Newspaper Page Text
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BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2008
Tax incentive continued from 1A Budget crunch continued from 1A
Graham was also critical of giving such a tax
break on speculation projects where no imme
diate jobs are being created.
“I think it's unusual for a tax abatement to
be given to a developer for a spec facility that
does not have a tenant lined up,” she said.
Braselton doesn’t levy a town property tax, so
Barrow’s incentive deal with Commonwealth
won’t directly impact the town’s budget.
Barrow County wasn’t required to notify
Braselton officials about the deal and Graham
said she only learned about it after the fact.
But she questioned whether or not Barrow
County required the firm to pass the tax sav
ings along to potential tenants through lower
rental rates, or if the developers would be free
to pocket the tax savings.
Graham was also critical that Barrow agreed
to the deal after the building was almost
finished and wasn’t a real incentive to lure
the project to the area. Since the project was
already there, no deal was necessary, she
argues.
“Braselton is a desirable location that mar
kets very well and tax incentives are not always
sought by prospective businesses choosing to
locate here,’’ she said. “PetCo, Home Depot,
Whole Foods and Progressive Lighting have
all chosen Braselton for its existing attributes
and tax abatements were not necessary to bring
these great businesses and new jobs to our
community.”
OFFERED TO ALL
Barrow JDA attorney John Stell said the
bond deal for Commonwealth is the same as is
offered to all businesses requesting industrial
financing from the authority.
The structure of the deal with a seven-year
phase-in of a lease hold interest tax is based
on an “agreed to formula” that has been used
in Barrow County for a number of years, Stell
said.
The same kind of financing has also been
made available to both larger and smaller proj
ects in the county. At the same Nov. 5 meeting
where the Commonwealth deal was voted on
by the JDA, the group also approved a $40
million bond package for the Schutz Container
Systems project in Auburn. At the other end,
the JDA had earlier this fall approved a smaller
$3.6 million bond issue for the construction
of Bethlehem Christian Academy, a private
elementary and middle school.
OTHERS MORE SELECTIVE
While Barrow has a rather liberal tax incen
tives approach, some other nearby counties
Holiday events
have stricter rules.
In Jackson County, tax incentives aren’t
offered on speculative projects, said Industrial
Development Authority Scott Martin. Jackson
County doesn’t offer tax incentives on every
project and each proposal for an incentives
package is looked at individually for how
many and what types of jobs would be created
and other factors, he said.
When Jackson County does do tax abate
ments, Martin said they are structured mostly
for a five-year phase-in with payments made
by the company each year in lieu of taxes.
Typically, Jackson County requires the phase
in to start at 20 percent and phase in to 100
percent at the end of five years. In addition,
Jackson County almost never abates school
taxes, requiring firms to pay 100 percent of
what they would have paid in local school
taxation.
Gwinnett County made its incentives pack
age a little more liberal earlier this year when it
amended a county economic development ordi
nance that governs the process. Now Gwinnett
has certain pay and job thresholds in place and
unless the firm is locating in a Community
Improvement District, it has to provide a “net
economic benefit” of at least $250,000 to the
county. Gwinnett uses a financial model devel
oped by Georgia Tech to analyze incentives
being offered to prospective businesses. And if
a firm doesn’t follow through on its part of the
deal, Gwinnett has a “claw back” provision to
have the company pay back part of the incen
tives it had been given.
The local chambers of commerce and their
economic development arms do most of the
industrial recruiting and marketing in all three
counties, but the final decisions on tax abate
ments and other incentives are up to the local
governments involved.
The bond validation hearing for the
Commonwealth project is scheduled for 9:15
a.m. Dec. 1 in Barrow County Superior Court.
Barrow County
Tax Abatement Formula
Year Taxes paid
1 5%
2 10%
3 15%
4 25%
5 40%
6 55%
7 80%
8 100%
continued from 1A
“When we sing, ‘Silver
Bells’ with the line ‘city side
walks, busy sidewalks,’ that’s
the moment of the official
lighting, and every night until
Christmas, the lights will be
on.” Santa Claus will arrive
atop a convertible from Akins
Ford in Winder. He’ll greet the
community and then sit down
to hear children’s Christmas
wishes. Young people from the
Auburn Dixie Youth will pho
tograph the children’s visits
with Santa. The first photo is
free.
Also this weekend, there
will be two holiday concerts
in the Colleen O. Williams
Theater inside the Winder
Cultural Arts center on East
Athens Street.
The concerts will be Friday,
Nov. 28, and Saturday, Nov.
29, at 7:30 p.m. and will fea
ture Carroll Brown, an acous
tic musician and local favorite.
Co-produced with the Winder
Noon Lion’s Club, this concert
will raise funds for the pur- chased from a Noon Lions
chase of tactical safety vests for Club Member or at the Winder
the Winder Police Department. Police Department, Winder
The $15 tickets may be pur- City Hall and at the door.
