Newspaper Page Text
Barrow Journal
www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over...
Wednesday, April 22,2009
Vol. 1 No. 26 20 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Disc golf a growing
sport in Barrow
page 1C
•In the kitchen with a
Cook of Barrow County
page 1C
•Statham begins bud
get work
page 2A
•Some area banks had
difficult 2008
page 2A
Opinions:
•Tea parties: Right
messsage, wrong
approach
page 4A
•Cagel opens door for
tidal wive of candidates
page 4A
•County budget
adjustment may be
needed
page 4A
Sports:
• Diamond Doggs
record key region win
page 1B
•AHS baseball defeats
Monroe Area
page 1B
•WB Speedway season
continues
page 2B
Also Inside:
•Classifieds
page 7B
•Church News
page 5C
•Letters to the Editor
page 5A
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Obituaries
pages 4-5C
To subscribe,
call today:
770-867-NEWS
(6397).
The Barrow
Journal is
delivered
every
Thursday.
Barrow in the red for FY2008
BY SUSAN NORMAN
By just about every measure, Barrow
County's government had a bad financial
year in 2008, with revenues down, expens
es up and the county's main operating fund
finishing FY2008 some $2.3 million in
the red, according to the county’s recently
completed audit.
In addition to the general fund, the
county’s water and sewer funds also had
operating losses for the year.
Its worsening financial situation last year
left the county with thin reserves from
which to ride out the ongoing economic
crisis. General fund reserves as of Sept. 30
were down to $6.7 million — providing
a safety net of less than three months of
expenses.
The audit results have serious implica
tions for this fiscal year, because revenues
are likely to dip below the $32 million
collected in FY2008. And they spell real
trouble for FY2010, which begins in six
months, because yet another $2-3 million
in revenue losses are almost a certainty.
County Chairman Danny Yearwood and
Commissioner Steve Worley said in inter
views this week that they do not understand
why county administrators last fall recom
mended a $37 million budget for FY2009
when they knew 2008 revenues were mil
lions of dollars below that and heading
lower.
“If in 2008, your revenues weren’t as
high as you estimated, then why would
your estimate in your budget for 2009 be
higher than what 2008 was?” said Worley.
“We’ve not only been fighting a bad econ
omy, but, since the beginning, we've also
been fighting an unbalanced, approved
budget for fiscal year 2009.”
He said he hopes to get a better idea
of the county’s current financial status
when Chief Financial Officer Beth Horacek
delivers a fiscal year-to-date report he
requested. The report will show all rev
enues and expenditures for the first half of
this fiscal year and is due this week.
Yearwood said people need to wake up
and accept the reality of the county’s finan
cial distress.
“I’ve been trying to tell them,” he said.
“They don’t want to believe it.”
GENERAL FUND
REVENUES DOWN
According to the audit, general fund rev
enues were $3.3 million short of original
budget projections and $1 million below
what the county collected in FY2007. The
major shortfalls in actual revenues were as
follows:
•Tax collections were $1.6 million below
budget. Property taxes were off by $1 mil
lion and Local Option Sales Tax revenues
by $452,327.
•Licenses and building permits revenues
were $356,025 or 35 percent below bud
get.
continued on page 3A
Barrow County FY2008 Audit Results
REVENUES
Taxes
$24.17 million
Licenses/Permit
$800,100
Intergovernmental
$351,500
Service Charges
$4.59 million
Fines
$1.55 million
Investments
$380,600
Miscellaneous
$173,400
TOTAL REVENUES
$32 million
EXPENSES
General Govt.
$6.6 million
Judicial
$2.9 million
Public Safety
$18.8 million
Public Works
$2.8 million
Health/Welfare
$689,500
Culture/Rec
$950,150
Housing/Development
$2.26 million
Debt Service
$552,400
TOTAL EXPENSES
$35.7 million
Deficiency of revenues
- $3.6 million
Capital Lease Proceeds
+ $1.4 million
Sale of assets
+ $157,719
Tranfers to other funds
- $213,429
Net Loss
-$2.3 million
Sewer costs
in Auburn
to decline
BY SUSAN NORMAN
The engineer for
Auburn’s new downtown
sewer project had good
news for the city council
last week.
Paul Simonton of PC.
Simonton and Associates
in Greensboro said con
struction costs have plum
meted with the economy;
so the $1 million the city
is investing in sewer infra
structure downtown will
go farther - literally.
