Middle Georgia polls open for Saturday vote

People interested in voting in the May 24 election will have an opportunity to cast their ballot Saturday.

Early voting, which runs until May 20, will include voting this Saturday, May 14, thanks to a Georgia law that requires that one Saturday during an early voting period is available.

This election features numerous races across the midstate and Georgia. Among the Macon-Bibb races up for grabs are sheriff, tax commissioner, three contested County Commission districts and several school board seats.

In other midstate races, Houston County features some contested school board races. Other counties such as Baldwin, Monroe, Crawford, Peach and Twiggs also have local races on the May 24 ballot.

For information on the various races, visit the Georgia Secretary of State website at elections.sos.ga.gov/GAElection/CandidateDetails or contact your local elections office.

Commissioner given extra time for SPLOST remarks

Macon-Bibb County’s first community meeting about the proposed special purpose local option sales tax was held this week at the Macon Mall, which is in Commissioner Al Tillman’s district.

The meeting allowed residents up to three minutes to talk about their ideas for projects for the next SPLOST referendum that will likely be on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Although residents had a time limit, Commissioner Gary Bechtel also gave comments, but his lasted longer than three minutes.

Tillman said he had a good reason not to interrupt Bechtel.

“ I was not going to cut (Bechtel) off for going over three minutes because he put $75,000 in my district for Eisenhower (Parkway),” Tillman told the crowd of about 50 people.

The money Tillman referenced is blight funding that Bechtel has pledged for corridor improvements along Eisenhower. In total, $150,000 worth of improvements could take place along the Middle Georgia Education Corridor Business Improvement District.

The next community SPLOST meeting is 6 p.m. Thursday at the National Guard Armory, 1030 Shurling Drive.

Mayor credits others for budget success

While the presentation of the proposed fiscal 2017 Macon-Bibb County budget went smoothly this week, the effort of getting the budget ready required a lot of behind-the-scenes action.

On Tuesday, Mayor Robert Reichert unveiled a $142 million general fund budget proposal that reaches the 20 percent reduction goal a year earlier than required by the consolidation of Macon and Bibb County. That achievement would not have occurred without the help of various department heads, constitutional officers and other related agencies, Reichert said.

Julie Moore, assistant to the county manager for budget and planning, and her staff also played a pivotal role.

“Julie Moore and her staff interviewed, reviewed, cried with, fussed at, scolded, consoled, wheeled and came up with the figures,” Reichert said during the presentation.

The County Commission will hold budget work sessions prior to voting before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Middle Georgia polls open for Saturday vote."