Dougherty County officials lay out legislative funding priorities during Monday session

ALBANY – With December on the horizon, it was the time of year when visions of sugar plums, in the form of funding for big projects, danced in the heads of government officials in Dougherty County.

The annual monetary requests are part of the process for local state legislators ahead of the start of the Georgia General Assembly’s work in 2025. The first day of the session is Jan. 13, and the Pre-2025 session held Monday allowed local elected officials and other entities to let legislators know what their plans are for the coming year.

Cuthbert Republican state Rep. Gerald Greene said that he had alerted the officials to focus on a few main priorities instead of presenting a wish list for the upcoming legislative session.

Lawmakers under the Gold Dome will have a priority that will outweigh much of the ordinary business as they deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

“We’ve got big issues to the east of us to take care of those counties, just like we did when (Hurricane) Michael hit us,” Greene said during an interview ahead of the meeting. “I was in Vidalia and Augusta. It’s just unbelievable the devastation.”

Gov. Brian Kemp has declared his intention to provide some $12.8 billion to recovery efforts, said Greene, whose District 154 includes all or part of nine counties, including Dougherty County.

“That’s going to be the first priority that happens here,” he said.

For the Dougherty County Commission, the top priority presented was a systemwide library improvement plan, including the reconstruction of the West Town Library. The commission is requesting $450,000 for the West Town project, which would be matched with $450,000 in sales tax funds dedicated to the project. The additional $400,000 requested would go toward systemwide lighting, signage, security and safety improvements.

The second county request is $1.5 million to fund broadband internet expansion.

The expansion project is important to the county economically as well as for residents, including Marines who work at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany, Chairman Lorenzo Heard told Greene and state Rep. Bill Yearta, R-Sylvester, who also attended the meeting.

The county’s final request was for a $1 million grant to conduct environmental remediation of brownfield spaces.

For the Dougherty County School System, the top priority was for funding to continue the system’s popular pre-K expansion. Even after adding 16 classrooms last year, the system needs more space, Deputy Schools Superintendent Rodney Bullard Sr. said. The expansion included four special education classrooms.

The system has a total of 489 students in its Pre-K program, 29 of whom are special education students.

“We have a pre-existing waiting list,” Bullard said. “We were able to fill up the classes at the Morningside site very quickly.”

The school system’s other requests included providing additional state funding for economically disadvantaged students, reducing the pace of rising health care costs, addressing the shortage of teachers and more funds for early literacy programs.

For Albany Technical College, the three projects listed come with a total price tag of $23 million. That includes $3 million for the renovation and expansion of the college’s welding lab and classrooms, $17 million for a criminal justice demonstration and VECTR (veterans education career transition resource) center, and $3 million to hire more instructors in nursing to address the need for more nurses that is an issue nationwide.

Other entities that addressed the legislators included Albany State University, the city of Albany, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce and the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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