Locust Grove has an upcoming mayor and city council special election in November 2024. There are three candidates for mayor and five candidates for city council. In addition, about 2,300 residents currently outside of the city will vote on the Locust Grove annexation referendum.
Locust Grove Council Special Election 2024
Mayor Candidates
At the start of August, the city held qualifying for the mayor special election. The special election will fill the unexpired term after the passing of Mayor Robert Price earlier this year.
There are three candidates to be Locust Grove mayor. They are as follows:
- Carlos Greer,
- Bart Hammock, and
- Vincent Williams.
Mr. Greer and Mr. Williams were council members before qualifying to run for mayor. Mr. Hammock is a local business owner. Each candidate should be sharing more information about their platform and goals for the city between now and the election.
The winner will serve as mayor until December 2027.
City Council Candidates
The city council special election is necessary to fill the seats vacated by Councilmen Greer and Williams. Both gentlemen had to resign their seats since they are running for mayor, based on state law.
The city held qualifying for city council during the week of August 19-21. They had five candidates qualify.
To fill the council seat vacated by Carlos Greer, for a term ending in December 2027, the below candidates qualified:
- Stuart Kingsley,
- Olivia McCornell, and
- Weyman Price.
To fill the council seat vacated by Vincent Williams, for a term ending in December 2025, the below candidates qualified:
- Lester Clark, and
- Cobra Knowles.
City positions are non-partisan. Therefore, candidates have no party affiliation listed. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by their last name.
Consolidation of Voting Precincts
In August, the Henry County Board of Elections approved to consolidate the Locust Grove municipal voting precincts with the county’s precincts. The city council had adopted this plan and submitted it for the elections board to accept. Henry County elections staff will handle the admin work to complete this change before November.
What this means is voters within Locust Grove will no longer have to visit two separate locations on Election Day. This was the situation when a city election was concurrent to a county election. This most-often occurs when there is a SPLOST referendum during a municipal election. It is relevant this year because of the upcoming special election.
The below section has been updated on October 14:
Henry County shared last week that voters within Locust Grove, and those who reside in the area voting on annexation, will need to vote on two separate ballots. The first ballot will be for President, US Congress, county offices and all other general election ballot items. The second ballot will be for Locust Grove mayor and council, or annexation, based on where they reside. Voters can complete this during early voting, on Election Day, or by absentee ballot. They can complete this at their regular county polling place.
According to Locust Grove, errors occurred at the county level when compiling the ballot. The specifics of those errors have not been shared.
Locust Grove Annexation 2024
Finally, about 2,300 residents will have a ballot question whether to annex into the city. Those residents reside primarily along Locust Road and Indian Creek Road. A couple other areas are also part of the vote. The area voting on the request is shown shaded in pink on the map. The dark-blue area joined the city in April. The yellow or gold area is the existing city limits.
The Locust Grove annexation vote is the result of local legislation in 2024. The city requested the annexation, and state lawmakers carried the measure on their behalf, in an attempt to ”fill-in” the city limits.
If voters pass the annexation referendum, then the pink area will become part of the city effective on December 31, 2024. Residents within the area would then start to receive city services, such as city police. They may also vote in city elections beginning in 2025.
Property Taxes
Lastly, another relevant discussion point is the difference in property taxes between unincorporated Henry County and the city of Locust Grove. For 2024, properties inside Locust Grove city limits have the lowest millage rate in Henry County. They will pay 34.733 mills, compared to 39.733 mills in unincorporated Henry County. This is a five-mills difference. This is because Henry County passed a property tax increase in July. The largest increase is on unincorporated properties.
The five mills creates a taxable difference of $500 per $250 thousand in appraised property value. Please note this does not account for homestead exemption, which can affect this calculation. The annexed area, if it passes, would fall under the city’s tax rate in 2025.
The large difference is partially because Locust Grove does not levy a city property tax. They are the last remaining city in Henry County without it. Though there have been discussions by the city about a possible tax starting in 2025, all homeowners will be exempt from it. This is because city voters approved a 100% homestead exemption in 2022. The exemption can only be amended by another voter referendum.
Featured image shows Locust Grove city hall. Clayton Carte photo.
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