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The ADVANCE, March 24, 2021/Page 14A
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Letters have been edited for length and clarity.
Dear Ms. Magnolia,
Should I tell my boss that I’m vac
cinated? People in my workplace don’t
know that I qualify for the vaccine, but
/ do, but / don’t want to have to justify
how I managed to get it when my co-
workers haven’t.
I feel like knowing that / have had
the vaccine might help my boss make
decisions about me doing things that
she wouldn’t want me to do if I were not
vaccinated. Of course, lam still masked
and keeping social distance.
MU
Dear MU,
You’re not obligated to share that
you’ve been vaccinated. As you say,
you might get questions about why
you were eligible. For instance, you
might not want them to know that
you have a medical condition or that
you are a caretaker for someone who
qualifies for the vaccine.
However, it might help your boss
to know that you’re more willing to
do things that an unvaccinated per
son shouldn’t risk, especially if you
can keep a coworker from having to
do them. You might want to tell her if
you feel that she will keep your situa
tion confidential.
If you have a question for Ms. Magnolia, please mail it to P.O. Box 669, Vidalia, GA
30475, or e-mail to msmagnoliaadvance@yahoo.com.
TCREA T-SHIRTS — At the March meeting of
the Toombs County Retired Educators As
sociation, these members were wearing
the 2020-2021 T-shirt designed by Georgia
Retired Educators Association President Jo
Ann Tomlinson. Her theme for the year is
"Cheering for GREA" and features her cho
sen charity, Alzheimer's Association, L to R:
Judy Hart, Mary Alice Wilder, Nan Price,
Edna Shurley, and Paula Jones.
Income tax break for
Georgians passes General
Assembly amid opposition
By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
State lawmakers
passed an income-tax cut
for Georgians on Thursday
that aims to give taxpayers
relief amid the COVID-19
pandemic, though critics
warn it could cost the state
millions of dollars in emer
gency aid.
The tax-cut bill, spon
sored by Georgia Rep.
Shaw Blackmon, R-Bo-
naire, would let Georgians
pay less income tax starting
July 1 amid a rebound of
the state economy during
the COVID-19 pandemic,
following up on a previous
reduction passed in 2019
that lowered the state’s in
come-tax rate from 6% to
5.75%.
Republican lawmak
ers had planned to reduce
the income-tax rate further
last year to 5.5% but paused
that move last March as the
pandemic took hold, shut
tering Georgia businesses
and hammering state rev
enues for months through
the summer.
Blackmon, who chairs
the House Ways and Means
Committee, framed his
tax-cut proposal as a more
“modest and measured” cut
than what was pitched last
year, allowing Georgians
“to keep their hard-earned
money.”
Under the bill, the
state’s standard deduction
for married couples who
file joint returns would in
crease by $1,100. Single
taxpayers could deduct an
extra $800, while Geor
gians ages 65 and older
could deduct another
$1,300. Married couples
filing separately could de
duct an additional $550.
Blackmon’s bill passed
by a 35-15 vote in the Sen
ate nearly along party lines,
with Democratic Sen. Jen
Jordan of Atlanta voting in
favor. It passed unanimous
ly in the House and now
heads to Gov. Brian Kemp’s
desk for his signature.
The higher deductions
could save Georgia taxpay
ers an estimated $140 mil
lion in taxes - roughly $ 100
each for married couples -
that they would otherwise
have to pay. Or the cuts
would cost that amount in
revenue for state services,
depending on one’s view of
government as a taxing au
thority.
Supporters say Geor
gia taxpayers deserve a
break after a year of finan
cial hardships brought by
the pandemic, especially
with the state’s economy
ticking up as businesses re
open and workers resume
their jobs.
“We’re a conservative
state [and] we want to be
moderate in what we do
with our tax code,” said
state Sen. Larry Walker
III, R-Perry, who carried
the bill in the Senate. “We
do want to give a break to
hard-working Georgians,
and that’s what this bill
does.”
Critics said passing a
tax break now could cause
the state to lose out on mil
lions of federal dollars set
to arrive in the $1.9 trillion
COVID-19 aid package
Congress passed last week,
owing to a provision bar
ring states from lowering
taxes while using the emer
gency aid money.
