September 13, 2022 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the September 13, 2022 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All three commissioners were present.

This meeting was again held in the conference room of the Commission Annex Building. There were three people present besides the usual Camden County employees who attend.

The mood of the meeting was very cordial and friendly. This was a good thing because we were all sitting around the same table.

The first agenda item was the Horseshoe Bend Road District CART money. I believe this is the road district’s share of Camden County’s CART (County Aid Road Trust) funds. This money is intended solely for roads and bridges. The revenue comes from gas tax, license fees, and registration fees. Horseshoe Bend’s share of the CART money was $335,404.83.

The distribution of this CART money and the Certified Copy of Order that accompanied it were approved unanimously.

The next agenda item was the Tax Levy. This is related to the Hancock Amendment. The County Clerk compares the earned sales tax revenue with the total assessed property value of the county to determine if the portion of the sales tax that was not passed with a vote needs to be reduced. Based on Rowland Todd’s calculations, the tax rate for this portion of the sales tax should remain at .22 (.11 for Road and Bridge and .11 for County Revenue).

This was approved unanimously by the Commission.

The third agenda item was a Request for Surplus. A former property owner was asking for $8,467.34 in surplus money. I assumed this was from a tax sale.

This was approved unanimously.

The final two agenda items involved the position of Camden County Attorney. Commissioner Hasty stated that when he first joined the Commission, Camden County paid for legal advice on an hourly basis and had been spending at least $250,000 per year on attorney fees. To try to reduce this cost, the County Attorney was originally established as a part time position for Charles McElyea, but it quickly became apparent that the job required a full time attorney.

McElyea is retiring at the end of the year. He has performed legal work for Camden County since 1971.

The new County Attorney position will be a full time job that pays $125,000 annually with benefits. The Commission and county elected officials conducted interviews and selected Jeffrey E. Green as the new Camden County Attorney. He will be signed to a one-year renewable contract and he will officially begin on January 1, 2023 unless both parties agree to Green starting earlier.

The terms of the contract and the hiring of Jeffrey E. Green were both approved unanimously by the Commission.

And that was that.