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And the opening bid is . .
Morgan Willis, gives it his best dunng the Peach Habitat Auction while President Greg
Whitaker right stands ready to lend a hand in showing items to be auctioned Over
Timely answers to last-minute tax questions
If you have some last-minute
questions about filing your tax
return you’re not alone. Hun¬
dreds of taxpayers flock to IRS
help lines at this time of year
But to alleviate some of your tax
related anxiety, here are some
common questions and answers
from the Georgia Society of
CPAs
! My tax return won’t be ready
until April 15. What’s the best
wa v to get it to the Internal Rev -
enue Service?
t Ise the US. FVsstal System As
l >ng as your return is post¬
marked on April 15th. it will be
deemed filed on time You also
may use- specifically designated
delivery services, such as FfcdEx
Airborne Express. DHL World
wide Express and United Parcel
Service You also have the option
< t tiling it electronically, but to do
BUDDY'S
UFACTURED
HOMES
» THOM ASTON
$AVE $AVE $AVE
HEW 3 OR BEDROOM 4 HOMES
MULTI-SELECTION PER/MO
(LOW DOWN PAYMENT)
4 BEDROOM SURER SIZE $210
SINGLE SECTION PER/MO
"MORE HONE LESS HONEY
LAND AND HOME PACKAGES AVAILABLE
1512 Hwy 19 N. Thomaston (706) 646-2766
INVITATION TO BID
be Peach County Commissioners Office will be accepting Sealed Bids tor tire next two weeks, per
mining to the following: Peach County Recreation Department Baseball and Soltball program Youth
Masrball and Softball Shtrts, Sllk-screenlng of Shirts, and Baseball Caps.
losing date for Sealed Bid # 99006 shall tie March 17. 1999. at 10:00 am
I be Bid opening shall be March 17. 1999 at 10:15 am., in the Peach County Courthouse 205 West
Church Street. Public Hearing Room. First Flooi of the new Annex A complete listing o! spectflca
tions may be obtained by contacting;
Peach County Commissioners Office
208 West Church Street.. P.O Box 468
Fort Valley. Georgia 31030
-Min: Peach County Purchasing
1. Shirts Approximately 720 Youth Approxlmaleh 120 Adult. Size T-Shirts
2 of above T-Shirts
Approximately 66 Sponsor names on sets (Approximately IK each)
3. Baseball Caps - Approximately 1.140
Am questions concerning the above T-Shlrt/Cap Bid- please contact Mr Robert Stump. Director.
IVarh County Recreation Department at 1912) 825 3334, to nuke an appointment
Peach County reserves the right to reject any and all bids, to waive, informalities, to readvertise
and/or to award the contract In the best Interest of the County, and to retain all Bids for a period of
thirty 130) days after the date of bid opening I
Bids should be mailed to:
* “each County Commissioners Office
Attn: Sealed Bid • 99006
P.O Box 468 ,
Fort Valley. Georgia 31030
Michael P. Heldt Peach County Purchasing Manager
P.O 99006
«^f lertft Wednesday March 10, IBW
so you must have a computer,
modem and the right tax prepa
ration software or hire a CPA
who can file it for you
2) What documents should be
included with my tax form”
Generally, the only forms that
need to he attachixi an* W-2 and
certain 1099 forms
3) I found a mistake on one of
my 1099 forms and haven’t
received a corrected one yet
What should 1 do”
You have two choices Either pay
the amount of tax that is due and
file for an extension or file your
return and send an amended
return later with an explanation
4' Hqw do l get an extension to
file my tax return”
All you need to do is file Form
4868 to obtain an automatic
extension to August 16. 1999.
eliminating late-filing penalties
75 people attended the auction
However, you’ll still need to
include any taxes you owe with
your request for an extension
51 What if l can’t pay the bal¬
ance of my tax** by April 15?
If you can show undue hard¬
ship, complete and mail Form
1127 on or before April 15 to
extend the tim*- of payment for
up to six months Your applica
tion must hi accompanied by evi
dence supporting undue hard
ship, a statement of assets and
liabilities, and receipts and dis
bursements tor three months pn
or to the original due date of the
return
If you don't think youH be able
to pay off vour outstanding tax
hill in full within six months, you
can file Form 9465 to request an
installment agreement However
you will be charged interest on
your outstanding tax balance. -As
an alternative, you may want to
consider getting a loan from a
family member, friend, or bank
6* If the Internal Revenue Ser
vice finds that 1 made a mistake
and paid too little tax, will I be
subject to any penalties 0
That depend* on the mistake
You may have to pay an accura
cy related penalty if you under
[wild your tax** because of negli¬
gence or disregard of rules or
regulations or because you sub
stantially understated your
income In the eyes of the IRS,
the underpayment is substantial
if it is more than th*' larger of 10
percent of the tax required to be
shown on the return or $5,000
Th*- accuracy-related penalty is
equal to 20 percent of the under
payment
7) If 1 overpaid my taxes in
error, how can I get a refund”
Simply file an amended return
and either request a refund or
apply all or part of your overpay¬
ment on your original return to
your estimated taxes If you
choose to get a refund, it will he
mailed to you separately from
any refund indicated on your
original return
8) How much time do i have to
amend my return 1 '
In general, you have three
years after the original timely
return was due or filed, or two
years from the date the tax was
paid, whichever is later General
ly, failure to file an amended
return within this time frame
prevents you from receiving a tax
refund, no matter how valid your
claim
91 Will I earn any interest on
money I get back from the IRS”
As long as th** IRS issue* you a
refund within 45 days of the tame
it was filed or 45 days from when
your return was amended, you
won't receive any interest After
45 days, interest will be paid up
until the date the refund is paid
10) I'm getting back a big
refund from the IRS this year
What can I do to change that”
You need to complete a new W-4
Form and claim more exemp
tions Doing so will essentially
result in less tax being withheld
from your paycheck However,
before doing that, make sure you
consider whether you’ll have any
extra sources of inconv- in 1999
that could boost vour tax liability
For example, if you anticipate
some large mutual fund distnbu
tions or dividends from stocks,
you'll owe taxes on those
amounts in addition to the taxta?
