Newspaper Page Text
16
November 9, 1995 AUGUSTA FOCUS
Car rental tax proposal -'
pleases politicians, not industry
ATLANTA
(AP)Mayor Bill Campbell says
his proposal to finance a new
S2OO million downtown arena for
the Atlanta Hawks basketball
team is “ideal” because it would
not burden Atlanta residents.
Campbell on Monday proposed
raising some of the money with a
3 percent tax on short-term car
rentalsoriginatingin Atlanta and
College Park, where most rental
agencies serving Hartsfield At
lanta International Airport are
located.
Most parties involved appear to
support the proposal, except for
the car rental industry.
“While we all might want to
keepthe Hawks downtown,ldon't
Coca-Cola in joint venture
for African bottling
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) The Coca-Cola Co. will
consolidate the management of
its bottling operations in six Af
rican nations under a new com
pany based in South Africa, the
Atlanta-based company said
Tuesday.
Called Coca-Cola Sabco, the new
company would be 84 percent
owned by South Africa’s Gutsche
Family Investments (GFI), alocal
Coca-Cola bottler since 1940. Coca-
Cola would hold the other 16 per
cent.
Financial details of the deal were
not disclosed, but southern Africa
is one of the soft-drink maker’s
largest markets.
As the first “anchor bottler” for
the African continent, Coca-Cola
Sabco would be in charge of Coca-
Cola’s current bottling operations
in South Africa, Mozambique,
Eddie Gritfi
‘ and
Simply Marvalous
T BN
Eddie Griffin and Simply Marvalous with special
guest Freeze Luv are coming to Augusta!
November 11, 1995
Bell Auditorium
Tickets: $lB
' 9'6,9’_ SN
FOXiEws [iloes (5 %5
WEXAm < PRODUCTIONS iy e’
Business Focus
think the rental car industry de
serves to carry the whole load,”
said Joe Sports, lobbyist for En
terprise Rent-A-Car and former
executive director of the state’s
car rental association.
Campbell said his financing plan
“allows us to keep the Hawks
downtown without any burden on
Atlanta residents. Eighty percent
of all rental car sales are from
residents outside of the city.”
“If the city can put their part
together,then Ithink weareready
to go,” said Bunky Helfrich, pres
ident of Turner Broadcasting Sys
tem Properties. Turner Broadcast
ing owns the Hawks.
The tax would repay up to SSO
million in bonds for public im
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and
Nambia.
It would include 16 bottling
plants that sold nearly 100 mil
lion cases in 1994, the company
said in a statement. Four addi
tional bottling plants were expect
ed by the end of 1996.
“The new enterpriseis a stream
lined bottling operation that will
allow us to grow the Coca-Cola
business at double-digit annual
percentage rates throughout Afri
ca,” said Phil Gutsche, chief exec
utive officer and board chairman
of Coca-Cola Sabco.
The Coca-Cola Co. is the world’s
largest beverage company with
distribution to 195 countries and
territories. It maintains an 86
percent market share of carbon
ated soft drink sales in Africa, the
company said. ,
provements around the arena.
Turner Broadcasting would con
tribute another $lO million to sls
million for the improvements, in
cluding walkways connecting the
arena to MARTA stations, the
Georgia Dome, Georgia World
Congress Center and CNN Cen
ter.
The remaining $135 million
needed would come from revenue
bonds that would be repaid by
income generated at the arena
through ticket sales, concessions
and about 100 luxury suites.
The two downtown site options
are to tear down the Omni colise
um and build the new arena there,
or to build it in the railroad gulch
between CNN Center and Five
Program assists needy
If you are an elderly, disabled,
or homebound person receiving
SSI., Social Security, or a fixed
income, and living in Richmond,
Columbia, Warren, Wilkes,
Glascock, Lincoln, Burke,
Jefferson, or McDuffie counties,
you should be informed about
the Homebound Energy Assis
tance Program. This program
will be in operation from Novem
ber 13th through December 13,
1995.
Subscribe to
The Augusta Focus
Call 724-7855
Points.
The tax would generate an esti
mated $6 million annually, of
which College Park would get
about $200,000 a year. The Atlan
ta and College Park City Coun
cils, as well as the state Legisla
ture, must approve the plan.
“I don’t see anything wrong with
it,” said House Speaker Tom
Murphy, D-Bremen. “We ain’t got
no car rentals in Haralson Coun
ty.”
“I would like to see the Hawks
stay in Atlanta, and at the same
time see College Park get some
thing out of'it,” College Park City
Manager Scott Miller said. “It’s
more than we get now, which is
nothing.”
