revenue, while the county’s total expenditures totalled 51.3 percent of its budget of $5,794,561.12.

In individual expenditures, general government costs have totaled 53.1 percent of its budget of $1,410,312.40; judicial costs have totaled 56 percent of its budget of $574,884.05; public safety costs have totaled 51 percent of its budget of $1,866,647.16; public works costs have totaled 37.1 percent of its budget of $1,151,676.68; health and welfare costs have totaled 58.3 percent of its budget of $53,250; culture and recreation costs have totaled 73.3 percent of its budget of $120,311.83; housing and development costs have totaled 53.4% of its budget of $90,898.35; debt service costs have totaled 58.3 percent of its budget of $31,656 and other financing use costs have totaled 68 percent of its budget of $494,924.65.

In terms of the upcoming 2026 fiscal year budget, the board considered whether to offer employees a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The board has given county employees a COLA every year, according to Scott.

The board voted to allow Scott to begin moving forward with planning the 2026 budget with a 3 percent COLA, following a motion from Commissioner Leland Adams.

The Mount Vernon Bank also asked the board to approve a bank limit increase. The board opted unanimously to raise the limit to $200,000 to avoid repeated limit increases, following a motion by Adams.

Adams also offered a motion to allow Scott to begin negotiations with neighboring cities in regards to FLOST, which passed unanimously.

The board also considered soliciting proposals and bids, including the sale of an old fire truck from the Montgomery State Prison, renovations for the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) building, a potential purchase for a new skid steer and a new utility tractor.

The Higgston Fire Department approached the Montgomery government about purchasing the fire truck from the prison, but the board decided to advertise the sale of the truck to any potential buyers instead. Vice-Chair Thomas offered a motion to put out the advertisement, which passed unanimously.

The old road department building will be renovated into an EOC building for the Montgomery County EMA to use in case of an emergency, as the building is already equipped with a generator. Adams offered a motion to advertise for bids for the renovation, which passed unanimously.

Adams also offered a motion to accept proposals for a new skid steer, which passed unanimously. Thomas offered a motion to accept proposals for a new utility tractor for highway grass cutting, which passed four to one with Commissioner Amie Vassey against.

Vassey argued purchasing a new utility tractor would place more strain on the road department, and asked if the work could instead be contracted out to a company. However, Thomas objected to contracting out the work, citing poor experience with contractors in that area in the past.

The board also considered the vacant seat on the Greater Savannah Regional Alliance Board. The seat would have been filled by Joe Filipone, the former Montgomery County Development Board director, but he has since retired.

As the seat term will still continue until 2026, the board considered appointing Filipone’s successor Michael Stanley. Vassey argued the position should be advertised for applicants, as the seat occupant did not necessarily have to be affiliated with the development authority, but the Board voted to appoint Stanley four to one, following a motion from Thomas.