Area News

With board member Allen Jenkins absent Tuesday night, the Grady County Board of Education was deadlocked and could not agree on a tentative ad valorem tax millage rate. The delay in setting a tentative millage puts off the required public notice advertising and could result in penalties leveled by the Georgia Department of Revenue if…

On Tuesday, the Grady County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to earmark $15,000 as the budget for the newly created Grady County Lake Authority for 2014. The money, for at the least the first year, will come from the proceeds of the $15 million bond issued to construct the lake. County Administrator Carlos Tobar told…

It will cost the Grady County Board of Education $181,480 for Tax Commissioner Phyllis Gainous to collect school taxes this year and school board members think that is too much. The tax commissioner collects municipal taxes for the cities of Cairo and Whigham at no charge based on an agreement reached with the two cities…

A 2.5 percent drop in the taxable value of the county combined with a projected $200,000 drop in sales taxes due to agricultural exemptions along with lower beer tax collections and insurance premium tax proceeds, Grady County commissioners are looking to up the millage rate to balance the county’s 2014 operating budget. This is the…

Grady County Board of Education members appear split over how to fund the operations of the county’s public schools. During a Sunday afternoon budget meeting the board, with the exception of board member Allen Jenkins, met with Superintendent Lee M. Bailey and Finance Officer Dan Broome to continue budget talks. Bailey and Broome presented a…

The story of daughters returning to the site of their father’s death in Vietnam is the subject of a documentary being produced by the daughter of a Whigham native. Jerry Ellen Jowers Anderson, originally from Whigham and now a resident of Dothan, AL, and her three daughters, Lynda, Debra, and Jodie will be the guests…

Cairo CNS Internet subscribers will likely notice a welcome change in their service beginning today. City officials announced this week that effective Wed., June 26, Internet access speeds for customers who currently receive 2 Mbps and 5 Mbps Internet service will be increased at no additional charge. According to CNS Marketing Director Celeste Tyler, the…

Grady County commissioners and County Administrator Carlos Tobar are continuing to fine tune the proposed budget for 2014. The board and county administrator met Thursday and then again Tuesday night for a budget workshop. They will meet again this Thursday night. Following the two meetings last week and on Tuesday, the board is considering leaving…

Grady County commissioners are looking into ways to reduce the cost of providing health insurance for the county’s 130 employees. Based on a proposal presented this week the county could save over $600,000 in insurance expenses over the course of one year. On Tuesday night, the board heard from John Taylor representing Taylor Benefit Resource…

If the 2013-2014 proposed budget for the Grady County School System stands as presented teachers, administrators and school system staff will continue to suffer a minimum of five furlough days and no local supplement. Superintendent Lee M. Bailey and Finance Officer Dan Broome presented the proposed budget to board members during a work session Monday…