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Your only locally-owned community newspaper
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Mill Creek, West Jackson and Barrow County
Wednesday, November 26,2008
Vol. 4 No. 32 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
18 pages, 2 sections
Inside
Sports
Opening Win
Lady Panthers open the
season with a win. See 1B
New Season
WJMS wrestling team
defeats North Hall. See 2B
News
House Fire
A West Jackson house is
destroyed by a fire.
See 2A
Editorial
‘Counties, towns should
work together on deals’
See 4A
Public Safety
Scout mom threatens to
have kids harm girl
See 5A
Church News 10A
Obituaries 3B
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Legal fight over hospital in judge’s hand
Hearing the latest salvo in ongoing
battle between area medical centers
Winder Hospital Disputes Proposed Braselton Facility
Barrow Regional Medical Center says Northeast Georgia Medical
Center’s proposed hospital in Braselton would hurt its Winder hos
pital (shown).
By Susan Norman
snorman @ barrowjournal. com
Litigation that could reshape the nature
of healthcare providers in Barrow and
Jackson counties is now in the hands of
Superior Court Judge Robert Adamson
and a decision could come before the
end of the year.
At issue is a legal fight between
Barrow Regional Medical Center in
Winder and Northeast Georgia Medical
Center in Gainesville over NGMC's
plans to build a 100-bed hospital in
Braselton near Chateau Elan. BRMC
opposes the idea, fearing such a move
would hurt the Barrow County hospital.
Hospital lawyers argue that state offi
cials didn't follow the proper procedure
allowing permits for the new facility.
At the end of a two-hour hearing
Monday in Barrow County Superior
Court, Judge Adamson said he would
issue his decision on the appeal by
Barrow County Medical Center in two
or three weeks.
Armando L. Basarrat, an attorney for
the Gainesville-based NGMC, argued
during the hearing that the hospital’s
application for a state-issued Certificate
of Need has been through two admin
istrative appeals and that the court’s
power at this point is limited. He said
case law has shown that agency deci
sions in such matters are “not to be
taken lighdy by the judiciary.”
However, Adamson said there is
“some purpose for the courts in this
process.” His decision, he said, would
be based on whether objections raised
by the hospital’s opponent “rise or fall
within those purposes.”
And the decision will be “difficult,” the
judge said. “I always take seriously the
limitations in my scope of review when
dealing with (state) agency cases.”
Executives from the Gainesville and
Winder hospitals followed the judge’s
every word and listened intently as
attorneys for BRMC and NGMC
See Hospital 3A
Tough decisions for Hoschton
City Hall Packed for Tax Meetings
Citizens and business owners pack into the Hoschton City Hall on Thursday night
to discuss a possible city property tax. Hoschton spent a total of six hours in two
meetings discussing the budget on Thursday. Photo by Kerri Testement
Hoschton tax meetings draw crowds
By Kerri Testement
kerri @ mainstreetnews. coni
What’s Next for Tax Decision?
The Hoschton City Council will continue to discuss
the proposed 2009 budget during several upcoming
meetings.
A meeting on a proposed millage rate will be held on
Thursday, Dec. 4, at 9 a.m.
The council will discuss the proposed budget dur
ing its work session on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m.
The council is expected to vote on adopting the 2009
budget — which may or may not have a city property
tax — during its regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 8,
at 7 p.m.
All of the meetings are open to the public and will
be held at the Hoschton Depot. Copies of the two pro
posed 2009 budgets are available at city hall.
Will Hoschton have a city
property tax in its 2009 bud
get?
That’s a question that can’t
be answered now, as the coun
cil opted on Thursday to start
over again with its controver
sial budget.
During opening remarks for
a hearing on the proposed 3.25
millage rate, council member
Tom Walden admitted he was
having second thoughts about
projected revenue in the bud
get.
“I have come to the realiza
tion that these revenues are not
viable,” said Walden, who is
the chairman of the city’s fiscal
resources committee.
