Newspaper Page Text
Opinion
Words to grow by.
, Last week, we discussed danc
ing with the “800 pound gorilla,”
growth. In discussing managing
growth, we used the term “guid
ing” growth. As of yet, the key
question remains: How much guid
ance will be applied in Forsyth
County? The County Commission
is meeting shortly with an urban
planning firm to discuss how pro
fessionals can help develop
answers and review alternatives to
growth guidance.
Choices for growth guidance,
aS we saw last week, run from the
intensity of Florida’s growth guid
ance to the “open market” style
that produced Gwinnett and Cobb’s
present difficulties.
Presuming the Commission
decides to guide growth, how is
growth “guided”? Guidance starts
with a description of how citizens
want their county to turn out after
the growth cycle. This description
covers a broad spectrum of issues
like livability, quality of life,
schools, business development,
aesthetics, recreation, public ser
vices and safety and so on. It is
really a description of how county
residents want their county to look
when it grows up.
In planning terms, the descrip
tion is a “Strategic Plan”. The
strategic plan contains a set of spe
cific goals listing what the citizens
want as results for specific areas
like those just mentioned.
Forsyth County’s present
Strategic Plan was recently accept
ed unanimously by the
Have you talked trash
with your neighbor lately?
Surprisingly, many of us don’t
know how much we spend on
garbage each year. For instance if
you ask this question of someone
living in a nearby county they
might say that it depends on how
many bags they carry there each
week and will carry there in the
future.
Garbage haulers like to speak
in terms of loads and tons, which
usually means the amount of times
their trucks cross the scales at the
landfill and how heavy the trucks
were when they came across.
Though, when it comes down to
you the customer, do you pay the
same as the family down the
street, since, we don’t talk trash
very often with our neighbors.
Thus, in most counties the cost
. •of garbage collection is not a true
reflection of the full cost of collec
tion and disposal. So, how do
some communities make their res
idents aware of the full cost of col
lection and disposal of garbage?
Welcome to the bag or volume
based system for trash. These type
programs are based on the utility
way of doing things. Like your
water, electricity and gas, the more
you throw away the more it costs
you.
Many counties have piloted
this program and found that it
works for them and others have
had nothing but nightmares and
problems with the system. Forsyth
County has a somewhat of a vol
ume based system at the transfer
station on Tolbert Street. For
instance, a resident is charged by
• the bag for his or her garbage. The
more bags they have, the more it
cost them. One reason this is not a
’ true volume based system is that
in ihis system everyone assumes
that a standard size bag will be
used. Unfortunately, this usually
does not happen. What typically
\ does happen is one may have a
large lawn filled with garbage and
another may have a small kitchen
bag of garbage but both are still
charged the same amount for dis
posal. In a true “volume based
Commission. It was formulated
over many months by a diversity
of citizens who served on the offi
cial Vision 20/20 Quality Growth
Task Force. People of every stripe
were represented: Business own
ers, no growthers, health care pro
fessionals, lawyers, county offi
cials, builders and “just plain
folks.” Some voices have since
been heard saying that some partic
ipants and, therefore, the plan were
“overzealous”, but there is no part
of the finished plan that specifical
ly favors one group over the other
or is extreme. As a matter of fact,
over 326 citizens overwhelmingly
endorsed the plan in a written sur
vey distributed county wide.
From the goals of the strategic
plan, a Master Land Use and
Development Plan will be written.
The master plan takes the strategic
plan’s specific goals and translated
them into things that bring about
the desired results. What types of
development are appropriate and
where should different types of
development be placed? What
types of open space are needed,
where will they be and how will
those areas be obtained? What den
sity of housing is appropriate for
different parts of the county? What
infrastructure will be needed,
where and when, to support growth
and development?
Development of the master plan
is very complex and requires
extensive dialogue, input and
involvement by citizens, business
es, land owners, developers and
planning professions to create a
workable plan. The master plan is
Nancy MrW
program” residents are required to
purchase special stickers or cans
that are all the same standard size
and charged by the bag, sticker or
can. For example, in Tifton,
Georgia, the cost of a 32-gallon
bag is $1.50, which is comprised
of 1.50= 16 cost of bag +.lO han
dling cost +1.24 for collection,
transportation and disposal/tipping
fee.
