Newspaper Page Text
2A
♦ THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
ifcrT
Journal Ray Lightner
County commissioners, from left, Tom McMichael and Larry Thomson, voted to
raise taxes, Tuesday, after Chairman Ned Sanders, center, called for the question.
Commissioner Jay Walker, right, voted against the increase.
TAXES
From page iA
and not present at the called
meeting. In a written state
ment, however, she said she
voted for the action, saying
“the slight increase is justi
fied.”
Walker said, “I wish we
didn’t have to increase
taxes. I wish the budget was
lower, I hoped it had bal
anced out.”
Walker, who is running
for re-election, noted he has
voted against the previous
increases as well. “I think
you can adjust the budget,”
he said.
Thomson noted: “We have
a good, tight budget.”
McMichael added: “It was
a reduction of half a mill. We
have a budget and we have
to fund it.”
With the vote the county
lowered the tax levy or mill
-age, down half a mill from
last year’s 9.82 to 9.32 mills,
but with reassessments that
rate brings in more revenue
than the revenue neutral
rollback rate of 9.11 mills.
The rollback rate is the
tax rate the county needs to
bring in the same amount
of money as it did last year
if the reassessments did not
occur. And if set to the roll
back rate, no public hearings
would be required, because
based on the wording of
the state legislation, the
so-called “taxpayers bill of
rights,” there would not be
a tax increase.
Commission Chairman
Ned Sanders explained the
legislation required the pub
lic notices because of the
increase in valuation of
property leaving the millage
rate the same would be a
back door tax increase.
Sanders noted the county
portion is only 41.7 percent
of the total tax bill. The
school system gets the rest
of it, except for a quarter of
a mill for the state to oper
STATE
From page iA
writing section, the BOE
release read. A perfect score
on the new SAT is 2,400 ver
sus the 1,600 of past years
for math and verbal.
“We are elated with our
students’ scores,” said
Superintendent of Schools
Danny Carpenter. “Our
counselors, teachers and
principals put forth a tre
mendous effort. Our strat
egy focused on preparedness
and it worked.
“Houston County High
students improved their
scores by 30 points over last
year and beat the national
average by 15 points. Perry
High’s scores improved 41
points over last year, while
Northside High main
tained its scores after its
33-point jump in 2005. And
Warner Robins High’s aver
age increased by 20 points,
33 points above the state
average. Systemwide, our
students in, the top 10 per
cent outscored the national
average of their peers by 28
points. I commend all of our
high schools on their accom
plishments.”
Counselors use a SAT/
ACT Checklist for students
who aspire to take the SAT
or ACT. Students and their
parents are advised to track
progress with certain bench
marks to determine their
readiness to test:
PSAT score (both verbal
and math scores);
■ Current GPA (based on
ate and administer tax laws.
The Houston County
Board of Education set its
part of the tax rate at 12.50
mills, down .98 mills from
last year, but also an increase
with the reassessments.
Based on a $150,000 house,
minus the $2,000 homestead
exemption and the SB,OOO
state tax credit, the county
portion of the tax bill at the
rollback rate of 9.11 mills
would be $455.50 for city
residents and $515 for those
in unincorporated areas
because of the fire tax.
At the proposed 9.32 mills,
it would cost city residents
$466 and $525.50 for those
in incorporated areas. “It’s
about 96 cents a month
more,” Sanders said.
Sanders also noted with
reassessments the $150,000
house this year was a
$135,000 or $140,000 last
year.
The fire tax rate is 1.19
mills this year, down from
1.3 mills last year. It is to
pay for fire service in the
unincorporated areas of the
county. City residents pay
city taxes for fire service and
the cities each set their own
additional millages.
Three of the past six years
Houston’s millage rate has
been the below it’s seven
adjacent counties. “Bleckley
was the lowest, just mar
ginally” those other three
years, Sanders said.
“Five of those seven are
25 to 50 percent higher than
Houston County,” Sanders
said.
The millage or tax levy
rate is based several fac
tors outside of the control
of the county commissioners
including property values
and the cost of operating the
county such as insurance,
fuel, labor and equipment
co’sts.
“The bottom line, ” Sanders
said, “cost is going up. We’re
all victims of a market econ
omy.”
college prep or tech prep
courses only);
■ Math course(s) beyond
Algebra II;
■ At least one semes
ter of llth-grade College
Preparatory English (two
semesters if grade is below
85); and
■ Advanced Placement
courses.
The Houston County
School System works to
increase students’ postsec
ondary success by:
■ increasing communica
tion with students, teachers
and parents regarding the
different admission opportu
nities for higher education;
■ providing access to SAT
Online - an online study
guide to help high school
students prepare for the
exam;
■ increased rigor of both
vocational and college prep
courses; and
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The tax digest is set
by the duly elected Tax
Commissioner, based on
property assessments by
the Tax Assessor’s Office.
The aggregate net value real
property in Houston County
is about $3.1 billion.
County Director of
Administration Steve
Engle noted the tax digest
increased about $230 mil
lion in existing real property
value.
Thomson noted Bill Gates
is worth about 14 times all
the property in the county.
The portion of the county
budget funded by property
taxes, about $27.9 million
goes to provide for general
government, public safe
ty, public works, libraries,
health and welfare, conser
vation of natural resources,
state and federally man
dated services and intergov
ernmental operations like
the Regional Development
Center, the Houston County
Development Authority,
Perry-Houston County
Airport Authority and the
21st Century Partnership.
