September 20, 2007 Letters to the Editor

I have been admiring your calendar section (really the best calendar of any publication around) and our festival is in there, but I was hoping that you might be able to add some things and delete some things. (Think what is there now was gotten off of our postcard and is not exactly what we would like to stress).

This festival features American Country dealers from Ohio to Florida who used to sell everything they brought. We would love to have them back since their quality is so wonderful, but they have to sell to want to come back. In other words, it really is not a family event; old fashion feel we hope, but we don't have children’s' activities since we want everyone's focus to be on buying. When the postcard was printed, it was designed by those not familiar with the history of this show. Maybe in the future, we will have fun activities for children, but that is really not what these dealers who have come such a long way would like us to stress our first show out since 2004. 

So after this long winded e-mail, I was hoping that we could change just the part that says “enjoy an old-fashioned family event” to “and come to buy from the very best American Country dealers and local juried artisans.” 

Also, it might help us to mention that it is a free event with food provided by the Boy Scouts, Milton’s, Crabapple Tea Room and Spiced Right BBQ.

Besides my phone number, could we put in www.cityofmiltonga.us for more information and directions? (Some people might not know that we are four miles north of Roswell and three miles west of Alpharetta, which we use to put in as a mental visual.)

Thank you and if you can't make these changes, please don't take us out. With little money for advertising (who knew the city of Milton was so poor!), we need the exposure and this is my favorite publication now (no lie and it is not a lie to say that everyone is saying the same thing!) Next year we will charge for our booths and will spend most of our money with you.

Thank you again,

Sally Rich-Kolb

Dear Milton Residents:

This year's tax bills have been a source of confusion and frustration for many Milton residents. Not only did you receive two tax bills, but many of you saw what appeared to be a tax increase. Let me reassure you that the city of Milton did not increase your property tax or your tax rates. I and my fellow City Council members promised you that we would not increase your taxes when Milton became a city, and we've kept that promise.

So why would some of you see a higher tax bill? There are two possible reasons.

First, the Fulton County Tax Assessor's office reassessed around 80 percent of the properties in Milton this year, resulting in a higher property value for many Milton residents. This reassessment was part of the County's procedures related to home sales and fair market value, and was in no way related to the incorporation of Milton. If your property was not reassessed in 2007, then the total of your tax bills from Milton and Fulton County was slightly lower this year. If your property value increased due to Fulton County's reassessment, your property tax bill increased. The timing of Fulton County's reassessment and increased valuation could not have come at a worse time as the city of Milton entered into its first year of billing property taxes to its residents.

Second, many Milton residents were eligible for senior exemptions but failed to file for these exemptions. If you are age 65 or older, you qualify for a minimum $10,000 exemption, and could qualify for a full tax exemption. The deadline to file for a senior exemption has passed, but we want to make sure that all eligible taxpayers get the full senior exemption to which they are entitled. We have, therefore, extended the deadline for filing and will continue to accept applications for exemptions.

If you believe you are eligible for a senior exemption that you did not receive, please call the City's tax department at 678-242-2500, so that we can take your application and send a corrected tax bill. We have received more than 250 calls from people who have questions or concerns about tax bills. Most questions were easily answered, and we were able to apply exemptions for those who qualified.

I'm sure there are still many of you who still have questions or would like more information. A Town Hall Meeting will be held at City Hall on September 19 at 6:30 p.m., and we invite you to come, ask questions, and get more information. In the meantime, I personally am here to help you and welcome your call. If you have questions or feel your tax bill is incorrect, please contact me personally at joe.lockwood@cityofmiltonga.us. 

We look forward to seeing you at the Town Hall Meeting.

Joe Lockwood
Mayor of Milton