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During their regular meeting on May 21, the Henry County Board ofCommissioners adopted a balanced FY2014General Fund Budget of $122,078,834. Thisamount reflects revenues of $119,061,585,with the difference being made up throughthe use of fund balance. Property taxrevenues are estimated to be up slightly, byless than onepercent (.8%) overlast year, a minorimprovement overprevious years’downward trends.Revenue from Salesand Use Taxes arealso up nearly$918,000.

Alsoincluded in the $122million is more than$1.4 million inLMIG grant fundsthat will be used to complete 19 roadresurfacing projects in the coming year. Italso includes $525,000 in grant funds for anupdate to the ComprehensiveTransportation Plan and $50,000 inreimbursements for a GIS mapping update.

This year, Henry CountyCommissioners also elected to include $1.2million for extra compensation foremployees. It has not yet been determinedwhether the added compensation will come

in the form of an across the board bonusaveraging $573 net take home for eachemployee before federal taxes, OR a payraise of up to 2 percent. If this step had notbeen taken, this would have been the sixthyear the employees would have gonewithout any type of pay increase.

It is because employees have goneso long withoutadditionalcompensation thatCommissionersalso made thedecision for theCounty to fullyabsorb a 16 percentincrease in medicalinsurance premiumcosts totaling $1.9million. Theemployees will bepaying higher outof pocket and co-

pay expenses, which allowed the county tominimize the increase to 16 percent. Inaddition, Henry County employees withfamily coverage were required to absorb a $75 annual increase in dental insurance premiums.

Henry County’s claims ratio is closeto 100 percent, which means that theinsurance carrier, Blue Cross Blue Shield ofGeorgia, is losing money on Henry County,thus explaining the double digit premium

the henry county update 1

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Regular MeetingsJune 4th at 9:00 a.m.June 18th at 6:30 p.m.

Meetings held at: Administration Building

Community Room140 Henry Parkway

McDonough, GA 30253

Commission meetings will air Mondays, Thursdays,

and Saturdays on Henry TV Channel 14,

at 9 a.m., 2 p.m., & 7 p.m.

Commissioners Adopt $122 Million Budget

We are now onAT&T U-Verse Channel 99 & Charter Channel 14

May 29, 2013

The job of an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)or a Paramedic isn’t easy. But they are always there ready toanswer the call at a moment’s notice. Prepared for whateverthey may be faced with, EMT’s and Paramedics are dedicatedto delivering high quality pre-hospital care, anywhere, anytime, and often under difficult and unpredictable situations.This week, Henry County Fire Department (HCFD) recognizesall of the HCFD EMT’s and Paramedics for their dedication365 days a year 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Henry County Fire Department began EMS servicedelivery in 1974. In the nearly four decades, that havefollowed, HCFD has remained a proud provider of EMSacross a 323 square mile jurisdiction and home to over209,000 citizens that live, work, and play in Henry County.In the early years of EMS, if you needed emergency medicalcare, a hearse would appear. Today, when you are in need ofemergency medical care, a state of the art ambulance withhighly trained Fire/Medics will come to your aid.

This year’s theme, “EMS: One Mission. One Team”marks the 40th annual National Emergency Medical ServicesWeek. This is not only an opportunity to affirm our long-standing commitment to EMS for the citizens and visitors ofHenry County, but more importantly to applaud the less

visible members of a national EMS system that seek toassure the comfort, recovery and survival of all who turn tothem when afflicted with sudden illness or injury.

This week, we proudly recognize the around-the-clock devotion emergency medical technicians andparamedics, who work in a noble pursuit. It is our hope thatyou will join us in reaching out to the providers of EMS inyour community to say thank you.

“National EMS Week is a tremendous opportunity tocelebrate and thank our Firefighter/EMTs and ourFirefighter/Paramedics for the countless lives that have beensaved because of the service they provide” said Fire Chief BillLacy. “Henry County is fortunate to have so manyprofessional men and women serving on the front lines ofour health care and public health system. These men andwomen are the ones always there in our hour of greatestneed,” stated Captain Sabrina Puckett.

Additional information: The Henry County FireDepartment has 136 EMT’s and 105 Paramedics. The HenryCounty Fire Department runs 11 front line ambulances. Onaverage HCFD is currently responding to approximately 1414medical calls per month. The Henry County Fire Departmentresponded to 17,282 medical calls in the year 2012.

National EMS Week ‘EMS: One Mission. One Team’ May 19-25, 2013Henry County Fire Department Salutes Emergency Medical Service Providers

www.hen r ycoun t y -ga .o rg

CONRAD • Anatolian Shepherd MixI am a sweet and loving soul that needs a lifetime companionto give me the home that I deserve. I was picked up as a stray,so my friends here at the shelter do not know anything aboutmy past. If you would like to meet me, then please call myfriends at (770) 288-PETS. My I.D. # 4/26-0995 please referto this number when inquiring about me. Lost and stray ani-mals are held at the Henry County Animal Care and ControlShelter for four (4) calendar days (excluding Sundays andcounty holidays) in order to give their owners a chance to re-claim them. After that time period, adoptable animals are heldas long as space allows.

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BUDGET From Page 1

increase. Additional increases are anticipated for next yeardue to changes in the nation’s healthcare programs. As aresult, Commissioners cautioned that the County would notbe able to continue to absorb these medical insuranceexpenses in the future.

