Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
m
\
H Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 135 NO. 26 48 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75c COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Shannon Adams to
remain in role of school
superintendent
page 2A
•Darren Glenn law
suit to move forward
page 3 A
•Child struck by vehi
cle on Brockton Road
page 12A
•Hoschton police
chief resigns
page 12A
Op/Ed:
•'A tragic Christmas
Day' page 4A
Sports:
•JHS takes three in a
row page 1B
Features:
Other News:
•Public Safety
page 6A
•Legals
pages 8-27C
•Church News
page 5B
•Obituaries
pages 10-11A
•School News
pages 7-9A
County system 4th worst financially in state
THE JACKSON County School System has the
fourth weakest financial condition out of all 180
school systems in the state of Georgia.
The JCSS was $908,000 in the red at the end of
FY2009. Only three other school systems in the
state are deeper in the hole in terms of raw dollars
— Laurens County at $2.8 million, Peach County at
$1.5 million and Hancock County at $967,000.
Twelve school systems statewide, including JCSS,
finished FY2009 in the red, meaning the systems
have used all their undesignated reserves and are
operating on a deficit basis.
The Jackson County Board of Education approved
a plan in November for working out of its deficit
position, including raising taxes if necessary to bal
ance its budget.
The BOE attributed the deficit mostly to high
overhead costs related to several new schools it had
opened. The system has the state's fifth highest main
tenance and overhead costs on a per student basis at
Fund Balances of Area School Systems
As of June 30, 2009
Barrow County
+$9.7 million
Oconee County
+$9.2 million
Madison County
+$4.0 million
Jefferson City
+$1.7 million
Commerce City
+$1.6 million
Banks County
+$934,000
$1,012 per student.
The system also has a high cost for school admin
istrative expense on a per student basis, ranking it
15th in the state in that category of spending.
Overall, the JCSS ranks 34th in the state out of 180
systems in terms of overall per pupil spending.
The state average is $8,895 per student; the JCSS
spends $9,689 per student.
Georaia’s Financially Weakest
School Systems’
Fund Balance June 30, 2009
1. Laurens County
-$2.8 million
2. Peach County
-$1.5 million
3. Hancock County
-$967,000
4. JACKSON COUNTY
-$908,000
5. Baker County
-$489,000
6. Randolph County
-$392,000
7. Clay County
-$373,000
8. Warren County
-$348,000
9. Grady County
-$200,000
10. Turner County
-$193,000
11. Dublin City
-$143,000
12. Haralson County
-$74,000
*Ga. school systems with negative fund balances.
More budget cuts ahead
for county school system
A running of the bulls
—
ESCAPED BULL SLOWS TRAFFIC
Several bulls escaped from a trailer at QuickTrip in Jefferson Tuesday, slowing traffic
in the Hwy. 129 and I-85 area for over an hour. One of the bulls reportedly damaged a
Jefferson Police car before being subdued. Photo by Hal Ramakers
Foreclosures
double over
Zoning vote set Dec. 28
Church expansion, senior citizen subdivision
rezoning requests heard by Jefferson council
last year
FORECLOSURES in
Jackson County slated
for sale in January 2010
topped 130, more than
double what it was for
January 2009.
Although not a record
monthly number — that
was 150 in September and
October — the high num
ber for January indicates
that the foreclosure crisis
has not yet abated in the
county.
For all of 2009, fore
closures topped 1,427 in
Jackson County.
I Jackson County
Foreclosures
Jan. 2009 66
Jan. 2010 130
Last week
for tree sales
JEFFERSON Boy Scout
Troop 158 will complete
its annual Christmas Tree
sales this Saturday. The
tree lot is located across
from Jefferson High
School where the troop
sells Frazier Firs from
North Carolina.
Trees from six feet to
eight feet remain on the
lot. All trees will be sold
Thurs.-Sat. for $25. The
tree lot will close down
Saturday afternoon.
BYANGELA GARY
ZONING changes that would
allow a long-time church to
expand and for a senior resi
dential community to locate
in Jefferson were heard by the
Jefferson City Council Monday
night with more than 60 people
attending. The council will take
action on the requests when it
meets at 6 p.m. on Monday,
Dec. 28, at the civic center.
Jefferson UMC is asking to
rezone 3.7 acres at Colley Street
and Storey Street to O-I (office
institutional) with construction
of a family life center and addi
tional parking among the plans.
At the council meeting
Monday night, Tim Comelison
represented the church and pre
sented plans for the project. He
said the 3.7 acres would be com
bined with two adjacent parcels
that are already zoned O-I. He
added that the church member
ship doesn’t have a family life
center that is large enough and
that more parking is needed.
The plans call for a 2,100 square
foot building and 225 parking
spaces.
“We need additional space to
handle our growth,” Comelison
said.
Councilman Roy Plott point
ed out that the church asked for
a rezoning in 2005 for a family
life center and it was approved.
“Now you come in with a
plan that dwarfs the community
around it,” he said.
