Every year the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce & CVB sponsors Leadership Fannin.
Once a week, typically from February through May, the program takes its participants on an educational tour through a different part of life in Fannin County.
Subject areas include education, local government, state government, healthcare, social services, economic development, arts and recreation, and tourism. Participants visit various locations throughout the county to learn the inner workings of these programs. A trip to the capitol in Atlanta is also included.
Friday morning of last week, the leadership class gathered at the Fannin County Courthouse to hear elected officials from county and city governments, along with employees who handle such tasks as taxes, permits and voting.
They also heard from law enforcement, court and judicial representatives, as well as taking a tour of the Fannin County jail.
For example, Leadership class members learned from Fannin County Building Inspector Keith Nicholson that there are currently about 30 building permits for new homes being issued every month.
Mary Ann Conner, who supervises county elections, said there are now over 22,000 registered voters in Fannin County.
Tax Commissioner Julie Walker expressed pride in her office, reporting collection rates of 99% for both 2023 and 2024. With 2025 tax collections now underway, 92% of the revenue due the county has been collected.
During explanations of how taxes work to finance the services county government and the school system provide, Chamber President Christie Gribble joined in talking about the importance of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes, as well as the Hotel/Motel tax, to the overall tax picture.
Chief Appraiser Dawn Cochran said the county SPLOST generates more revenue for the county than property taxes.
Scott Mathis, one of the program participants and director of technology and cybersecurity for the school system, said the ESPLOST is vitally important to the schools. It has been estimated without the ESPLOST, to maintain the services it provides, the school millage rate would increase four to five mills.
Each SPLOST generates approximately $1 million a month. Gribble noted that at least half this tax is paid by visitors.