Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, August 19,2001
Commission braces
for budget meetings
By Bill Johnson
Staff Writer
Forsyth County officials
will roll up their sleeves and
go to work on one of the
rrfost difficult jobs of the
year Wednesday— approving
thte 2002 budget and setting
the millage rate.
-Finance Director Dick
Russell said Friday his office
has received budget requests
totaling $62 million an
increase of more than $lO
million in the general fund
requests from this time a
year ago.
Russell said there is “no
way” county commissioners
will sign off on a budget that
site, but he added that
increased demands coupled
with declining revenue and
an uncertain economy make
a tax increase all but
inevitable.
“We’re very nervous
about the economy next
year,” Russell said.
> “It could impact our sales
tak revenue as well as rev
enue from our permits and
inspections.”
Starting at 8 a.m. Wed
nesday, department heads
wi'll begin filing into the
county commissioners’ sec
ond-floor conference room to
pitch their individual budget
requests in an all day num
bers crunch that is expected
to last well into the evening
hours.
’“The current deficit is a
litffe more than $22 million
and that is using very conser
vative revenue numbers,”
Russell said.
“But that’s not atypical.
At'this point, these requests
arejust wishful thinking.”
At Monday’s county com
mission meeting, District 3
Commissioner Michael Ben
nett sounded as though he
wished the whole thing
would just go away.
“We’ve got a budget
thsft’s going to require about
two and a half times our
millage rate,” he said.
“We’re in trouble. We’re
looking at a 5 mill increase if
we<fund everything that’s
beeji requested of us.”
Among the biggest expen
ditures next year will likely
be |he addition of personnel
to a county workforce of
approximately 800.
Department heads have
asked for 197 new employ
ees, including 69 in the sher
iff’s office and 48 in the fire
department.
*jThe cost in salary and
benefits to add 197 new em-
“Buy Direct from the
(metal J? \ Painted v S fIWE
&J Galvelume 1g“ 1
: Metal Roofing
25 Year Paint/20 Year Galvelume Warrahty( 10 Colors in Stock)
■ (770) 886-3880 or 706-265-3099
EARLY DEADLINES FOR
LABOR DAY
Because of the upcoming Labor Day
I holiday, the ‘News’ will alter its
"advertising’ and ‘legals ’ deadlines as follows:
; RETAIL & CLASSIFIED DISPLAY
' Publication of Sun. 9/2/01:
; Deadline will be Wed. 8/29/01 at noon
• Publication of Wed. 9/5/01: Forsyth & Dawson
Deadline will be Thur. 8/30/01 at 2 p.m.
[ Publication of Thurs. 9/6/01: Forsyth
Deadline will be Fri. 9/31/01 at 2 p.m.
; CLASSIFIED LINE ADS
J Publication of Sun. 9/2/01:
Deadline will be Friday 8/31/01 at noon
Publication of Wed. 9/5/01: Forsyth & Dawson
I Deadline will be Fri. 8/31/01 at 3 p.m.
J LEGALS
[ Publication of Wed. 9/6/00:
Deadline will be Thur. 8/30/00 at 12 noon
; The Forsyth County News will be CLOSED
Monday, Sept. 3, in observance of Labor Day.
Schedule
Here is the schedule for
budget discussions between
department heads and mem
ber of the board of commis
sioners set for Wednesday,
Aug. 22.
The discussions are open
to the public and will be held
in the large conference room
in the commission offices in
the county Administration
Building in downtown
Cumming. All times are
approximate.
8 a.m. Fire, Ambulance
Service
8:30 a.m. Emergency
Management
8:45 a.m. Sheriff,
Detention Center, Drug
Abuse, E-911 Service
9:30 a.m. Roads &
Bridges, Engineering, Fleet
Maintenance, Public
Transportation, Solid Waste
& Recycling
10:15 a.m. Parks &
Recreation
10:45 a.m. Planning &
Development
11:15 a.m. Public
Buildings Fund 640
11:30 a.m. Voter
Registration
11:45 a.m. Coroner
12 p.m. Lunch
1 p.m. Tax Assessor
ployees would be over $8.5
million,” Russell said. “I just
don’t think that is going to
happen.”
Department heads also
want to increase the county’s
fleet of new and replacement
vehicles to the tune of about
$3.1 million.
The sheriff’s office has
asked to add 65 patrol cars
with a price tag of about $1.7
million.
The fire department is
seeking two new pumper
trucks for about $575,000
and roads and bridges wants
three new dump trucks val
ued at about $240,000.
