Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Area N e ws
Jackson Countv Board of Commissioners
County votes to keep tax rate the same
BY ANGELA GARY
F ollowing a huge public outcry at three pub
lic hearings, the Jackson County Board
of Commissioners voted last Thursday
not to raise its property tax millage rate as earlier
planned.
The rates will be the same, or lower, than last
year at 8.73 mills for unincorporated areas and 9.59
mills for incorporated areas. The incorporated rate
is down slightly from last year’s rate of 9.77 mills.
Despite holding the rates the same, some taxpay
ers will still see a tax increase due to higher proper
ty assessments. A reassessment was done earlier in
the year and many taxpayers saw their values jump.
Overall, the county’s digest increased 24 percent
since last year, some due to new growth, but some
also due to the higher assessments.
The BOC had initially proposed to hike its mill-
age rate by 1.5 mills, then cut that to .97 mills and
later to a proposed .49 mill tax rate increase. But
after hundreds of citizens protested the higher rate
during a series of three budget hearings, the board
began to restudy the budget.
The final approved budget is $54.7 million, an
increase of 12.64 percent. Items cut from the bud
get included 15 positions for the new jail instead of
the recommended 35. In addition, the county proj
ects additional revenue from increased commercial
development fees to offset some $416,000 that had
been designated to subsidize the county develop
ment office.
“It’s been a long and challenging process,” said
finance director John Hulsey last week. “We appre
ciate the input of the citizens. It adds a lot of value
to the decisions we make.”
Commissioner Dwain Smith said, “I know John
went through hell and high water to get this budget
done.”
Jackson Countv Water and Sewerage Authority
Tougher water restrictions expected Thursday
With the regional reservoir pro
jected to run out of water by the
end of the year, the Jackson County
Water and Sewerage Authority
intends to toughen water restric
tions for its 6,600 customers on
Thursday.
The authority plans to eliminate
every exception to the ban on
outdoor watering. It meets at 7:00
p.m. Thursday in the office of the
Jackson County Area Chamber of
Commerce.
Like the rest of the state,
Jackson County is at level four in
its drought contingency plan — in
fact, it was at level four before the
Environmental Protection Division
put the northern half of the state on
its strictest water restrictions. But,
declaring a “water emergency, the
authority will further restrict the
use of water.
Level four contains various
exceptions, including commercial
use of water for nurseries, pressure
washing, car washes, the instal
lation of landscapes, washing in
pesticides and herbicides on turf,
construction, sod production, gar
den centers and fruit and vegetable
growers.
The authority’s manager, Eric
Klerk, said most inquiries have
come from landscapers, but there
have also been some from irri
gation contractors, hydro-seeding
operations, and power washing
businesses.
“If we’re willing to take the
heat, we can be selective,” advised
Chairman Hunter Bicknell, at
an authority work session last
Thursday. He hastened to add, “We
don’t want to be putting people out
of business.”
The plan is to enact the total ban,
then handle requests for exemp
tions on a case-by-case basis.
The greater concern is that
barring some unexpected large
amounts of rain, the water short
age could become a matter of pub
lic health. Were supplies to reach a
crisis, it is conceivable that water
service could be curtailed on a
rotating basis, the consequences of
which no one fully understands.
“This is all new for us,” Bicknell
noted. “It’s uncharted and we don’t
know how to go about it. It may
come to us having to educate the
Drought leaves JCWSA to guess on budget
Its main concern during the
drought is being able to pro
vide water to its customers, but
the drought raises another criti
cal issue for the Jackson County
Water and Sewerage authority.
How will the drought affect the
authority’s finances?
As it prepares a budget for
2008, the authority can only
guess at what effect the drought
will have on both revenues and
expenditures, but it is clear that it
will hurt.
On the revenue side, the strict
est water restrictions on record
are designed to curb customer
usage — sales — which means
diminished cash flow until water
restrictions are eased, which isn’t
likely to happen before spring.
But because it may have to buy
water from other sources at pre
mium prices as the drought deep
ens, the cost of operations could
go up as well.
The authority has a draft ver
sion of its 2008 budget, and will
probably approve the final ver
sion in November or December.
In the back of everyone’s mind
is what the drought will do to the
numbers.
The draft budget, which projects
a modest increase in water sales,
shows a deficit of $1.8 million.
However, included in cost esti
mates are non-cash costs such as
depreciation ($1.68 million) and
the amortization of the author
ity’s capacity in the Bear Creek
Reservoir ($336,592 which pres
ents a conundrum, since the board
of commissioners, not the author
ity, owns that capacity). “You are
showing you are cash-flowing,”
said Vice Chairman Randall Pugh.
“There is a net loss, but a break
even cash flow.”
“We are producing enough cash
to meet our obligations,” agreed
Judy Davis, administrative assis
tant for accounting.
“Depreciation is not built into
School bomb threat
people.”
The authority gets most of
its water from the Bear Creek
Reservoir. Currently, it is also buy
ing water from Commerce, largely
to supply Jefferson, which is out
of water and has already eliminat
ed the level four exceptions. The
authority expects to be able to get
300,000 gallons per day starting
this week from Braselton, which is
getting it from Gwinnett County,
and is considering another connec
tion with Braselton’s system that
would allow it to buy more. It is
also talking with Gainesville about
buying water.
As the drought deepens, howev
er, none of those sources are nec
essarily guaranteed. Commerce,
for example, has indicated “all bets
are off’ regarding selling water to
the county if its reservoir gets to a
foot below full pool.
“We’ve got to take dire steps at
this point,” Bicknell said.
