Hall Co. Commission announces SPLOST vote delay

Posted 7:28PM on Thursday 10th July 2014 ( 9 years ago )

HALL COUNTY - At its meeting Thursday night, the Hall County Commission announced a delay in the vote on a proposed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referendum. The vote was set for November, but will now be pushed back to March 2015. "We wanted to get more public input," said Scott Gibbs, District 3 Commissioner. He said that summer was "probably a bad time" to collect citizen input, since many people are out of town or busy with children who are out of school. Gibbs added that more public meetings are on the way. "We're going to have at least two more meetings in the fall, and hopefully have a little better turnout that we've had [at previous meetings]," said Gibbs. He added that the online comment section will likely be reopened as well. HALL COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT GIVEN LOWER ISO RATING Hall County Fire Chief David Kimbrell announced at the commission meeting that Hall County received a rating of "3" by the Insurance Services Office. The scale is rated 1-10, with "1" being the best rating. Only 95 fire stations in the state of Georgia received a rating of "3" or better. The new rating is effective October 1, 2014. To meet the standard--and take advantage of the subsequent drop in fire insurance--citizens would ideally be within five miles of a fire station and 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant. Kimbrell encouraged residents to double-check their insurance coverage as well. "We have found that many people are rated incorrectly," said Kimbrell. He said citizens should feel free to call fire services for any assistance. Kimbrell added that this lower rating could drop some people's insurance rates by 50-percent or more. "This is a quantifiable way of showing that the fire department is providing a good service to our citizens," said Kimbrell.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/7/277000