For more information, call the
CSRA Economic Opportunity
Authority, Inc. (EOA) at 722-
0493, for Richmond or Columbia
counties and 1-800-890-0493 for
all other counties.
This year, there will be no re
turn visits or telephone calls to
the home to try and make con
tact. Time is short, so help us
help you. This will enable us to
serve as many people as possible
in the time we have.
; _ ¢ ;
3 * 3
His passion for knowledge extends way '
beyond the classroom. His professors say he’s
reaching for the stars. Speaking to him, you realize they
are not, miles.away in .
DAR T T T AT e E e
R o i \\\\ T A 4 =
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Al Henderson, oTR ey ]
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Thurgood Marshall L \\A S ‘
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Scholar, SIS USRI S \ s
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and communications *\\ o &\\
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nerd (his words), - e .
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3 e RN g%\\Q\“&\ &
RLe . 9 :
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.He wants to go s S%\ R §
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to the moon. e e TO hClp
: him and others
' i L like him achieve
their dreams, the
Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund provides for
the brightest students, at historically black public
colleges and universities. This allows Al to
devote more time and energy to study. And he
studies with a passion that illuminates his
world. Sometime i the tuture, when we have a
communications network on
the mooi, Al Hendersonwill be 'i ' H
‘ there. Because he has the passion. THURGOOD
' ' SNSRI TN NI CR @IV U (NI 0.5 <5
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| Genuine Draft B |
§ FOUNDING SPONSOR g )
To support-the Fund call 1-212 878 2221. Or write: Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund 100 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
1995 Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI.
THE TAX WORKSHOP |
Don’t overlook
‘casualty losses’
Ifyou wakened on Nov. 1 to find
that some local ghosts and goblins
had wreaked Halloween havoc on
your property, you may be enti
tled to a tax deduction. According
to the Georgia Society of CPAs,
damage, destruction, or losses in
curred as a result of an identifi
able event that is sudden, unex
pected, or unusual are deemed
“casualty losses” by the Internal
Revenue Service.
Although vandalism or theft
resulting from Halloween night
would qualify as a casualty loss,
thetaxlawis specifically designed
to provide financial relief to vic
tims who have suffered substan
tial property loss from more seri
ous casualties, such as earth
quakes fires and floods.
Itisnot necessarythatthe event
totally destroy a home or other
property. Partial damage to prop
erty also is considered a casualty.
However, you can’t claim a loss as
a casualty loss deduction if it oc
curred over a period of time, such
as damage caused by termites,
drought, normal aging, and weath
ering.
Determining the amount
of your loss
Your casualty loss is the lesser
of two amounts: (1) the decrease
in the property’s fair-market val
ue as aresult of the casualty or (2)
the adjusted basis of the property
immediately before the casualty.
The fair-market value is the
amount a willing buyer would pay
to purchase the property on the
open market without any obliga
tion to buy it. Adjusted basis re
ferstowhat you originally paid for
the property plus the cost of any
improvements.
Insurance plays an
important role
Once you calculate the amount
of loss incurred, you need to re
duce it by the proceediof any
insurance reimbursemats you
receive or expect to recive. Ac
cording to the tax law, yojare not
allowed to claim a casulty loss
deduction if the loss is copred by
insurance and you choogE not to
file a claim — even if yd fail to
submit a claim for fear thénsurer
will cancel coverage or hie your
premiums. The way the I views
it,a casualty loss deductioshould
be your last resort. {
Once you’ve determinid the
unreimbursed amount ¢ your
casualty loss, you must thih sub
tract SIOO for each loss durhg the
year. Ifseveral losses are inlurred
as aresult of the same evelionly
one SIOO reduction applis, no
matter how many pieces ojprop
erty are involved. |
There’s also one more lt*dle:
losses are deductible only p the
extent that they exceed 1{ per
cent of your adjusted grog in
come (AGI). For example, ifyour
AGI is $40,000, your loss hs to
exceed $4,000 beforeyou can jaim
a deduction. You would conl)ute
the amount of your loss on Jorm
4684, Casualties and Thefts,end
transfer the deductible amown to
Schedule A.
When to deduct your
casualty loss
Normally, a casualty loss canbe
claimed only on the tax returnor
the year in which the loss occrs.
However,aspecialruleapplieswkn
thelossoccursinadisasterarea tiat
iseligibleforfederal assistance. L gs
es to property that qualified for fd
eral disaster relief occurred in 24
statesin 1994. If you suffer a casul
ty loss as a result of a declard
disaster, you're given the optiorof
deducting that loss in the yearn
which the disaster occurred, ofn
the preceding tax year.