North of Hwy. 8, the
sewer line along 4th
Avenue will now go from
Mount Moriah Road all
of the way to Hawthorne
instead of stopping at 9th
Street. And an additional
line will be installed along
5th Avenue for service to
the library and a future
restroom facility at the Roy
E. Parks Children’s Park.
continued on page 3A
Armed Forces
Day planned
The City of Winder is
hosting a festival celebrat
ing both Armed Forces Day
and Train Day on May 16.
The four-hour event
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
will take place around the
train depot on Porter Street.
The annual parade asso
ciated with Armed Forces
Day will not be held due
to the city’s budget con
straints. But the event will
include a sidewalk parade
of preschoolers and kinder
garteners with decorated
toy wagons.
“There will be music
and things for kids, food,
a car show, entertainment,
displays and speechifying
to celebrate our military
veterans who are serving
or who have served in the
armed forces,” said Don
Wildsmith, the city’s cul
tural arts and Mainstreet
director.
“We want to show our
support of the military,”
he said. "Everyone here is
impacted by the military.”
Tea Party Rally
PROTECTING THE FUTURE
Holly Longino, along with Ivey, let their feelings be
known at last week’s event at the historic Barrow
County Courthouse, which was held in conjunction
with protests across the state and country.
Photo by Jessica Brown
Statham looks to collect
back taxes, overdue bills
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
With the City of Statham
facing still tough financial
times, officials are looking
at ways to shore up its eco
nomic numbers.
City council members
Betty Lyle and Gayle Steed
have begun looking at past
due city taxes as well as over
due water bills. What they
found surprised them.
Lyle reported to mayor
Robert Bridges and council
members during a meeting
last Thursday that $124,254
are currently owed in back
taxes and that little is being
done to collect them. In addi
tion, residents owe $65,529
for delinquent water bills.
Lyle also pointed out a
problem of water customers
leaving one residence with
money owed and moving to
another address and running
up more fees.
“Then they leave again
owing more money,” Lyle
said.
Lyle did note some cus
tomers who owed fees for
water had died.
City attorney Thomas
Mitchell said some people
who owe back taxes have
declared bankruptcy.
continued on page 3A
Airport Authority
functioning again
BY SUSAN NORMAN
Three months into its new term, the Barrow County Airport
Authority this week held only its second regular monthly meet
ing.
A political standoff between new and old appointees - along
with a couple of personal disputes involving chairman Frank
Nocera - threatened to render the group non-functional in
March, when it couldn’t even muster a quorum for its regular
meeting.
But Nocera has taken steps to resolve disputes over his out
standing water bill and airplane taxes, and the ill winds on the
panel appear largely to have subsided.
“I’m glad to see y’all meeting and functioning as a board,”
said Commissioner Larry Joe Wilburn, who was one of two
county commissioners attending Tuesday night’s meeting.
Commissioner Eva Elder also attended.
During the meeting, the authority took a look at county
invoices for attorney’s fees and stormwater fees.
The county wants the authority to reimburse it for $21,136
in attorney’s fees the county paid for work on an ongoing land
condemnation case. The authority voted 5-0, with member
Jerry Thompson absent, to hold off on that payment until the
authority can determine whether the expense belongs to the
authority or to the county.
The authority also voted 5-0 to have Nocera negotiate a pos
sible reduction in the $21,433 stormwater fees assessed by the
county.
A financial report distributed Tuesday night showed that in
the first six months of the fiscal year, the authority had income
of $26,189 and total expenditures, including capital, of $39,565
- for a shortfall of $13,376. The majority of the authority’s $1.2
million in current liabilities is the $707,034 due to the county’s
general fund, according to the report.
continued on page 3A
Statham continues to
battle financial crisis
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
While the City of Statham is continuing to battle the cur
rent economic crisis, mayor Robert Bridges said Tuesday
he does not foresee any additional cutback in hours for city
employees.
Several weeks ago, the city cut back full-time employees
to 32 hours.
"Most everyone we have talked to is OK with it,” Bridges
told the Barrow Journal. “We had a few cases where the cut
backs were really tough on some employees, so we worked
some things out so they could have more hours.”
Currently, the Statham Police Department is not at full staff,
so Bridges said the employees there are all working 40 hours
a week.
“I think things are going to improve,” the mayor said. “We
know of some houses that are going to be built soon. We just
have to hold on.”
Bridges did say the current economic crunch is unlike any
thing he has ever seen.
During Tuesday night's brief 15-minute council meeting,
officials voted to change collection agencies to seek back
taxes owed to the city. Council members voted to change from
Collection Services of Athens to Penn Credit Corporation.
Also Tuesday, the council voted to allow builders to pay
water tap fees once they sell houses. This will be limited to
two homes per platted subdivision.