Nearly $5 million dollars in additional revenue prompted the Macon-Bibb County Commission to adjust its budget Tuesday, and allocate funds not anticipated when the Fiscal Year 2026 spending plan was adopted in June.
The county collected additional funds of $2.1 million from insurance premium tax, almost $1.9 million reimbursement from the sale of property, almost $694K in Payment in Lieu of Taxes from projects involving the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority and the Macon Housing Authority and $280K from other revenue insurance collections.
Commissioners agreed to transfer funds of $1.55 million to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office for part-time employees, inmate food and electricity and $700K to the Macon Bibb County Transit Authority under an intergovernmental agreement to provide funding for mass transit.
During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners approved $546K that came from interest earned from American Rescue Plan Act Funds to reimburse the Otis Redding Foundation for sidewalks completed around the new Otis Redding Center for the Arts along Cotton Avenue and Cherry Street.
From the remaining 2018 SPLOST funds, recreation centers will get nearly $196K and
about $172K that was originally earmarked for public safety will pay for computers and hardware in various county departments. .
The I.T. budget will provide $427K to renew computer server and infrastructure support from CDW-G Computers.
The general fund, the county’s basic treasury for expenses, will allocate $137.6K per year for Pictometry International’s six-year contract to provide aerial flyover mapping used in assessing property values, monitoring growth and enhancing GIS mapping for emergency services.
Commissioners also accepted a Georgia Department of Transportation grant of nearly $271K for a drainage study and airfield electrical work at the Macon Downtown Airport. The county provides $13.5K in matching funds for that project.
An update to the county code of ordinances will simplify the process to update Macon-Bibb’s Fire Code and Life Safety Code, which the State of Georgia revises every few years.
Senior Assistant County Attorney Sara Davis explained the change will allow automatic adoption the state’s changes without having to bring them before the county commission.
Kitchen Pride, Rosa Parks mural
Commissioners approved alcohol licenses for the new owners of the Capitol Theatre at 382 Second St. and A 1 Stop at 1193 Wesleyan Drive, Suite A.
New Start Food Mart, doing business as Kitchen Pride at 3101 Columbus Road, will not be able to sell alcohol.
County attorneys cited the lack of fresh food resulted in Tuesday’s license denial.
“This is the gift that keeps on giving,” Mayor Lester Miller said. “We’ve denied several times for this particular license for various reasons.”
Under local law passed in 2021, to qualify for an alcohol license a store must sell fuel or have on hand to sell at least four pounds of five different types of fresh fruits or vegetables, four pounds of meat, four dozen fresh chicken eggs, four gallons of fresh cow’s milk and four pounds of bread.
Stores must maintain a Georgia Department of Agriculture certified scale to comply with the regulations.
Stores that don’t meet the standards are considered “vice marts” and ineligible for alcohol licenses.
Kitchen Pride was recently cited for selling alcohol without a license, Miller said.
On the eve of the rededication of Rosa Parks Square, Macon-Bibb also recognized February’s Black History month and approved a mural for the reimagined city square.
The Friends of Rosa Parks Square asked the county to add the mural to the park’s final design.
The board was initially created to raise money to beautify and improve the square named for the Civil Rights icon who was born 113 years ago on Feb. 4, the date of Wednesday’s rededication.
The committee intends to raise money to hire Macon native and artist Gwendolyn M. Payton to create the mural. The mayor said he believed fundraising would be easier to do with the commissioners’ support.
Payton was one of Mercer University’s first Black art students who entered the university in 1968, five years after integration.
She wanted to become a medical illustrator and majored in biology and art, but faced adversity from the chair of the art department who said she was not smart enough to earn a degree in his department. Payton was not allowed to hold her senior exhibit and did not qualify for an art degree. Newly married and pregnant, she opted not to stay for another semester to complete the art requirements.
Payton earned her biology diploma in 1972, and in 2020 was allowed to hold her senior exhibit and received her art degree, thanks to Mercer History Professor Sarah Gardner, who met Payton on a shuttle ride from the airport and heard her story.
Payton’s son Khary, who was born shortly after Payton’s first Mercer graduation, produced a documentary about his mother’s plight and determination, “The Faith of the Dreamer,” which debuted at last year’s Macon Film Festival.
Commissioner Donice Bryant-Cato inquired about what will be in the mural, but the design has yet to be revealed, Miller said.
Here are highlights from the meeting captured in social media posts.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