The authority will send out a
mailing to its customers encour
aging conservation and trying to
impress upon them the severity of
the situation, Klerk said.
the rates, so the customers are not
funding it, but it’s the only way
to get an accurate picture,” Pugh
pointed out.
The budget - in its draft form —
calls for expenses of $7.7 million,
but Chairman Hunter Bicknell
asked manager Eric Klerk to rec
ommend places where $100,000
to $200,000 could be trimmed
without affecting operations.
The budget anticipates $5.9
million in revenue, with $3.45
million of that coming from the
sale of water. Sewer revenue is
projected at $150,000.
JHS student charged with making bomb threat
A 15-year-old male has been
charged with making terroristic
threats for alleging calling 911
last week and making a bomb
threat.
The ninth grade Jefferson High
School student is being held at
the Youth Detention Center in
Gainesville. He is facing charg
es from the Jefferson Police
Department and the Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office.
On Wednesday, Oct. 3, a 911
operator received a phone call
stating that there was a bomb in
every school in Jackson County.
Some of the schools were evacu
ated after the bomb threat was
reported. No bombs were found.
The Jackson County district
attorney’s office is reviewing the
investigator’s reports and will
make a determination in regards
to the youth being prosecuted
through the juvenile or adult divi
sion of the criminal justice sys
tem.
Jackson Countv Water and Sewerage Authority
JCWSA planning for more reservoirs
Jackson County is taking its first
baby steps toward the establish
ment of one or more new drinking
water reservoirs.
Prime Engineering, the consul
tant for the Jackson County Water
and Sewerage Authority — and in
this case for the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners — has
completed a county water resources
master plan.
That document identifies — in
general terms — 13 potential res
ervoirs that could provide the 45
million gallons per day (mgd) that
will be required throughout Jackson
County by the year 2045.
Those sites are fraught with issues
ranging from the limitations of their
potential volume to relocation of
wetlands, power lines, gas lines and
roads, not to mention state and fed
eral government permits and regu
lations, all of which will affect the
eventual decisions regarding which
should be pursued.
Some of the reservoirs already
exist as private lakes or water
shed lakes. Most would require
the pumping of water from a river
to fill them; some would require
the raising of their dams. Most are
located on streams, but some would
be “off-line,” in which case they
would rely totally on water pumped
from elsewhere.
Richard Check and Rob
MacPherson of Prime presented
a brief report on the analysis at
the water authority’s Oct. 4 work
session. They will make a similar
presentation to the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners in the
near future.
The analysis includes data on
every current water system, treat
ment plant and reservoir already
in service, population and water
use projections. It also covers all
expansions being planned. What it
lacks at this point is any cost esti
mate for the construction of any of
the reservoirs.
There is some sense of urgency
about the need to acquire one or
more sites before they become too
expensive or are built upon.
“At some point in time, they will
become unavailable if you don’t
lock down the sites,” noted Vice
Chairman Randall Pugh.
Time frame for acquisition, per
mitting and construction are from
five to 15 years.
The potential reservoirs range
from 14 to 687 acres, with a pro
jected production from 3 to 41.1
mgd. Jackson County consumed an
average of 5.7 mgd, with a peak of
8.61 mgd during 2006. Counting
the Bear Creek Reservoir, water
plants can treat a total of about
20 mgd of water — barring situa
tions such as the current drought.
Jefferson and Braselton expect to
bring on line within five to 10 years
two reservoirs that will add about 9
mgd of capacity.
Jackson Countv Board of Education
County B0E approves $171 million budget
The Jackson County Board of
Education now has its budget in
place for FY08. The board voted
unanimously Monday night to
approve a $171 million budget.
The BOE’s millage rate is stay
ing the same as last year at 18.9
mills for general operations and 3.1
mills for bond payments. The bond
rate is a little less than last year.
The budget breaks down to around
$11,604 per pupil in the system,
officials said. The state picks up
48.7 percent of the costs while 51.3
percent is paid for locally.
Some budget increases were seen
due to additional personnel with
the opening of the two new schools
in the county.
In other financial updates, the
BOE learned that July SPLOST
collections were $593,243, an
$118,000 increase over June’s col
lection.
“We would like to see that
trend continue so we don’t have
such erratic collection in terms of
SPLOST revenue,” said superin
tendent Shannon Adams.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
The board also heard an update
on school construction Monday
night:
• Gum Springs elementary school
is continuing on schedule.
• At East Jackson Comprehensive
High School, the punch list is 90
percent complete and the gym floor
problem has been fixed.
• At Kings Bridge Middle School,
the punch list is 98 percent com
plete and the gym is ready for use.
• Grading has been completed
at the new athletic fields behind
JCCHS and the irrigation system is
being worked on.
• Work on South Jackson Middle
School’s bus canopy has been com
pleted.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business:
•The board heard about the pro
cess to fill the Post 1 BOE vacancy
(see separate story).
•The board heard the attendance
report which showed the county
has had a 96.69 percent attendance
rate for the school year so far.
•The board voted to approve the
system’s application for a $5,000
Career Academy Planning Grant.
The exploratory grant will inves
tigate the possibility of creating a
charter school at Gordon Street.
•The board heard school account
ability reports for North Jackson
Elementary School, East Jackson
Middle School, West Jackson
Middle School, Jackson County
Comprehensive High School and
the Gordon Street Center.
•The board recognized North
Jackson Elementary as a 2007
National Blue Ribbon School.
•The board recognized Benton
Elementary, East Jackson
Elementary, Maysville Elementary,
North Jackson Elementary, South
Jackson Elementary and West
Jackson Elementary as Title
1 Distinguished schools for the
2007-08 school year.
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