DALTON, Ga. – Whitfield County elected officials will see a pay raise, some court procedures will change and the county may face more environmental regulation after growing to a population of more than 100,000.
County officials said this week they still were sorting through various state and federal laws after the census figures released last week showed a 2010 population of 102,599, an increase of almost 20,000 since 2000. Whitfield is the first county in extreme Northwest Georgia to exceed the 100,000 mark.
“I’ve sent out an all-points bulletin to the different departments asking them to find out what this means for their departments,” County Commission Chairman Mike Babb said Wednesday.
Babb said he knows elected officials will see a pay increase, since their salaries are based on population size. The sheriff’s pay likely will rise about $2,000 and the tax commissioner and county clerk will get raises of about $4,000, Babb believes.
Sheriff Scott Chitwood now makes $104,446 a year, Tax Commissioner Danny Sane makes $91,560 and Clerk of Superior Court Melica Kendrick makes $80,082, according to data provided by Finance Director Ron Hale.