Sanders noted that an
insurance premium tax in
the amount of about $2.1
million is being used for ser
vices only in the unincor
porated areas such as solid
waste collections, animal
control, recreation storm
drainage improvements and
mosquito control in lieu of a
higher millage in the unin
corporated areas.
Walton Wood was the only
citizen to speak at the third
public hearing, prior to the
vote. He asked candidate
Walker about his support of
the property tax freeze.
Walker said his support
was especially for those 65
and over.
“I suggest you get the
property tax freeze under
way.” Wood said, especially
since his own assessment
was up more than $20,000
for a double wide.
■ creation and implemen
tation of an individualized
student SAT/ACT checklist
to help students and parents
determine preparedness to
achieve academic goals.
The 2006 SAT aver
age scores are provided for
the system, state and each
school. Results for the top
10 percent of students are
also provided for the system,
state and each school.
Great Deals
Free AD
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under SSO
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for details
HI I
LOCAL
Hurricane survivor finds
new home at FVSU, county
Special to the Journal
For Dawn Raymond
and her family, Hurricane
Katrina was more than just
a series of news stories on
television and in the news
papers.
They lived through the
nightmare. Raymond and
Terrell, her Air Force hus
band, lived in Gulf Port,
Miss., with their children
Regina, 9, Erik, 8 and
Destini, 6. Dawn Raymond
was also a student at the
University of Southern
Mississippi.
When Hurricane
Katrina hit a year ago, the
Raymond family’s world
was turned upside down.
Six feet of water flooded
their home destroying the
entire first floor. Their
vehicle was also destroyed.
“When you have chil
dren you run on auto
matic,” Raymond said.
“That’s all I did.”
From Aug. 28 until Sept.
1, 2005, Raymond and her
family stayed in emergency
jL
IBHyi
9
1 :S.. , J
mi
j \ if
Submitted
Psychology major Dawn Raymond, pictured with hus
band Terrell and three children, from left, Destini,
Regina and Erik, are all smiles in one of the few items '
rescued from Hurricane Katrina’s destruction.
CALL
From page iA
was just a part of the
department’s annual fund
raising for MDA, which
also includes boot drives,
a golf tournament and the
gospel sing last Sunday.
The firefighters have
been out with boots in
e^M.
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WrL j BmSStk IjL M |||
gBP 1
\ ■Rigigp ( |££.
™ »?We
> Go Karts,
\Scooters & *
JDirt Bikes
Electric Guitar $ 59 00
Acoustic Guitar Adult $ 39 88
child $ 24 88
Banjos $ 42 73
Shampoo- Lotion *if slo o
Household Cleaners
Cell phone accessories: Cases, Auto & Home
Chargers and much, much more @ $1- each.
Kitchenware, Clothes, Cleaning Supplies. TONS OF ITEMS!
79 Green St. - Warner Robins, GA Q22-ftoo2
(One Block From Hwy. 247) VJW*-
HOURS: 10am ■ spm Mon-Sat
00036365
shelters at Robins Air Force
Base until they decided to
settle down in Bonaire.
In addition to trying to
rebuild family life, Raymond
was also determined to con
tinue her education.
She called other colleges
and universities in Middle
Georgia, but Fort Valley
State University was the
one eager to help.
“FVSU sent information
and followed up with me,”
Raymond said. “Mr. Wallace
Keese was instrumental in
my getting here. He and
Vicky Taylor worked hard
with me in trying to get
all of my information from
USM. When I wanted to
give up and say, ‘Forget it,’
they would not let me. I
felt like FVSU was not just
interested in me and my
education, but Mr. Keese
truly cared.”
While helping Raymond
return to her education
al goals, she recalls that
Keese also asked what the
university family could do
hand at the two Warner
Robins Wal-Marts the past
two weekends. They’ll be
out again this weekend,
too. The proceeds from
the sale and all the other
fundraisers will be given
to the Muscular Dystrophy
Association during the
annual Jerry Lewis Labor
Day Telethon on WMAZ 13
(CBS).
|EAG
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o Ztye*ict<%u<&iten4,
lTwimSet - $ 99 00
Queen iS.et - s ls9°°
iKingtS.et - $ 229 00
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
to assist her and her family.
“Now I tiy not to take thingß
seriously because things
will come and go, but life
changes in a split second,”
Raymond said. “We weath
ered hurricanes Dennis and
Ivan. Nothing compares to
this. I was running around
like a chicken with my head
cut off. I never thought I
wouldn’t come back home.
Never.”
Now Raymond is a junior
at FVSU pursuing a degree
in psychology.
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HEARING TEST
SET FOR SENIOR
CITIZENS
Free hearing test will
be given at the Beltone
Hearing Aid Office in
Macon, Monday, Tues
day, Thursday, an Friday,
9am-spm, located 686
First Street.
Our Board Certi
fied Hearing Instrument
Specialist, Reinhard
Unger,has over 30 years
experience in the hearing
health care field.
Test results will reveal
if medical treatment or
hearing aids will help.
Yearly testing is recom
mended, especially for
those with hearing dif
ficulty. Current hearing
aid users and those who
have been told previously
nothing could be done for
them should be tested to
determine if new technol
ogy would benefit them.
Call today to make
your appointment.
478-743-1452
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