About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2009)
Barrow Journal www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over... Wednesday, June 17,2009 Vol. 1 No. 34 48 PAGES 4 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY — Inside — Area news: •In the kitchen with a Cook of Barrow County page 1C •Statham looks at increasing traffic tickets page 2A •Grand opening held for new courthouse page 2A Opinions: •Common Sense 101 is back in session page 4A •The drought ends, but will return page 4A •Readers voice their thoughts: Letters to the Editor page 5A Sports: •Bernstein continues to win on tennis court page 1B •Racing returns to WB Speedway page 2B •Randy Blalock offers his latest musings page 2B Also Inside: •Classifieds page 7B •Church News page 6B •Public Safety page 6A-7A •Obituaries pages 4-5B To subscribe, call today: 770-867-NEWS (6397). The Barrow Journal is delivered every Thursday. County tax hike looming? Layoffs, cuts lighter than expected this week BY SUSAN NORMAN Fewer Barrow County govern ment employees were laid off this week than had been planned — 11 rather than the 25-35 expected. While that may be good news for county employees, the lighter cuts means the county still faces a $1 million deficit this fiscal year, which ends September 30. And county leaders are increas ingly sounding like a property tax hike may happen this fall to fund the FY2010 budget that has a projected deficit of about $6 million even with these additional layoffs. Barrow County Board of Commissioners chairman Danny Yearwood said this week he couldn’t cut enough positions required to fix that shortfall and continue to pro vide necessary services. “I can’t stop services we need in Barrow County to try to get to the number we’re trying to get to,” he said. “Going into the new budget, I’ll know if we’ve got to raise taxes and what I’ve got to do to fund these (remaining) positions.” While this week’s layoff actions were lighter than anticipated, Yearwood said Tuesday that addi tional salary cuts are coming and would be done on a case-by-case basis rather than across the board. In addition, he said he is tossing, for now, plans for additional fur loughs that would have cost employ ees another eight hours of pay per month. Yearwood reduced the layoffs after meeting individually with county elected officials and depart ment managers Monday. “We sat down and discussed everybody, every position,” he said. “I found out things that me being here six months had never heard before, sitting at the table with them. Before the day was over, I let them know my door is always open, you talk to me; if Fve got to make a deci sion concerning your department, I’ve got to know the best decision to make. I think it really helped.” Yearwood said he was surprised to learn that some departments hadn’t hired new staff in a decade. “We’ve got departments in our county - and this was a shock to me - that had not had employees added since 1999," he said. “I didn’t know that. They just didn’t get any body when everybody was doing the hiring. They’ve got five people in (Probate Judge) Tammy’s (Brown’s) office that have been there since the ‘90s. How do you tell somebody who has been there 15 years you don’t need them?” continued on page 3A THE START Swimmers begin a race during the North Georgia Swim League pentathlon. BARRACUDA Winder swimmer Jack McDaniels competes in the 8-9-year-old division where he finished 8th overall Saturday. Photos by Jessica Brown Pink slip: Airport director laid off City of Winder Officials: No staff or pay cuts in FY2010 BY SUSAN NORMAN Winder’s city government plans no pay cuts or layoffs in the coming fiscal year, according to city officials who answered a series of questions from the Barrow Journal last week. And despite a cash-flow imbalance of more than $600,000 as of May 31, the city will likely come close to breaking even at the end of the current fiscal year June 30, officials said. “The finances of the City of Winder are sound,” said Mayor George “Chip” Thompson III. “We are not in trouble. However, these are troubling times. We are making sure we do every thing we can to make sure we do not get into trouble.” REDUCED SALARY EXPENDITURES The proposed Winder bud get for the new fiscal year beginning July 1 includes funding for 35-38 fewer positions than were in the FY2009 budget and $2.2 million less for salaries. But no staff cuts are planned on top of February’s layoff of 28 employees, said finance director Leslie Ginn. The positions eliminated in the new budget are vacant positions that were budgeted in FY2009, but not filled, she said. The reduced spending for A public hearing on Winder's city budget for FY2010 is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, June 18, at the Winder Community Center. The mayor plans to conduct the hearing. The finance director will respond to questions posed by citi zens and the city coun cil will be on hand to hear comments. salaries also is due to the elimination of raises that had been planned this year, but which had not been imple mented due to the revenue shortfall. The 20-percent plunge in the fire department’s salary expenditures for FY2010 is due to the removal of three positions that were funded in the FY2009 budget — though not listed in the document — and were not filled, Ginn told the Barrow Journal this week. The community television station in FY2010 will have two, rather than the three employees as initially listed in the budget. Ginn said she included in the budget a handful of posi tions that were “furloughed” instead of eliminated in February and the technician job was one of them. continued on page 8A BY SUSAN NORMAN Barrow County’s airport director was among 11 county employees laid off invol untarily this week. And Glen Boyd, who had worked for the county since June 2006, did not go pas sively into the night. He apparently lost his temper after learn ing that he would not be paid his accumu lated time off and was directed by Human Resources Director Norma Jean Brown to immediately leave the airport and not to take anything with him, including personal belongings in his office. After the encounter became confronta tional, Brown said she directed her assistant to call the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy arrived as Boyd was leaving the property, but Brown said she filed a com plaint. She disclosed information about the inci dent during a meeting that she and county Chairman Danny Yearwood held with local reporters late Tuesday afternoon. Because the county confiscated Boyd’s cell phone, it was not possible to contact him for com ment. continued on page 3A Barrow foreclosures reach new high Foreclosures in Barrow County hit a new monthly high for the upcoming July sale date with 245. That puts the 2009 year-to-date total at 1,210, up 62 percent over last year and a pace that could top 2,000 foreclosures in the county by the end of the year. In 2008, Barrow had 1,395 total foreclo sures for the year. For the first seven months in 2008, there were 741 foreclosures in Barrow. The trend in Barrow is troubling because it appears to be accelerating in 2009 rather than stabilizing. Few pay back taxes following FiFa issues BY SUSAN NORMAN Most of the 2,900 tax liens filed against Barrow County properties last month remain unpaid. In an effort to collect $2.9 million in delinquent taxes for the county’s schools and local government, Barrow County Tax Commissioner Melinda Williams filed an unprecedented 2,900 “writs of fieri facias” with the Barrow County Clerk of Superior Court in early May. Since then, only about $180,000 of the overdue taxes has been paid, Williams said this week. The FiFa fdings are the first step in the process leading to tax sales of the properties. Letters notify ing the property owners of the liens against their properties will go out next week, Williams said. continued on page 3A See a complete list of unpaid taxes on pages 4C-28C
