Newspaper Page Text
Barrow Journal
www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over...
Wednesday, January 28,2009
Vol. 1 No. 14 22 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Firing range causes
complaints from neigh
bors page 8A
•Century Center
developers file appeal
page 2A
•Auburn planners
approve annexation
page 2A
Opinions:
•Chisholm blazed
trail for Obama back in
1972
page 4A
•At DOT, change is on
the way
page 4A
•Who are you again?
page 5A
•Winder-Barrow High
School Lady Bulldoggs
impressing foes
page 1B
•Mat Wildcats, Mat
Bulldoggs to hold co
senior night Friday
page 1B
•WBHS swimmers bat
tle tough conditions dur
ing recent event
page 1B
Also Inside:
•Church News
page 8A
•Helen Person col
umn
page 5A
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Obituaries
pages 4-5C
•School News
pages 2-3C
To subscribe,
call today:
770-867-NEWS
(6397).
The Barrow
Journal is
delivered
every
Thursday.
BOC asked to keep ‘promise’
New sheriff wants deputies to receive expected pay raises
BY SUSAN NORMAN
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith
called on the board of commission
ers Tuesday night to keep a “prom
ise” made to 42 deputies who were
expecting big pay raises this year,
but instead are seeing their starting
salaries cut.
“All I ask you is to do what is right
and fulfill this promise that was made
to them,” Smith said.
The deputies are among 50-60
employees throughout the county
government who were hired during
fiscal year 2008 with the understand
ing that after a year of successful
employment, they could be eligible to
receive raises up to the mid-point of
the pay ranges for their positions.
That standard salary bump, near
ly $10,000 for a deputy, apparently
became a casualty of a salary freeze
imposed by the previous board of
commissioners near the end of fiscal
year 2008 due to the economy.
On Jan. 20, the new board com
pounded the situation by imposing
across-the-board salary cuts of 3-10
SMITH YEARWOOD
percent, depending on pay level - and
also taking away compensation for
the four remaining holidays in this
fiscal year.
Smith said detention officers hired
last year at a starting salary of $28,661
would have expected to make aboul
$38,000 this year. Instead, they are
making about $27,400.
The sheriff said he actually doesn'i
agree with the county policy provid
ing such large raises after one year ol
service. But he said if the raises were
promised, those promises should be
kept.
continued on page 3A
Have home values
in Barrow dropped?
Newspaper study suggests
a downward swing of 11 %
Black Diamond Gala
LITERACY FUNDRAISER
The annual Black Diamond Gala sponsored by the Winder-Barrow Coalition
for Adult and Continuing Education was held Saturday night in Winder. The
event raised funds for the organization’s literacy efforts, including GED exam
scholarships, family and community literacy events, English literacy programs
and materials used in adult literacy classes. Gala chairperson Lynn Hammond
said the event raised $1,700 from its silent auction Saturday night. The dinner
and dance was catered by A Taste of Class and music was provided by The Full
House Band and Friends, and ReMix. For photos from the event, see page 1C.
Photo by Lorin Sinn-Clark
County fiscal picture still unclear
BY SUSAN NORMAN
Months after county offi
cials began voicing concerns
about Barrow County’s
financial situation, the only
thing for certain is that the
picture keeps changing.
Last November, county
officials said the budget for
the current fiscal year could
be off by as much as $1.96
million.
Then with the subsequent
double-digit drops in sales
tax revenues, that number
climbed to between $2.5 -
$2.7 million.
Based on that projection,
the board of commission
ers last week slashed coun
ty employees’ pay as well
as departmental budgets.
Together, the austerity mea
sures are expected to shave
about $1.8 million from the
FY2009 budget.
But Tuesday night, Barrow
CFO Beth Horacek said the
budget gap could be as low
as $1 million or as high as
$2.7 million.
The size of the gap can’t
be predicted with certainty
because the county doesn’t
control the flow of two major
sources of revenue, property
taxes and sales taxes.
Horacek said the short
fall in revenues from real
and personal property taxes
could range from $800,000
to $1.6 million. The shortfall
in local option sales taxes
could range from $l-$ 1.7
million.
Revenue shortfalls from all
sources are projected to total
$3-$4.7 million, she said.
However, spending in the
first quarter also trended
downward. By the end of
December, expenditures
were $500,000 under bud
get. Horacek said she thinks
spending will be $3 million
less than budgeted, leaving
a net shortfall of $l-$2.7
million.
The austerity measures
imposed Jan. 20 should take
care of most - or all - of that
gap, said BOC Chairman
Danny Yearwood.