“Everybody needs to be aware that we can’t hit thereserve fund every year for $3 million dollars. Theemployee is going to have to know that, for insurancepremiums and other things, they are going to have to paymore. That’s why I’m for the two percent as opposed to abonus plan,” explained District 4 Commissioner ReidBowman. “It’s going to take that or more to get up to theinsurance with the increases we’ve seen this year and whatwe expect to see next year.”

Consequently, for future years, Henry County isinvestigating the feasibility of implementing a wellnessprogram to help encourage employees and their families tohave conditions diagnosed and adopt healthier habits thatwould lead to lower insurance claims, saving bothemployees and the County money.

Absorbing the insurance premium increase inaddition to the added compensation will require the Countyto use $3,017,249 from Fund Balance.

For more information about Henry County’sfinances, or to review Henry County’s award-winningComprehensive and Popular Annual Financial Reports,please visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/finance.

Commissioners Approve Board AppointmentsThe Henry County Board of Commissioners approved thereappointment of Arch Brown to the Board of Elections and Registration at Tuesday evening’s regular Commission meeting.

Commissioners accepted the recommendation ofthe nominating committee to reappoint Brown for a four-year term to expire on July 1, 2017. Brown has served asthe At-Large Member of the Elections and RegistrationBoard since 2009.

At a May 9, 2013 called meeting, the Board ofCommissioners reappointed Rick Jeffares to serve as theDistrict II representative on the Henry County Water andSewer Authority for a term to expire on December 31, 2014.They also appointed Dan Judson to serve on the RecreationBoard, as the District II representative, for a term to expireon December 31, 2014.

To see a complete list of all Henry County Boardsand Authorities, visit http://tinyurl.com/8564mz7.

HENRY COUNTY D.O.TROAD RESURFACING SCHEDULE

For the week of June 3, 2013East Lake Road between SR155 and Airline Road will be resurfaced.*

*Weather permitting.

www.hen r ycoun t y -ga .o rg

The Henry County Administration Building continuesto support the arts through its gallery of student artwork, withthe third installation of students’ artistic creations adorningthe walls of the Henry County Administration Building, thanksto the Arts Initiative launched in 2010 by the Henry CountyBoard of Commissioners in partnership with the Board ofEducation and the local Arts Coalition. The program isdesigned to highlight the extraordinary artwork being createdin our schools by displaying select pieces in the CountyAdministration Building.

The art is on display, gallery-style, in the atrium ofthe Administration Building and in the hallway on the firstfloor, outside the Tax Commissioner’s and Tax Assessors’offices. Some additional pieces of sculpture are on display in

the community room. The pieces were selected by variousart teachers, and the array of artwork not only showcases theamazing talent of Henry County’s public elementary, middleand high school students, but also demonstrates the widevariety of media and artistic styles being taught in the school system.

The newest collection features pieces by these 52Henry County students: Anyha Anderson, Caitlyn Bailey,Brianna Barton, Pranav Bhatt, Rhiannon Bowen, CyantaishaCunningham, Cornellius Brayboy, Analia Briceno, DionneCampbell, Divya Campbell, Zaina Clark, Nick Cody, JavantaCountee, Cobee Crokett, Haley Depree, Natalie Dishmon,Matthew Edwards, Tyler Faulkner, Glenford Francis, DallasFuller, Gage Garner, Drake Grall, Neil Hancock, Rachel Henry,

New Student Artwork on Display at County Administration Building

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Tia Jackson, Makylah Jackson, Trevor Jackson, DanielKuhns, Jennifer Landrum, Wendyne Jean Laurent, CaraLipscomb, Abraham Martinez, Brandon Marlowe, NashaMcCray, Autumn McMullan, Claudia Memah, Patrick Miller,Cheyanne Moss, Nemsys Ortiz, Logan Mailot Owens, TainaPainter, Aniya Phillips, Kayla Phillips, Lance Pirtle, MelanieSchoenrock, Emma Sheppard, Alyson Smith, Wayne Steele,Alyssa Willard, Anastasia Winfield, Ryan Younginer andRalph Zurita.

The students were recognized at the Board ofCommissioners regular meeting on May 21, where they wereeach presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for theircreativity and artistic talent, and for sharing their incrediblework with the community.

This arts initiative was made possible through thegenerosity of local businesses. Henry County would like toexpress its appreciation to these sponsors for supporting thisarts initiative through their donations: Dentistry for Children,P.C.; Georgia Power; the Henry County Water & SewerageAuthority; Lambert Sand and Gravel; the McDonough ArtsCouncil; O.B.’s BBQ, Catfish, Ribs; Smith, Welch, Webb &White, LLC; and Snapping Shoals EMC.

Henry County hopes to continue the program to allowmore students’ work to be displayed. To make a donation orfor more information, call 770.288.6409 or visithttp://www.henrycounty-ga.org/ArtsInitiative. The HenryCounty Administration Building is located at 140 HenryParkway in McDonough.

The next SPLOST IV Committee meeting will be held at the Flippen Elementary School at 425 Peach Drive inMcDonough on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 6 p.m.

Public input regarding the proposed SPLOST IV program can be submittedhere: henrycounty-ga.org/SPLOST/SPLOSTIV_Comments.shtml

The Henry County Board of Commissioners honored selected art students at the May 21st meeting.