Walden said the projected
amount of revenue for the city
was given in April — when
economic conditions were bet
ter than today.
The council agreed to recon
sider 2009 revenue projec
tions.
That agreement was followed
by a three-hour meeting on
Thursday morning and a sec
ond, three-hour meeting that
night. City hall was packed
with citizens and business own
ers who wanted to voice their
opinions on a proposed city
property tax.
Hoschton hasn’t imposed a
city property tax in about 30
years.
At city hall, there are two pro
posed 2009 budgets — one for
$785,560 with no city property
tax and the other for $950,279
with a city property tax. The
budget with a proposed city
property tax includes a 3.25
millage rate.
The council took the first
steps on Thursday to revise its
projected revenue by looking at
each income source.
Anticipated general fund rev
enue was lowered by almost
$70,000 — from $785,560
in the proposed general fund
budget with no city tax — to
$715,600.
Hoschton’s 2008 budget
anticipates income reach
ing $821,991, but Thursday’s
review showed a number of
revenue sources are below tar
get — especially sales tax, and
building and sign permit fees.
The news for the city’s water
and sewer budget was even
more sobering.
Year-to-date income is far
below figures estimated for
the 2008 budget, especially
for installation and connection
fees.
Hoschton’s initial 2009 water
and sewer budget called for
revenue to top $1.2 million.
On Thursday, the council esti
mated that a more realistic
income for the water and sewer
budget should be $800,200
— a decrease of more than
$447,000.
The council later spent
Thursday’s evening meeting
revising its expenses for the
water and sewer budget.
That figure dropped from
$1.2 million to $992,000 —
which means expenses are cur
rently budgeted at $193,000
over anticipated revenue in the
water and sewer fund.
The council will discuss
expenses in the city’s general
fund budget during a millage
See Hoschton 3A
Braselton mayor
questions tax
break for business
Graham: Barrow County shouldn 't
have given incentives for warehouse
A large tax break given to a $12.5 mil
lion industrial warehouse in northern Barrow
County has come under fire by the mayor of
Braselton.
The Joint Development Authority of
Barrow County and Winder-Barrow Industrial
Building Authority agreed earlier this month
to a $12.5 million industrial revenue bond for
a 444,000 sq. ft. warehouse and 24.6 acres of
land on Hwy. 124 in the Town of Braselton.
The facility is owned by Commonwealth
Braselton LLC, a commercial real estate firm with properties
around the Southeast. Construction on the Braselton warehouse is
almost completed.
The JDA’s deal with Commonwealth exempts the warehouse and
24.6 acres from both Barrow school and county property taxes. In
effect, the JDA takes ownership of the building and leases it back
to the original developers. The developers in turn pay a lease on
the facility back to the JDA to cover the yearly bond payments.
But because the JDA is a government entity, the property is
not subject to local property taxes. Instead, Barrow County has a
seven-year tax phase-in where the firm will pay taxes on the “lease
hold interest” starting at five percent the first year and phasing
into 100 percent in year eight. The deal will save Commonwealth
thousands — even hundreds of thousands — of dollars in county
and school property taxes that the firm would have otherwise had
to pay on the property.
Barrow County Chief Appraiser Cecil Highfield said that the
county would go out to the facility and do an appraisal just like it
would any other facility. The tax phase-in on the lease would then
be based on that appraisal.
The complex financial structure is commonly used by counties
and some towns as an incentive to lure industrial development to
a community. But not all counties structure the deal the same way
and Barrow’s incentives deal appears to be generous and less strict
compared to some other area counties.
Mayor Objects to Deal
Braselton Mayor Pat Graham, whose town includes the
Commonwealth project, believes Barrow’s tax abatement deal was
unnecessary and ill-advised. She said that the project doesn’t meet
her view of how governments should dole out tax incentives.
See Warehouse 2A
Graham
■f
New Warehouse
The 444,000-square-foot facility owned by
Commonwealth Braselton is located on Ga. Hwy. 124 in
the Braselton town limits in Barrow County.