“The things we imple
mented, I think, will take
care of this,” he said. “We’re
pulling at straws here...”
Other commissioners
Tuesday night asked ques
tions primarily about the
size of the county’s reserves.
Horacek said the county cur
rently has more than $12.9
million in cash on hand, plus
another $2.7 million in cer
tificates of deposit.
However, by the end of
the fiscal year Sept. 30, it is
likely the county would have
only enough cash reserves to
cover two months of expens
es, she said.
She said the board has had
an informal policy of setting
aside enough reserves for
three months of expenses.
She asked the commission
ers to provide direction to
the staff on that issue.
Horacek said in the com
ing weeks she plans to
analyze the impact of the
cost-reduction measures the
board approved last week.
She also will provide month
ly financial updates at board
meetings.
In other business, the com
missioners:
•approved a request by
Rex and Margaret Palmer
to rezone from AG to R1
three acres of their family
farm on Kilcrease Road for
the development of three,
one-acre residential lots for
family members.
•appointed David
Hawthorne, public works
director for the City of
Auburn, to the District 5 seat
on the Barrow County Water
and Sewer Authority.
•proclaimed Feb. 1-7 the
Severe Weather Awareness
Week in Barrow County.
•voted to reduce by
$23,000 the county’s contri
bution under the Piedmont
Juvenile Court Agreement.
•recognized Keep Barrow
Beautiful for receiving the
Keep America Beautiful
President’s Circle Award.
The national award is for
affiliates of the national non
profit that work to reduce
litter, to minimize waste, and
to beautify and improve their
local community.
continued on page 3A
Think your home’s value
has dropped and is being
taxed at too high of an assess
ment? That concern has
grown in recent months as
the housing bust and wave of
foreclosures sweeps through
the real estate market.
An unofficial study of resi
dential home sales in Barrow
County by the Barrow
Journal indicates that local
home values may have seen
a swing of around 11 percent
downward from the latter
part of 2007 to the latter part
of 2008.
But since every situation
is unique, Barrow homeown
ers would have to file with
the county for a reapprais
al to challenge their coun
ty-appraised home value.
Homeowners have until
April 1 to file a property
tax return with the Barrow
County Board of Tax
Assessors to challenge their
appraised value, said chair
man Cecil Highfield.
Highfield said that those
wishing to challenge their
values should have some
information other than just
“my taxes are too high.”
“If they have a recent
appraisal or recent sales of
fair market values of property
that have sold in their subdi
vision or close by, it would
be helpful,” Highfield said.
National news reports from
California or Florida don’t
matter since all appraisals are
local, he said.
ESTABLISHING FAIR
MARKET VALUES
Property taxes are sup
posed to be levied on 40
percent of the “fair market
value” of property, but get
ting that value isn’t as simple
as it may appear.
For one thing, while fore
closures may affect property
values in a neighborhood, the
state does not allow foreclo
sure sales, or other unusual
transactions, to be calculated
in determining the fair mar
ket value of similar property.
Generally speaking, only
true arms-length transactions
are calculated in setting a
fair market value for a home.
Distressed sales, such as
foreclosures, bankruptcies,
bank sales, and family trans
actions are tossed out of the
formula.
In an effort to see what has
been happening to Barrow
County home values, the
Barrow Journal selected 45
arms-length home sales from
November and December
2007 and 45 from the same
period in 2008.
continued on page 3A
Barrow tax sales tumble
Sales tax revenues in Barrow County took a beating in 2008,
off by seven percent from the year before.
But that single digit decrease doesn’t tell the entire story.
Most of the rapid acceleration of falling sales taxes happened
in the fourth quarter when sales taxes to the county govern
ment dropped 17.4 percent.
Officials expect January numbers to also be significantly
below last year with a projected 16 percent drop over 2007.
Barrow collected $5.5 million in sales taxes in 2008, down
from $5.9 million the year before. While sales taxes were flat
throughout the year, the fourth quarter saw three months in a
row of double-digit declines, including a large 24 percent drop
in December alone.
Barrow’s fiscal year is different from the calendar year, so
the current downturn will be especially noticeable in the FY09
budget results. The Barrow County Board of Commissioners
have recently taken some cost-cutting steps to offset the gov
ernment’s decline in revenues.
Barrow County Sales Taxes
(In Millions)
First Qtr.
2007
$1.37
2008
$1.36
%Chanae
<1%
Second Qtr.
$1.41
$1.40
<1%
Third Qtr.
$1.58
$1.46
-7/6 %
Fourth Qtr.
$1.55
$1.28
-17.4%
Total
$5.93
$5.51
-7%
