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About Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1977)
■ck MMUfißk ■hb^ 1F- *' irx IMF. Hl Wk ' K ' * ' bL'. w *®sk ▼ *’~ ■wi 'W ». r <Bk Mk *•■■■-’ ■- - -ll Jißil K]Rf jf Jar HEMRgF ' 4K| >* MB mm Md 2<k - A SSr W’ 9• m »•#$ ■ a : u fj£' - °" I aa ■ w i IS&M I BB&I3 » I H» W®. f sea-. jFA’wKg^.' ■ HHNiiiiMw / B- *' Ready for try Stickers such as these were being put on parking meters today in preparation for free parking beginning Thursday. The experiment will run through Dec. 31. The Griffin City Commissioners in a 3-2 vote Tuesday night put the or- G-S Hospital reports on corrective action The Griffin-Spalding Hospital has made 14 changes which affect the way a person’s bills are handled. They were made in an effort to improve service to people and correct some of the problems which have been brought to light in recent weeks. Some local citizens and public of ficials have expressed concern about some of the mix-ups in billings. They have criticized the way billings and collections have been handled and called for corrective steps. In a report to the Griffin Daily News on the steps taken, Executive Director William J. Feely said .. I try to instill in our staff a more personable ap proach. . .” to billing. He said systems are needed to handle the heavy volume of paperwork but added that if the systems aggravate patients or fail to do the job, they should be changed. He said the systems would be under constant review. Feely said new computer equipment Carter’s welfare reform shows strengths, weaknesses By JONATHAN WOLMAN and EVANS WITT Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) - To hear the President tell it, Carter-style welfare reform is a many-splendored thing. It will fight poverty, create jobs for poor people, help keep families intact and eventually cut the taxpayers’ cost of public assistance. Or will it? A close look at the President’s welfare package reveals important strengths, along with serious weaknesses that threaten its chances for passage and success. Consider: —The |30.7 billion price tag is based GRIFFIN Daily Since 1872 at the hospital should make the billings work better. He said that now specific employees are assigned to process a limited amount of patient bills so that a patient desiring information on their bills or insurance will be referred to one of these competent clerks who will respond to the request and answer questions. Feely insisted that any person having trouble understanding his bill should call the hospital for personal attention. Feely pointed out that some 2,000 people come through the Emergency Room for help during an average 30 day period. He said the mere volume alone poses a problem in billing. He also pointed out that the hospital has accumulated more than 50,000 bills over the previous years. In trying to straighten them out, there are bound to be problems, he indicated. Feely listed the 14 administrative changes made affecting billings were as follows: 1— Admission hours have been in- on a block of iffy assumptions and questionable bookkeeping decisions. The eventual cost of welfare reform could be billions more than Carter’s estimate. —While the plan may be expensive, the rewards could be considerable. With jobs, cash and tax benefits, the plan would guarantee an income above the official poverty level for every American family whose breadwinner is willing to work and can find a job. —The plan would require recipients to work and would create public service jobs — with paychecks as incentives to keep them. But the program provides no new help to move this new welfare work force into private sector jobs, a Griffin, Ga., 30223, Wednesday Afternoon, September 14,1977 dinance on second and final reading. Griffin Police will mark cars and issue tickets to drivers whose vehicles violate the 2-hour limit in the downtown metered spaces beginning Thursday. creased to 8 a.m. until midnight. By doing this the hospital has staff members present to process more of the emergency admissions than before. 2 — A new courtesy discharge service has been established. This means if a person is fully covered by insurance and has no foreseeable financial problems, he can be discharged without going to the cashier. 3 — The hospital begins financial consultation with the patients upon admission and not after an account becomes a bad debt. 4 — A patient representative who is on the hospital staff tries to visit every person' admitted to answer questions and listen to any problems the person might have. Feely said he tries to call on about 2 patients a day himself. 5 — The hospital checks with in surance companies to find out why bills have not been paid after a reasonable time. This is part of the insurance (Continued on page 3.) move that is critical to reducing the number of persons who rely on welfare. —Because the public service jobs would pay only the minimum wage or slightly more, the entire welfare work force would remain partly dependent on welfare benefits. —The plan would eliminate financial incentives for poor fathers to abandon their families. But exprts say this won’t be enough to overcome the family breakup problem. These are the main findings of Associated Press reporters who studied Carter’s plan, discussing it with dozens of welfare and manpower experts, in and out of government. Hearings are to begin in Congress City board pledges option for tax cut The city commissioners each agreed if the local option one-cent sales tax referendum passes in 2 weeks, that as long as they serve as a commissioner, they will favor using its income to roll back city ad valorem taxes. All except City Commissioner Dick Mullins agreed to use any remaining funds to reduce garbage fees. Mullins explained he would not favor earmarking all the remaining money for garbage fees because if the county passes a later referendum, it could collect a portion of the funds, thus reducing the city’s share. Garbage fees would have to be raised again and “nothing makes people madder than raising it back,” he said. “I do favor cutting all ad valorem taxes back as far as we can,” Mullins stated. Commissioner Louis Goldstein called for an informal poll of the board during its meeting Tuesday morning. “I want a guarantee from each of us that as long as we’re on this board we will use the money to roll back ad valorem taxes and garbage fees,” he said. Under state law, the money could be used to reduce all property taxes, ex cept the city’s 2% mill for bonded in debtedness. The remaining 6.38 mills in taxes totaling some $688,000 could be cut out entirely, in addition to the $4 monthly garbage collection fees which total about $332,000, the commissioner figured. After the first year, the