COVINGTON, Ga. – County Manager Lloyd Kerr told commissioners March 5 that the Newton County’s ISO rating has dropped and that fewer animals were euthanized at the county’s animal shelter last year than the year before.

“Our ISO rating has been lowered,” he said. “We just completed an audit and we went from a 5/9 to a 4/4X. In the ISO case the lower your number, the better your rating. 

"Everyone who is a property owner here should see some reduction in their fire insurance.”

Kerr said the improved rating is a tribute to the county’s public safety personnel. He also credited moves by the BOC to increase public safety staffing.

“It’s a tribute to all of our public safety departments, and the fire department in particular because this is tied to fire insurance,” he said. "But also, I think, this is some proof of your labors in increasing the staffing and equipment levels and really putting an investment in public safety.”

Kerr also told commissioners that fewer animals were euthanized at the animal shelter in 2018 than in 2017.

“We dropped the euthanasia rate by a little over 12 percent, so we’re moving in the right direction,” he said.

Kerr also said the county has had discussions about leasing its vehicles.

“We did meet this past week with two fleet management companies, Wheels and Enterprise, to further our discussion and understanding about what type of vehicle lease we may be interested in,” he said. "Both of the meetings were quite informative.”