This system is not without its
problems, of course, residents
complain about having to purchase
special items for their garbage and
don’t understand what the reasons
are for the rising costs of garbage
disposal. There are many com
plaints and the system is not politi
cally popular. Residents can’t
understand why the good old days
of burying the trash and forgetting
about it are gone. New landfills
have more costs than imaginable
such as gas and water monitoring,
treatment of garbage juices
(leachate) and landfill liners.
While some do not like the
system, the Recyclers are happy
with this type of program. Most
recyclers believe that this type
system encourages recycling since
most recycling centers are free to
the residents. The more garbage
that can be recycled the less that is
out in the garbage bag. Thus,
reducing the cost of the garbage
by reducing the volume in the bag.
Paying for garbage like you do
your electricity or water. It’s
something that is slowly making
it’s way to Georgia. Six counties
and five cities in the state already
have some volume based system
in place. So, the next time you talk
trash with your neighbor mention
the pay as you throw idea, does he
know how much it could cost
him?
Chris Dekle JT
*
< Jf Paul F.P. WEfc j
i cpenen
critical to success because it pro
vides the specific guidance needed
to guide growth.
From the master plan, specific
zoning ordinances and develop
ment regulations are written and
enacted to manage the details of
growth so that the master plan is
accomplished. The details, for
instance, of density and lot sizes,
setbacks, tree ordinances, open
space, buffers, etc., are spelled out.
In our next article, we will
examine some of the groups, the
constituencies, who feel they
should have a “say” in how the
county grows. Some of the groups
have identified themselves or may
be obvious to you, some may come
as a surprise!
Anyone who has a specific
question about Forsyth County
growth is invited to submit it to
Coenen and Dekle at the Forsyth
County News, P. O. Box 210,
Cumming, Georgia 30130.
Citizens will not be identified in
any article, but are asked to identi
fy themselves so the authors can
get in touch if they have questions
or want more information.
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What’s new for 1995 tax returns?
The IRS has released various
forms that will have to be filed for
your 1995 tax returns. As in the past,
many items of income and deduction
have been adjusted for inflation
along with a few tax law changes.
Items adjusted for inflation:
For 1995, the standard deduction
amounts have increased as follow:
$6,550 for married filing jointly;
$3,900 for single individuals; $5,750
for head of households. In addition,
the personal exemptions have
increased by SSO to $2,500 per per
son.
The standard automobile mileage
allowance has increased to 30 cents
per mile for all business miles.
However, they kept the charitable
mileage allowance at 12 cents per
mile.
The limitation on itemized
deduction for high-income taxpayers
has been increased to $114,700.
Therefore, when your adjusted gross
income exceeds this level, your
deductions will be reduced 3% for
every dollar over the limitation.
1995 Tax Changes:
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Friday, December 1,1995 I
Rick drJ
Lee
Do you have a household
employee? Or should I ask: Are you
reporting a household employee? If
you are one, then the withholding
taxes for said employee are now
reported on Schedule H which flows
to Form 1040, line 53. Remember
the Supreme Court nominee who got
“caught” on this. You are required to
report employment taxes if you paid
any one person wages SI,OOO or
more during 1995, or more withheld
federal taxes at the request of the
employee.
A positive note!!!! The receipt
requirement for many business
expenses has been increased from
$25 to $75 effective October 1, 1995
for business travel!
Are you expecting a refund this
year? Now you can have the refund
directly deposited into Your bank
account. You must use Form 8888 to
do so. This may save almost a week
or two of time.
Remember that the self
employed health insurance deduc
tion was raised from 25% to 30% for
those individuals who are sole-pro
prietors, partners in a partnership
and S-corporation shareholders.
Remember that now is the |ime
to meet with your tax advisor before
the year is over! If you have any
quest ions or concerns, be sure to
call your advisor.
Many people are wondering
about the possible capital gain tax
cut being available for 1995. Well,
as of this date, no bill as been passed
and signed by the President.
Therefore, the odds on favorite is
still that a possible rate change will
occur but it will not be effective
until 1996. There is an outside
chance that it may be retroactively
placed into affect as of October 1,
1995. However, if I were a betting
man, my money would go with
1996.
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