city would receive some $1,162,000, Goldstein explained. Even though Commissioners R. L. “Skeeter” Norsworthy and Ernest “Tiggy” Jones are against the local Courthouse old but spry NASHVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Berrien County’s dilapidated courthouse — called the worst in Georgia by one statewide study — may be old like grandma but friends say it’s still spry. There have been plans to rebuild, replace and even enshrine the 1898 brick and concrete building as a museum. But the courthouse seems to resist change and is used daily despite complaints about cramped offices and drafty corridors. “It’s like grandma; it’s old,” said Probate Judge John Pat Webb. But age hasn’t weakened the structure, which has six to eight-inch walls and ceilings, poured of concrete and filled with sand. “There’s no danger of it falling. It’s good and substantial,” Webb said. County commissioners have come up with a plan to renovate the building as an historical structure, use it for office space and move most courthouse functions to a new building. An Atlanta architectural firm has been chosen to estimate costs for a new building. this month. President Nixon proposed a welfare reform package but it ran into a congressional crossfire between liberals and conservatives. In 1970 chairman Russell Long bottled it up in the Senate Finance Committee. The Louisiana Democrat, who still chairs the committee, has said of the Carter plan, “We have the right to be skeptical about cost estimates associated with large new programs.” Many antipoverty experts urge that the Carter plan be given a chance. “The Carter plan is a good one,” argues Sar Levitan, an influential manpower expert from George Washington University. Vol. 105 No. 218 sales tax, both agreed that if it passes, the board will have a moral commit ment to use its income toward reducing property taxes and garbage fees. “Pinpointing this money shows our good intent. As long as we have it we can reduce the fees. If it’s taken away, we will have to raise them back,” Goldstein responded to Mullin’s statement. The referendum will be held Tuesday, Sept. 27. Commissioner Goldstein has asked that police officials clear up old for feited jail bonds which have not been paid. A list of some unpaid bonds was shown to the commissioners Tuesday. All were on professional bondsmen and amounted to several hundred dollars each. Goldstein asked that every effort be made to collect both from the bond smen and from any individual who might have also signed a bond. Several date back to 1975, he noted. Goldstein also asked for a list of all evidence collected by the police department. He has made the request several times during the past months with no results. Tuesday he asked again and said that in addition to the list, he also wants to know how long the merchandise has been held by the police department. “I’ve had many complaints that stolen merchandise has been recovered by police but never returned to the stores,” he said. (Continued on page 3.) Pike enrollment drop could cut 4-7 teachers The Pike County Board of Education was told Tuesday night that the system might lose 4 to 7 teachers for the 1978-79 term. The possible loss of teachers was made in a projection given to the board by Dr. Jim Mullins, superintendent and Jim Crayton, assistant superintendent. Mr. Crayton reported that attendance had declined by 100 students compared to the 1976-77 school year. The loss of students combined with the ADA (average daily attendance) could mean 4 to 7 fewer teachers for the 1977-78 session. “We are 100 students down from a year ago and it looks as if we will lose 4 teachers. That’s a conservative estimate. We will have to work hard to keep the loss at 4. It could run as high as 7 based on our ADA figures,” Mr. Crayton projected. Mr. Crayton said the drop in at tendance was in the elementary school. Attendance at the middle school and high school is running about even. Supt. Mullins blamed the decline in elementary school attendance on The key elements of what Carter has called “My Program for Better Jobs and Income,” are increased cash ben efits and creation of 1.4 million low wage public service jobs for adults who head families. If the program is adopted in the form Carter has proposed, it will guarantee to poor families a yearly income — $4,200 for the family of four. Single adults could receive up to $l,lOO. Income benefits would go not only to those who currently receive welfare, such as fatherless families and the aged and the destitute disabled, but also to the working poor who hold jobs and are not paid enough to lift them above the (Continued on page 7) Weather FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA — Partly cloudy with a chance of thun dershowers through Thursday. Lows tonight in upper 60s. Highs Thursday in low 80s. County tax bills increase Spalding County tax bills will in crease about 9 cents per thousand dollars of taxable property this year, according to County Commission Chairman P. W. Hamil. The total tax millage rate for everything will be 30.385 mills on 1977 assessments, he said. This will be figured on a digest that increased some $9-million dollars. The gross digest on which taxes are figured before homestead exemption is $183,591,787. The net digest for figuring bills after homestead exemption is $168,886,349. People living outside the fire district will pay 2.020 mills of taxes less than those inside the fire district. The county tax rate breaks down like this: State -25 of a mill County operations 10.98 mills County bonds '236 of a mill Fire District 2.020 mills Schools 16.136 mills School bonds -314 of a mill Griffin Tech -45 of a mill Total 30.385 mills retention and movement from the county. Dr. Mullins and Mr. Crayton told the board they would make every effort to keep the ADA as high as possible. Pike’s ADA was 96.95 last year. The ADA for the first 11 days of this term was just over 98 percent. During its business session, the Pike School Board accepted the resignation of 5 teachers and granted a leave of absence to another. The board approved contracts for 8 new teachers. The board awarded the bid on a $60,000 loan to the Bank of Molena. School officials also approved fund raising projects and the use of school facilities. People ••• and things Father stumbling with words while trying to explain to his 10-year-old son why a large flock of birds overhead are flying north instead of south. Photo firm representative quickly correcting himself after telling PTA members photographer will be happy to “shoot” their children individually if they so desire. ft ft •m. n. *.*>>. S' “Most of us don’t say one thing and do another — morej commonly we say several things and do nothing.”