But the No. 1 expenditure
that evokes groans of dis
comfort among county com
missioners is the employee
pension plan approved by
outgoing commissioners in
2000.
That plan was not funded
out of current revenues in
2001, but from the county’s
reserve fund. The bill for that
pension plan will come due
this year.
“That costs about $2 mil-
1:30 p.m. Water
Department
2:15 p.m. Information
Technology Funds 626, 268,
629
2:45 p.m. Senior Center
3 p.m. Community
Services
3:15 p.m. Extension
Services
3:30 p.m. Library
3:45 p.m. Soil
Conservation
4 p.m. Tax Commissioner
4:15 p.m. Pretrial
Services
4:30 p.m. Victim/Witness
4:45 p.m. Magistrate
Court
5 p.m. Clerk of Court
5:15 p.m. Juvenile Court
and Supervisor
5:30 p.m. Superior Court
5:45 p.m. District
Attorney
6 p.m. State Court
6:15 p.m. State Court
Solicitor
6:30 p.m. Probate Court
6:45 p.m. Board of
Commissioners,
Administration and Law
Department
7 p.m. Finance, Payroll
7:15 p.m. Purchasing
7:30 p.m. Human
Resources
lion,” Russell said.
“That’s about half a mill
[of new taxes] right there and
we don’t have the reserves to
continue to fund it.”
Russell also blamed out
going commissioners Bill
Jenkins, Julian Bowen and
Andy Anderson —for ram
rodding through a reduction
in the millage rate from 2.63
to 2 mills.
“They were well aware
the .63 millage rate reduction
would have to be reinstated,”
Russell said.
“So you have .63 mills
and the half mill to pay for
the pension plan to add back
on and you’ve got 3.1 mills
before ever considering any
other budget increases.”
No wonder Bennett said
at last week’s county com
mission meeting that he
hoped he never saw a budget
like this one again.
ff ATTENTION A
KMART SHOPPERS
The Kmart August 19, 2001 weekly ad circular, I
on page 23 features the Mariah Carey “Glitter"
CD. This item will not be available at this time
due to the recording studio's change of release
date.
We regret any inconvenience this may have
caused our customers.
I Bg J
Our Services
• On-Site Training & Service
• Out Sourced Bookkeeping
• Out Sourced Accounting
• On-Line Accounting
Introductory & Advanced
Quickßooks Seminar
August 28th SQ7
Advanced Quickßooks
for Builders & Contractors
September2sth so Q "7
Full Day & Lunch /
Limited Seating
770-667-9989
Bridge2T
North Atlanta
A Division of Williams, Homing & Co.
Certified Public Accountants
GBI from 1A
the cause of Turner’s 1995
death, and his body was
exhumed a few weeks ago for
toxicology tests. Those test
results are not expected for
weeks.
Police have not determined
whether a crime has been
committed.
The link between the two
men is Cumming resident
Lynn Turner, 33, who is the
widow of Glenn Turner and
former girlfriend of Thomp
son.
Both of their deaths initial
ly were attributed to an irregu
lar heartbeat.
A few weeks ago, the
investigation was expanded to
include the death of Casper,
46, who died from respiratory
failure. He had been Turner’s
boss in the sheriff’s finance
department between 1996-
1998.
Casper was a diabetic and
Schools celebrate rising test scores
By John Tooley
Staff Writer
Rising test scores for
Forsyth County students high
lighted the county Board of
Education’s most recent meet
ing, Thursday evening at the
Board of Education Building
on Dahlonega Highway.
Rhenida Rennie presented
the board with results from the
Stanford 9 tests, which indi
cated that Forsyth County stu
dents not only have improved
their overall scores, but now
place higher than the state of
Georgia and comparable
school districts in both reading
and math.
“This is a marvelous trib
ute to all the teachers and their
work,” Rennie said.
“It’s the first time I think
we’ve beat our comparison
group.”
Georgia’s new norm-refer
enced test, the Stanford 9,
replaced the lowa Tests of
Basic Skills in 2001. Students
in grades three, five and eight
took the test during the weeks
of March 12-April 6.
Typically, when a new type
of test is introduced, scores
drop as teachers and students
adjust to the new material,
Rennie said. Instead, many of
Forsyth’s numbers rose.
For example, Forsyth
County scored in the 65th per
centile in the grade 3 reading
totals. The state of Georgia
placed in the 45th percentile;
FIRST CALL
781-HELP
(4357)
Emergency help line for
Forsyth County.