Georgia could stand
to lose nearly $200 million
over the next two years by
putting the income-tax
cut into effect, said Dan
ny Kanso, senior policy
analyst with the nonprofit
Georgia Budget and Policy
Institute.
Rather than risking the
loss of federal relief, Demo
cratic state lawmakers have
pushed for sending Georgia
taxpayers direct payments
instead of cutting taxes as
well as tapping into more
federal money offered in
the emergency package by
fully expanding Medicaid.
“If we really are very in
tent on getting hard-work
ing Georgians the amount
of money we’re talking
about in this legislation ...
we can do that as a direct
payment without jeopar
dizing the $140 million we
would still get,” said Sen.
Elena Parent, D-Atlanta.
Amid Democratic
opposition, top state Re
publicans including Kemp
and House Speaker David
Ralston, R-Blue Ridge,
have slammed the federal
aid package over the pen
alties for states that seek
to cut taxes, as well as the
funding formula for Geor
gia’s share of the relief.
“In Georgia, we have
prioritized providing tax
relief to our citizens, and
[the COVID-19 aid pack
age] appears to prohibit
that relief,” Ralston said in
a March 10 letter to Presi
dent Joe Biden. “I pray that
you will prevail upon Con
gress to have this flaw in the
legislation corrected before
signing it into law.”
Biden signed the aid
package last Friday with the
tax-cut penalty intact.
City of Alamo Passes Property
Maintenance Ordinance
By Andrea Towns
Contributing Writer
The Alamo City Coun
cil’s March meeting in
volved several updates on
business previously dis
cussed. Due to the weath
er, construction at the new
recreation department has
been delayed, and so the
fencing around the basket
ball courts is still in pro
cess.
The strategic planning
committee that was es
tablished in March of this
year and designed to aid
the council in the enhance
ment of Alamo City Hall
met for the first time on
March 10. Councilwoman
and Mayor Pro Tem Pa
tricia Woodard reported
that the meeting was very
productive. Members of
the committee expressed
the following concerns:
the building does not meet
marginal safety factors for
the employees; the build
ing does not comply with
any ADA standards; there
is black mold in the bath
rooms; no usable space for
privacy when discussing
bills and other private mat
ters. The committee will
meet again on April 10.
City Manager, Jeffery
Floyd, provided updates
on the Property Mainte
nance Ordinance, part of
an ongoing effort to beau
tify the City of Alamo. The
Dilapidated Housing Or
dinance, already in place,
enables the Council to ad
dress uninhabitable resi
dences. After discussing
the Property Maintenance
Ordinance for some time
now, the Council passed
the ordinance, which ex
tends its ability to address
the lack of maintenance of
property within the city.
In February’s meeting
Councilman Thomas Lott
proposed the development
of a sports bar in the city.
As summarized by Attor
ney Russell Clark in this
month’s meeting, Council
man Lott called for a refer
endum “on the question of,
‘Can the city issue a pour
ing license?’ ” The Council
voted to pose this question
to the public either on a
special election date or on
the November ballot. This
vote will not only deter
mine the location of Lott’s
new sports bar, but also
Lott’s seat on the council.
Due to the city’s Alcohol
Regulation Ordinance,
members of Council can
not legally request a “pour
ing license” and therefore
Lott would be required to
step down from his Coun
cil seat. Since he is not up
for reelection this year,
a future special election
would be held for Lott’s
replacement were this ref
erendum passed.
In January, the Coun
cil approved the use of the
2021 Local Maintenance
and Improvement Grant to
repave and stripe the end
of 1st Street and Lucille
Avenue. Since then, the
Council received bids from
the following construction
companies: SWW Con
struction ($41,750); Billy
Ray Tanner ($42,800);
and Hooks Construction
and Forestry Company
Inc. ($22,482). SWW and
Hooks also submitted bids
to remove and replace
damaged storm drains
(SWW, $68,368; Hooks,
$26,149). Hooks, which
has worked with the city
before, will oversee the re
paving and repairs.
In other business, Act
ing Police Chief Karen
Zanders reported that 25
citations were given in the
last month, resulting in
$1,300 paid to the city.
ullje Ahuance
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