Just before the Georgia Legislature’s Crossover Day, Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller said his top legislative priority is passage of the senior citizen property tax exemption bill. (00:29 into video)
“I think our Rep. Tangie Herring is pushing that through. She’s been working with legislative counsel, so we’re looking forward to having a local vote on that, and taking it before the full legislative bodies, and getting that through this year so we can have a referendum in November,” Miller said during the latest Ask Mayor Miller program.
There would be no income restrictions for the graduated property tax break.
“So, someone 65 and older can begin to get either reduced or completely wipe out all their school taxes or their county taxes depending on the value of their house,” Miller said. “But they must register as a homestead property as soon as this passes.”
The county is now entering its third month of collecting an occupation tax for visitors staying in hotels or short-term rentals and owners of blighted property are now paying higher taxes. (9:04)
Miller projected up to $150,000 a month coming in from the occupation tax that will be spent on tourism infrastructure like the new arena and convention center.
The increased blight tax came after the county cut the millage rate in half.
“We didn’t want to reward the bad actors, so we basically increased that amount to be the equivalent millage rate,” Miller said.
In a submitted question to the program, Tim Harrell asked about unpaid business licensing fees over the last 10 years. (7:58)
Miller said he was not aware of many businesses still operating without a license.
“I think we have a very good success rate on getting those fees paid,” Miller said. “Previously, they were not handled by (Tax Commissioner) Wade McCord’s office. And once he got involved in it, some of those people that owe money from the past are businesses that are no longer in existence, but I think we’re pretty current on most of the businesses we have. They have a very good enforcement process.”
3rd Mayoral term, Dist. 5 special election
Miller said passage of a charter change for a third mayoral term is not his priority. (1:52)
“Certainly, if it doesn’t happen this year, it could die or could start again next year,” Miller said. “I think each of the legislators, they’re elected countywide through Bibb County, like we are, and they’ve heard the wishes of the majority of the commission, and hopefully they’ll do their job either this year or next. But you know, things happen. This is an election year, too. I think at least three of those folks have their own elections this year, both in the primary and the general election. So we’ll see what happens this year. If not, we’ll look at next year as a possibility.”
Miller dismissed as “politics” the online criticism from Commissioner Donice Bryant-Cato concerning County Commission District 5 candidate Andrea Cooke and her ties to the mayor. (3:58)
Miller said out of transparency Cooke already withdrew from the Mental Health Matters division of Southern Center for Choice Theory that received at least $1.1 million dollars in Macon-Bibb County grants, and Cooke came off the board of one of the mayor’s nonprofit organizations.
“So, one thing Ms. Cooke wanted to do is be open and transparent to make sure that she didn’t put herself in any potential conflicts. We’ve talked to local counsel, there’s no conflicts,” Miller said. “You’ve got probably three or four different commissioners who are supporting three or four different candidates, which is all of our rights to do so. In the end, the person that wins, we’re all gonna have to work with. Ms. Bryant, subsequently, she has her own opinions, I have my own opinion. And certainly, when you look at that list of people, in my opinion, Andrea Cooke’s the most qualified.”
Cooke is running against Edward Foster, Chester Gibbs, Ulisha Hill, Landon Justice and Stephanie Stephens-Lanham in the March 17 special election.
Now that Seth Clark is out of the race, Miller said he hasn’t yet spoken to him about his future plans. (5:17)
“He did an exploratory committee and he started raising funds. He was very successful early on doing that and I think qualifying was this week and I think at that time, he decided he was going to do what’s right for his family, and that’s not look for that state role,” Miller said. “He was a great commissioner, great mayor pro tem, and we wish him all the best.”
Miller expects a special called meeting of the county commission on March 18 due to scheduling conflicts with training on March 3 and 17. (5:57)
Board appointments, new housing
He plans to reappoint Rachel Umana to the Macon-Bibb County Transit Authority after her term expired in July and the lapse in the reappointment had MBCTA CEO Craig Ross believing she was not going to be reappointed. (6:47)
Miller also plans to address vacancies on Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful’s board this spring.
“It’s had some challenges on getting quorums there, so the last thing you want to do is increase the number of people when you face challenges for people already showing up,” Miller said. “They have to remember the process and procedure, and that goes to the mayor’s office. It’s not a decision they make on their own, but at the same time we want to make sure we get good quality people on that board.”
After members of the Downtown Macon Community Association asked for help in dealing with unhoused vagrants trashing abandoned buildings, confronting people and leaving behind human waste, Miller said state plans for a new mental hospital and millions in grant funds could help, but adequate law enforcement is crucial. (10:38)
“We have to make sure that sheriffs continue to do their job and does enforcement on there, that we make sure we hold owners responsible for properly securing their buildings, to make sure that they’re boarded up, they’re locked up, there’s cameras in the area,” Miller said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. Every situation is very unique. We do have a coordinated effort, and it’s working out a lot better than it used to.”
With the upcoming FIFA World Cup matches in Atlanta this summer, he expects more transients in town.
“We have a lot of people who want to do nice things for people that are experiencing homelessness in Macon, but certainly we don’t need people giving out stuff on every corner and basically enabling people to do certain things. So there’s a lot going on with it. We have a great team. Everybody’s real compassionate about doing the work. We just have to make sure that we’re streamlining everything and we’re on the right page,” he said.
Affordable housing projects, such as recent plans to renovate the old Jessie Rice and Joseph N. Neel schools, and new apartments on the grounds of the old Progressive Christian Academy in Pleasant Hill are accompanied by housing permits across the county. (18:18)
“There’s a lot of new, expanded housing off Houston Avenue, south Bibb County out by Tobesofkee, North Macon, and even now some creep into east Macon because of all the speculation that’s going over there. So you’ll see a lot more housing, not just apartment complexes, but single housing developments as well that are popping up now, and our permits are showing that,” he said.
Within the next year, he expects 100 houses to go up in Napier Heights near Central High School through the efforts of Historic Macon, NewTown Macon and others.
Tourism, teen jobs
Miller plans for the county to soon demolish the old Secretary of State’s building on Coliseum Drive which will be used for additional Coliseum parking with shuttles during construction of the new arena. (2:25)
Shirley Randall suggested the county hire teens from low-income families to help at recreation centers or camps this summer, but the mayor said there are limitations. (15:39)
“We like to hire all the teens that we can if we feel like if they’ve got a good skill, and they get some money in their pocket, it kind of helps do some things. Unfortunately, the county can’t take on minor children, kids at a certain age. A lot of the companies we deal with because of OSHA requirements, and other type of requirements, there’s too much liability,” he said. “We do have a local workforce development that we deal with that hires teens and others, but really the liability issue and the age around certain equipment and around certain types of environments are not suitable for kids under age of 18.”
He is looking forward to Cherry Blossom time, turning the town pink and greeting visitors. (24:00)
“People outside our community love Macon-Bibb County. They give it all kind of compliments. They’re excited when they come here. They’re excited when they leave here, and certainly they spend some money while they’re here,” Miller said. “We grow our digest every year around this time, hotel-motel tax, our sales tax, and that goes to benefit public safety, to our school systems, to our projects.”
Send questions for the next Ask Mayor Miller to [email protected].
— 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.