on your regular income
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COMING SOON: COMMERCIAL TRUCK DRIVING A
DENTAL HYGIENE
Bullying no longer allowed
State Representative
Robert Ray
The General Assembly
Thuraday March 3rd
and reconvened Monday,
March 8th This purpose of the
recess is to give the House
Appropriations Committee
time to finalize the FY2000
Budget (Big Budget i
This Wednesday will mark
the 33rd day of the session in
which no more House bills can
be sent to the Senate for
approval Wednesday is the
last day that a bill can clear its
originating chamber in time for
introduction in the opposite
chamber this session
The last seven days, other
than local legislation, the
House will only act on mea¬
sures that come from the Sen¬
ate or bills from the Conference
Commute*- In most cases, if a
House bill or Resolution fails to
make it through the full body
by Wednesday, it cannot
progress any further until the
next session of the General
Assembly Literally hundreds
of pieces of legislation will be
left until next year to be con
sidered
Last weak H.R 84 passed the
House It Is a bill l introduced
at the request of Jimmy Yancey
who is in charge of security for
Peach County High School The
bill adds razor blades to the
long list of weapons that are
prohibited at schools It also
provides that the slate school
boards comprehensive eharac
ter education program shall
address by the start of the
1999-2000 school year methods
of discouraging bullying and
violent acts against fellow stu
dents
It require* local school hoards
to adopt policies prohibiting
bullying Bullying is defined as
1 i a willful attempt or threat
to inflict injury on another per
son. when accompanied by an
apparent present ability to do
so or 2» an intentional display
of force that would give the vie
tim reason to fear or expect
imm«*diate bodily harm
It provide® that students who
commit the offense of bullying
3 times in a school year shall
be assigned to an alternative
school Withholds certain state
funding from school systems
that fail to implement this poll
cy
It allows any local school
hoard to authorize POST-certt
Fied school security personnel
to carry a standard issue
firearm or weapon in order to
carry out law enforcement
duties Previously, only school
boards in counties having a
population of greater than
100.000 could authorize school
security personnel to carry
firearms.
Another measure passed
dealing with school discipline
was Governor Barnes plan to
give teachers more power to
remove unruly students who
chronically disrupt the class
room Th* 1 measure calls for a
character education program
and a student code of conduct.
-
v \A Wn*
appropri
ate to th
age. to b
voluntarily
developed and implemented for
all schools by their local school
boards
The terms of the student code
of conduct say that student
behavior must be a written
standard of behavior so each
student will know exactly what
is expected It will also say
what student support services
can be used along with disci
pline to help the children for
misbehavior
Proportional discipline must
reflect the severity of the
behavior and the code of con¬
duct must involve parental
input This code of conduct
would have to be distributed to
the students and their parents
When students exhibit misbe
havior in the classrooms, the
teacher would have to file a
report and a copy would he
sent to th** principle, who then
would sent it on to the parents
U» keep them informed This is
to give the parent an opportu
nity to come in and speak with
the principal If the behavior
continues and becomes exces
sive, the teacher could remove
the child from the classroom
If a principal wants to remove
a child from the classroom but
the teacher does not. or vice
versa, then The decision would
go before a three person fianel
made up of teachers from that
school It would be composed of
two teachers chosen by the fac
ulty and one bv the principal
Supporters said that this is
the only real step that is going
to be seen this year to disci¬
pline children in the classroom
They also said that for the first
time all of the associations
involved in education have
come together in a position of
support for this legislation
This legislation was also
la faded “a partnership of stu
dents, teachers, parents and
administrators'".
With affordable quality day
care hard to come by for many
Georgians, the House passed
HI 610 by a vote of 170 to 3
This legislation is also part of
the governor’s package and
increases the tax credit for
employers who provide on site
child care or sponsor child care
for their employees It mcreas
os the current tax credit from
50 percent to 75 percent
Businesses that construct on
site child can- facilities for the
children of their employees
could also see a new tax credit
The credit would prov ide for 10
percent of tin- construction cost
per year for ten years
The bill was amended to
allow groups of employers who
built a day care facility to also.
get the tax credit proportionate
to what they contributed Sup
porters said they want employ
ees to be able to visit their chil¬
dren dunng their lunch breaks
or coffee breaks
Representatives of the people
in our republic may not always
pleas*- everyone, but it is ?n
tial that they practice honesty
and decency, for when making
decisions that effect all citi¬
zens. whether young, old. nch,
poor, voters or non-voters, the
decisions that legislators make
on a daily basis truly carry
with them consequences for all
citizens To everyone who has
contacted any office or sent cor
respondent? to me recently,
please accept my sincere apolo
gins in my delay in response to
your letters and calls as ray
legislative duties have taken
up the vast majority of my time
in recent weeks Be assured
that your opinions an* of vita!
importance to me, and l do
plan to respond as soon as pos
siblt- Thank you for your
patience I can be reached at
my Atlanta office (404 ) 656
7855 and in the evenings at
i404) 588-1936 My address is
401 State Capitol, Atlanta.
Georgia 30334