Comelison said that the earlier
rezoning request didn't include
a specific construction plan, as
the new request does.
Ron Bond, who presented the
2005 rezoning request, said at
the time he asked for the change
for more parking. He added that
planning staff instructed him to
include a site plan with build
ings on it. Planning official Jerry
Weitz confirmed that he did ask
the church to include a site plan
in that 2005 application.
Speaking in opposition to
the zoning change was Athens
attorney, Rob Hustus, who rep
resented nearby property own
ers, Chuck and Kathy Duboise.
“The church is failing to see
this is not the best thing for the
community as a whole,” Hustus
said. “Piece by piece, the church
is trying to change the character
of this community.”
Nearby property owner Pat
Bell also spoke and said she is
concerned about possible run
off from the church property.
SUBDIVISION REQUEST
In other business Monday
night, a rezoning request that
would allow the development
of an “independent senior liv
ing community” on Y.Z Sailors
Road was heard. Elora Stargel
asked to annex and rezone 20
acres on Y.Z. Sailors Road from
A-2 to R-3 for the 40-unit devel
opment.
Craig Taylor of Pro Housing
Incorporated presented the
request to the city council.
“This is for retirees ... who
want to downsize ... and have
the small town feeling,” Taylor
said.
He added that it will be an
$8 million investment and will
bring in $300,000 in impact fees
continued on page 5A
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE JACKSON County
Board of Education says it's
taking a hard look at its trou
bled finances — and more
cuts are coming.
The district started its 2010
fiscal year budget in July
$908,580 in the red. Last
month, the board approved
a deficit elimination plan
that was sent to the Georgia
Department of Education.
And while the school system
has trimmed its payroll costs
by $486,000 from August to
November, compared to the
same period last year, addi
tional cuts are planned.
“Right now, with the situ
ation we're in, we look at
everything,” said Jeff Sanchez,
assistant superintendent of
finance and information ser
vices.
That includes reviewing all
contract services, delaying
maintenance and operations
(M&O) expenses and possi
bly selling property owned by
the county school system.
“Some things we're just not
going to be able to do,” said
chairperson Kathy Wilbanks
on Thursday.
Already, the board eliminat
ed 38 positions for the current
budget in a round of layoffs in
March. The district also has
three state-proposed employ
ee furlough days scheduled
in the 2009-2010 school year.
Employees under 12-month
contracts in the school system
will be furloughed for five
days.
A budget committee has
named four and a half posi
tions that could be elimi
nated in next year's budget,
along with up to six positions
— including teachers and
paraprofessionals — iden
tified in a “points system”
analysis.
Sanchez said the school
system is looking at additional
cuts, but they likely won’t be
personnel costs from the cur
rent budget.
“We like to let our employ
ees know in advance what's
going on, so they can go out
and find another job,” he said.
However, there could be
personnel cuts in this year's
budget if property tax collec
tion is low or the state reduces
school spending, Sanchez
added.
The next step for the school
system is to look at salary sup
plements — which are given
to coaches, administrators and
extracurricular advisors in
addition to their regular pay.
In addition, overtime pay is
only allowed in emergencies,
Sanchez said. Overall, payroll
expenses are down by about
$3.8 million a month from a
year ago.
“We need to do something
with this year’s budget — we
need to get rid of that $908,000
deficit,” he said.
With 42 percent of FY
2010 complete, the district
has maintained expenses at 29
percent. However, revenue is
totaling only 15 percent of the
budgeted $90.1 million.
That is expected to change
this week, when the school
system should receive an esti
mated $12 million check from
the county tax office. Property
taxes are due on Dec. 20.
Currently, the school system
budget has a $12.3 million
shortfall.
Despite slumping real estate
sales, the county school system
has grown by 150-160 students
since classes started in August,
Sanchez said.
With the additional students,
the school system should
receive an estimated $500,000
mid-term allotment from the
state in March or April — but
that could be offset by addi-
continued on page 5A
Property taxes due Dec. 20
JACKSON County proper
ty taxes are due Dec .20. Alter
that, a one percent penalty will
be added to the taxes.
Tax commissioner Don
Elrod reports that taxes had
been slow in being paid until
this week.
“We have received most
ly large escrow service
bureau payments,” he said.
“Taxpayers were in the
office most all day yesterday
(Monday).
So far, the county has col
lected 47 percent of the per
sonal property taxes and 57
percent of the real property.
Elrod said if people don’t
want to wait in line, they
should mail in their tax pay
ments. The payments must
be postmarked by Dec. 20 in
order to avoid a penalty.
“If they are coming in to
pay and want a receipt, they
need to bring the bottom half
of the tax bill for us to stamp
paid,” Elrod added. “They will
need to use their check for a
receipt if they do not bring the
bottom half.”
The interest rate is one per
cent per month after the due
date and a 10 percent one-time
penalty on or after 90 days,
which will be March 21.
“We will take partial pay
ment up until the penalty
date,” Elrod said.