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Prince Ave.
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Chase St. Warehouses, 160 Tracy St. Athens, GA
Have you met our
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have joined
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patients of all ages
MedLink - Winder accepts
Medicaid—including all managed care options, Medicare, State Health Benefit
Plan and most insurance programs. A sliding fee program may assist
patients who qualify based on proof of income and household size.
Any supplemental tax bills
in this fiscal year, admittedly a
last resort, would be sent only
if the state does not reimburse
counties for the $8,000 home
stead exemptions, Lee said.
That exemption represents a
tax credit of about $222 in
areas paying the county’s and
schools’ combined millage rate
of 27.838.
County officials in Barrow
and around Georgia are hoping
the General Assembly will not
endorse the governor’s cost
saving measure.
State legislators included the
$428 million homestead exemp
tion funding in the state’s fiscal
year 2009 budget.
To back out of that commit
ment would require passage of
a budget amendment, said Clint
Mueller, legislative director
of the Association of County
Commissioners.
“Every legislator I have
discussed this with (quite a
few) has pledged full support
to leave the funding for the
credit... in the 2009 budget,”
Mueller wrote in an email to
the Barrow Journal.
He said the governor legally
could withhold appropriated
funds for only six months.
That period ends at the end of
December.
Asked if the counties can
legally send out two tax bills
in one year, Mueller said: “We
think so, however, our attor
neys are researching a recent
court case that may give us
more guidance. The full taxes
owed were not billed because
the state promised to reimburse
a portion of each homestead tax
bill... If the state fails to pay
a portion of the homeowner’s
tax bill, then the taxes are still
owned by the homeowner.”
Barrow County Commission
Chairman Doug Garrison said
the county is not planning to
send a second tax bill at this
point.
“We are not planning a sec
ond billing or layoffs,” he said.
“We have reduced hiring and
are in the savings mode fast and
furious.”
Garrison, who with three
other members lost his bid for
re-election, said all his board
can do at this point is to come
up with sound recommenda
tions for the new board to con
sider in January.
“We want to be able to give
our best recommendations to
the new board,” Garrison said.
Hospital lawsuit continued from 1A
The hearing was part of a
judicial review of the decision
by the Georgia Department of
Community Health to grant
NGMC a “certificate of need”
for the new hospital. That
decision was endorsed by an
administrative hearing officer
in December 2007 and by the
State Health Planning Review
Board in February. Basarrate
said the issue before the court
was the final decision of the
review board.
“As the review board found,
the South Hall project is nec
essary to meet an overwhelm
ing need for new hospital beds
and to meet the specific needs
of South Hall residents for
more accessible hospital ser
vices, particularly the need
for hospital emergency room
services,” Basarrate argued.
But Michael Bowers, attor
ney for BRMC, told the judge
that all of those approvals
were based on faulty data.
He said the NGMC’s analy
sis of the potentially adverse
impact of the new hospital on
Barrow Regional was submit
ted only nine days before the
state agency issued the new
facility’s certificate of need.
Bowers argued that the find
ing of “no adverse impact” on
the Winder hospital was based
on faulty assumptions. He said
the analysis states the new
hospital would have the same
percentage of patients from
Barrow County that the hos
pital in Gainesville now has -
2.8 percent - even though the
Braselton facility would be
half the distance away, only
11 miles from Winder.
“I think that’s preposter
ous,” Bowers said.
Bowers said the state
agency staff didn’t question
that assumption, which was
critical to the finding of no
adverse impact, and that a
top state health official during
an earlier hearing testified,
“I guess he assumed it was
reasonable.”
Bowers said that was simply
“guessing and assuming.”
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k 127W. May St., Winder • 770-867-3151
EVANS JEWEL BOX
“Doumtoum Winder”
INVENTORY
CLEARANCE SALE
40% ■ 60% OFF!
CLOSING OUT
All China, Silver, Crystal, and Giftware INCLUDING:
Waterford, Arthur Court, Lenox and ALL Christmas Giftware.
With deep sadness we are closing out our
Bridal and Giftware Departments which
have been a tradition at Evans Jewel Box
for over 50 years.
All Daimond Jewelry, Watches, Earrings, Bracelets,
Cultured Pearls, Honora and Lorenzo.
20% - 40%
OFF
h 0 ® Jf oF
as!
C Hn sttTl -
Please Come In And Register For:
• 1/2 Ct. Diamond Pendant
• $250 Gift Certificate
1/2 Ct. Pair Of Diamond Earrings
• $100 Gift Certificate
No purchase necessary.
To be given away December 24, 2008.
Must be 18 to win.
e'fice
55 N. Broad St. • Downtown Winder
770-867-3761