The Metter City Council canceled its scheduled public hearing on the proposed tax increase Thursday night after issues over the council quorum riddled operations through the course of the day.
Under Georgia law, a local government must hold three public hearings if it intends to increase the millage rate or set a millage rate higher than the rollback rate. The Metter City Council previously announced and advertised that three public hearings on a proposed tax increase would occur – two on September 4 and one on September 12. At least one council member expressed concern about his availability to attend the hearings at the proposed time due to work issues. Still, the city proceeded as planned.
The kerfuffle began Thursday morning when only the mayor, one council member, and the city manager attended the 8:30 a.m. public hearing. A photo of the hearing was published online and it was noted by TheGeorgiaVirtue.com that the city was not in compliance with state law, specifically the provisions requiring a quorum of city council members. TheGeorgiaVirtue.com took the position that Thursday’s meeting did not meet the standards for a public hearing and would not count toward the three meetings required by the state.
Initially, city staff contended that there was no issue with the lack of quorum and it planned to move forward as advertised, suggesting that public hearings were not the same as council meetings, but by the close of business, the city had changed course.
Legal Background
The Georgia Municipal Association, of which the City of Metter is a member, defines ‘open meetings’ as regular meetings, work sessions, special called meetings, emergency meetings, and public hearings. This information appears on their website.
Under the Georgia Open Meetings Act, the sunshine law governing how government entities conduct business, all open meetings require a quorum. This is outlined in detail in Georgia’s sunshine law and is not specific to millage rate public hearings. (OCGA 50-14-1)
Further, Section 2.21 of the Metter City Charter dictates that three council members constitute a quorum. It does not mention the mayor, as he only votes in a tie. The same section of the charter states that “Three council members shall be authorized to transact business of the city council.”
A public hearing is, in fact, business to be transacted by the city council even though no formal action is taken. This is reiterated by the fact that the city created Meeting Agendas for these public hearings and recorded minutes for the preservation of the record.
Most importantly, the Georgia Department of Revenue agrees with this interpretation of the law. The DOR is responsible for accepting the tax digests for local governments. If a local government does not follow the specific statute, it will reject the digest and require the governing body to re-do the process. The state’s position is reflected in the email, obtained by TheGeorgiaVirtue, below.
It specifically defines the levying authority – which is this city council. It says that the levying authority SHALL advertise and that the levying authority SHALL hold three hearings. The levying authority is not a single person, refers to the governing body as a whole, and does not include staff.
Also worthy of consideration is the same issue with the City of Statesboro in 2024 and the Bulloch County Board of Education in 2023. Both restarted their TABOR hearing process and readvertised after failing to have a quorum at their public hearings.
In a 2024 article published in the Statesboro Herald, the attorney for the City of Statesboro stated: “It’s our understanding, based on the Board of Education’s recent experience, that the Department of Revenue will not certify the digest unless a quorum is present at all three tax hearings. Accordingly we will have the hearings with quorum on the dates indicated in the referenced advertisement.”
Metter’s 2nd Hearing Cancelled
Though the city stated at 4:26 p.m. that the public hearing was still taking place, a 5:07 p.m. email followed up to state that the hearing would not be taking place.
A sign was posted on the door of city hall and said the 6:00 p.m. public hearing was canceled. The hearing had been advertised with a start time of 6:15 p.m. Just after 5:00 p.m., the city also shared the public notice for the hearing with the excerpt that the hearing had been canceled.
City councilwoman Victoria Gaitten responded on social media Thursday to state that the city was in the process of rescheduling the hearings, but no formal statement had been made by the city as of the close of business. The City did not cite a specific reason for the cancellation or announce that it planned to re-advertise the hearings and start the process over, as required by law.
