What should residents ask at the hearing?

Choose the questions that matter to you. You do not need to read every supporting record to ask for a clear explanation. The detailed prompts below identify what could supply one.

The central question is simple: what do residents receive, what does it cost them, and what records show the answer? The questions below arise from the linked spending, relationship and reimbursement records. An unanswered question is not proof of wrongdoing.

Ask commissioners to explain the spending

1. For the twelve appropriations in the roughly nine-cents group, what needs, costs and results support continuing each amount? Please identify any substantive public explanation our review missed.
2. Where an amount was presented as unchanged, what current review supports it? Can the County publish that explanation before adoption?
3. What services or legal obligations require the spending, and which elements are discretionary?
4. What would residents gain or lose if an amount were increased, reduced or left unchanged?
5. Where reported spending already exceeds the displayed budget, what amendments and one-time costs explain the difference, and what supports next year's forecast?

Ask what public support buys

6. What specific services and results does the proposed $140,000 DAAC appropriation support, and how will commissioners check delivery?
7. What revenues and legally available reserves can DAAC use itself? What remaining need calls for County support?
8. What distinct work belongs to DAAC, the City's DDA and the Chamber? Where they cooperate, who pays for which work and how is duplication avoided?
9. What services does DAAC purchase from the Chamber, under what agreement, and how are shared staff and office costs allocated?

Ask for the full taxpayer cost

10. Does Seven Rivers reimburse all costs of the County's payroll role, including benefits and administration? Show actual expenses, invoices, receipts and balances together.
11. What benefit does Appling receive from providing this arrangement, what obligations does it assume, and how are regional costs shared?
12. Could Seven Rivers administer its own payroll or purchase the service elsewhere? What would each option cost the County and the organization?
13. What financial or performance conditions would lead commissioners to continue, change or end support?

Ask the County about its appropriations and agreements. City DDA funding and City payments require answers from the City; organizational revenue restrictions and filings may require answers from the organizations or their accountants. County spending questions · DAAC and Chamber questions · Seven Rivers questions