Buford Commission honors city employee; approves millage rate and budget

At the monthly Buford City Commission Meeting on Sept. 3, a 20-year city employee was honored and the Commissioners approved the 2024 millage rate and 2025 city budget.

Family members and city employees were present at city hall to honor Raul Saleido Chavez for his 20 years of service to the residents of Buford. Commission Chairman Phillip Beard presented him with a gift from the city for his years of dedication.

The final hearing on the property tax millage rate and budget was also held during the meeting. The city proposed leaving the 2024 property tax millage rate for Buford City Schools at 12.50 mills for Gwinnett County and 13.588 mills for Hall County. Even though the millage rate will remain the same, property owners can still expect to see an increase in their taxes due to increased property values. Gwinnett County’s Board of Tax Assessors is the entity responsible for appraising property values used in calculating taxes.

Homeowners in the city of Buford can vote to reduce their property taxes in the November 4 Election. Two questions will appear on the ballot for registered voters in the city limits of Buford to vote on. 

“Shall the Act which provides for a homestead exemption from City of Buford ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes for the full value of the homestead for residents of that city who are 70 years of age or over be amended to lower the age to 65?”

“Shall the Act which provides for a homestead exemption from City of Buford ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in the amount of $22,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of the City of Buford be amended to increase the exemption to $100,000.00?”

More information about the city’s proposed homestead exemptions can be found here.

The Buford Commissioners approved the city’s operating budget for 2025 on Monday night. The approved budget has the city bringing in $216.9 million in revenue and having $211.8 million in expenditures giving the city a surplus of just over $5 million. The city’s 2025 budget is a 3.94% increase over the 2024 budget of $203.8 million.

Other items brought before the Commission during the public hearings portion of the meeting were:

• A rezoning request from C-2 to R-100 for 0.25 acres at 172 East Shadburn Avenue by L.H. Holdings. The request was approved.
• A request for a special use permit to allow a gas station at 1875 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard by 1875 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, LLC. The Commission discussed the proposed gas station for the property where another gas station, Wee Willy’s once sat. Wee Willy’s collapsed into Richland Creek after a sinkhole opened in 2019. The Commission denied the proposed gas station citing city code that requires 24 parking spaces and the proposed development would have only 12 parking spaces, as well as concerns about what happened with the previous gas station. The applicant disagreed with the interpretation of the city code saying that it did not apply to that type of development and wanted that on record. 
• An annexation request for 5629 Holiday Road by Jana Renee Himmelbaum with rezoning from AR-III to C-2. The applicant intends to convert the existing house into a pediatric office. The request was approved.

In other items brought before the Buford Commission, the Commission voted to:

• Approve an exemption plat for GSR Office Park, LLC at 2980 and 2970 Gravel Springs Road.
• Approve two resolutions calling for a Special Municipal Election for referendums to allow residents to vote on whether to increase the homestead exemption amount and lower the age for the homestead exemption for seniors from 70 to 65 years old.
• Approve the use of eminent domain of 3,895 sq., feet of permanent easement and 3,895 sq. feet of temporary construction easement for parcel 7-226-124.
• Approve the resolution to authorize the Urban Redevelopment Agency of the city of Buford to transact business and exercise powers under the Urban Redevelopment Law. This new agency will initially be overseen by the current Commission but will change to an appointed board.
• Approve the use of the $2,798,451.40 from the American Rescue Plan Act which was allocated to the Buford Waterworks Construction Project, South Waterworks/New Bethany Road Sewer Infrastructure and Buford Southwide WPCP Wastewater Plant Tertiary Filter installation project.
• Approve an amendment to the power purchase contract between the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) and the city of Buford for the purchase of power from Pineview Solar, LLC.
• Approve the purchase of 335 Terrell St. for $200,000.
• Authorize the City Manager to accept a 20-foot permanent easement for the stormwater conveyance on parcel 7-298-082.
• Approve the update of the Gwinnett County Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Plan.
• Authorize the release of the pledged funds to Peoples Bank & Trust.

The Buford Commission voted to authorize the following payments:

• Payment No. 21 for $3,473,562 to Charles Black Construction Company, Inc. for the Buford City Stadium project.
• Payment No. 19 for $394,058 to Charles Black Construction Company, Inc. for the Buford Senior Academy addition project.
• Payment No. 21 for $54,165 to Charles Black Construction Company, Inc. for the New Street relocation project utilizing SPLOST funds and general funds.
• Invoice No. 18137-30 for $25,173.90 to Breaux & Associates for the new Buford City Stadium project.
• Payment No. 1 to dB Integrations for the audio/visual installation at the Buford City Stadium.
• Payments No. 16, No. 17 and No. 18 totaling $10,035.91 to H. Lloyd Hill Architects for the Buford Senior Academy addition project.
• Payment No. 1 for $76,870.95 to JDS, Inc. for the New Bethany Road sewer project.

More details on the 2024 millage rate and 2025 city budget can be found on the city of Buford’s website at www.cityofbuford.com.