© 9"
--SIRvCEC* ITO \
Atlanta Professional Builders : -
Remodeling Residential and Commercial pffe I MgK
A Family Tradition Since 1895 J | jg, j, ji ■
_ I, JBi Mb
It llm i ineTtf"tu r M ‘dll®®
a. - wW.WSSE'*
r .t» ;
"Our prices must be right to have lasted a century" g d •SKir !•
Storm Repair, We negotiate with your insurance claims adjuster! as
• Florida Sunroom • Design Service • Judges Paneling
• Screen Porches • Garages • Snap In Porch Windows
. Decks • Trey Ceilings • Basements Completed J
• Carports Enclosed • Custom Cabinetry * Hoofing
• Room Additions ’ fully Insured
Magnolia Office Park • Sugar Hill, CA 30518
■iIWHIHHIM 770-939-3441 • Call Anytime
www. atlantaprofessionalbuilders. com
* NAME BRANDS
-<jARPET SAVIMCSWV * 1000’S OF YARDS TO CHOOSE FROM
* FRIENDLY SALES STAFF
Carpet completely Installed, your choice... * CONVENIENT LOCATION
BERBER W/BLB PAD x
& INSTALLATION /“We’ve Got
$4099 c *XX o " r Ty?
BdEh Weekly Sales!!! \
40 OZ PLUSH W/6LB PAD
& INSTALLATION
99
■
reportedly recovering from a
brown recluse spider bite at
the time of his death, which
was ruled natural. No autopsy
was performed.
In the wake of the investi
gation into the deaths of
Turner and Thompson, rela
tives of Casper gave the GBI
permission to exhume his
body. His mother said Friday
that she still would like that
done, if necessary.
Ruth Roberts said she has
many unanswered questions
. about the death of her son. She
is attempting to learn more by
reviewing his medical records
from St. Joseph’s Hospital and
Gwinnett Medical Center.
“I would like to get some
answers,” Roberts said. “If
that means exhuming the
body, I want that done.”
The investigation into the
three deaths also triggered
renewed interest by authorities
comparable school districts
finished in the 57th percentile.
Overall, county reading
scores came in higher than
scores for math.
School officials said the
emphasis on mathematics will
be renewed in the current
school year.
In other business, the
school board:
• approved the purchase of
two routing computers to
replace aging components in
the school system’s computer
network. The machines will be
purchased from Cisco Systems
for a total of $141,564. School
technology director Bailey
Mitchell said the money for
the computers would come
from lottery funds designated
to the school district for
upgrades.
• approved an amendment
to the system’s Format For
Developing Action Plan. The
action plan ultimately will
provide the school system
with a blueprint for handling
important educational issues
such as redistricting.
• received a report from
school finance director Dan
Jones. As of July 31, the
school system has collected
$61,871,615 in sales taxes.
I
I
freight
Sales iHKnd
770-881-8850 M
2016 Atlanta Hani. M
in a previous GBI investiga
tion involving the county sher
iff’s office.
While Casper and Turner
were working together in the
finance department, the GBI
investigated the disappearance
of $40,000.
The state attorney general’s
office later declined to prose
cute the case because of insuf
ficient evidence, but the GBI
has reopened the case, in the
event that its contents become
relevant to the ongoing death
investigations.
Lynn Turner’s attorney,
Rafe Banks of Cumming, has
said the finance investigation
showed poor record keeping
by the sheriff’s office but not
that any money was actually
missing.
Banks also has declared his
client was not involved in the
deaths of her former husband
and boyfriend.
Under the current SPLOST,
the system may collect S9O
million by June 30, 2002.
Jones projected that the sys
tem would collect SBO-SBS
million in sales taxes for the
initial five-year SPLOST.
• heard a report on the
changing demographics in
Forsyth County. A strategic
plan is being developed to
help meet the needs of an
increasingly diverse county
population. Among other
things, the plan calls for an
International Welcome Center
to open in the new Cumming
Elementary School in fall
2002.
• received an update from
facilities director Robert
Sewell. Sewell reported that
266 new classroom units came
on line in time for the start of
the 2001-2002 school year.
Next summer, an additional
199 units will be added to the
school system.
• recognized school system
Web master Jamie Stewart,
who recently received an
award from the National
Public Relations Association.
Stewart was recognized for his
work on the school system’s
Web site, www.forsyth.kl2.-
ga.us.
FORSYTH SMALL
ENGINES, INC.
Mower
Repairs and
Parts for:
Murray,
Sears, Scotts,
MTD and
many more,
FORSYTH SMALL ENGINES, INC.
1750 Dahlonega Hwy., Cumming, GA
770 •781*4705