A year-in-review presentation at the Dec. 17 regular meeting of the Henry County Board of Commissioners gives considerable insight into how big the county has gotten and how residents’ tax dollars are used every year.
Here is a rundown of county activies in 2019:
Code enforcement issued 2,200 warnings and 439 citations resulting in $45,510 in court fines.
Henry County Transit provided nearly 70,000 trips to local residents.
The county’s Department of Transportation maintained 1,244 paved road miles including pothole repair, striping, milling and patching. The LMIG and SPLOST programs resurfaced a total of 8.55 miles, or more than 45,000 feet of paved roadway.
The Tax Commissioner’s Office processed more than 320,000 motor vehicle transactions and issued more than 4,700 occupational tax certificates to commercial, industrial, retail and home-based businesses.
The Tax Assessor’s Office valued 87,000 real property parcels and 7,900 personal property accounts for tax purposes to produce a fully compliant digest.
The Building Department processed more than 8,000 permits resulting in over $2 million in deposits.
The Stormwater Department completed 768 inspections, 99 pipe and structure repairs and maintained and mowed 507 ponds.
The Henry County Airport sold more than $834,000 in fuel and welcomed aircraft carrying visitors to and from the Super Bowl in Atlanta, NASCAR events at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the Atlanta Air Show.
The Solicitor General’s Office – processed 27,725 cases between six courts and four Accountability Courts, whose programs had 18 graduates with more than $400,000 in savings to taxpayers.
State Court began conducting probation hearings on jailed defendants by video conference, saving hundreds of prisoner transports each year.
The Mental Health Diversion Court was launched to divert people with severe mental health issues from criminal justice system to immediate mental health care, saving time and money with more effective care.
The county elections office processed 132,864 voter applications.
The Henry County Fire Department received 179,308 hours of training, responded to 30,000 incidents and saved more than $70 million in property from fires.
The Henry County Police Department responded to 121,690 incidents and made 375 DUI arrests.
The county’s E-911 department processed 349,581 total calls and dispatched more than 83,000 calls to emergency personnel.
Animal Care & Control responded to 5,000 calls from animal control services and adopted out 930 pets and spayed or neutered 350 animals through a low-cost clinic.
Senior Services provided more than 103,000 meals at four senior centers and delivered more than 50,000 meals to homebound seniors.
Planning and Zoning processed 1,440 single-family lots with 66 zoning applications and issued 17 filming permits.
Extension Office conducted educational programs for more than 2,700 fifth-grade students across the county, resulting in a total of 15,229 educational hours.
Parks and Recreation registered more than 25,000 young people and 12,000 adults in programs, including 2,767 in Therapeutic Rec, and hosted 65 tournaments.
Connecting Henry assisted 47 students in obtaining their GEDs.
Numerous groundbreaking and ribbon cutting events took place for new county facilities and projects: Campground Road; Anvil Block Road; a new putting green at Village Park; the new Fire Station 8 on Jodeco Road; North Ola Park; and a wellness clinic for employees and their families.
Community service personnel picked up and disposed of more than 300,000 pounds of litter throughout the county, which equates to 150 tons of trash.
Henry County is a lot bigger than it used to be.
