Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010
Hoschtoil continued from page 1A
BentOIl continued from page 1A
help keep the city financially
afloat for the next 24 months.
If the council delayed further
action, Hoschton would con
tinue to spend more money a
month than it receives and the
city would probably have to be
dissolved around September or
October, he said.
“I believe that if we adopt
this budget, we’ll be able to
keep Hoschton a viable, inde
pendent town - and that’s most
important if you want to keep
Hoschton alive,” Butler said.
But with the move to suspend
city-provided police protection
in Hoschton, council member
Shepherd warned that citizens
and businesses should expect a
comparative increase in response
time from the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office to incidents.
Hoschton currently has three
officers, including its police
chief. City police are available
Mondays through Fridays, with
the county sheriff’s office pro
viding services on the week
ends and holidays.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s
Office has four “zones” for
the county and typically staffs
one or two deputies a shift for
each zone. Shepherd said. The
sheriff’s office is also under
budget constraints and the
council member said Hoschton
residents should understand
the reduced services they will
receive from the county, com
pared to the city.
SURVIVAL
Mayor Erma Denney said in
order for Hoschton to survive,
it needed to cut the “redundant”
law enforcement service while
the city’s finances are strug
gling. Hoschton taxpayers have
been paying for police protec
tion in their tax bills to Jackson
County, she said.
Hoschton doesn’t have a city
property tax and Denney was
adamant on Wednesday night
that the council wouldn’t adopt
a budget with a property tax
“There will be no mandatory
tax coming from this council,”
she said.
Several residents and busi
ness owners questioned the
move to cut the police depart
ment without a city property
tax and said they’d pay a tax for
the service. One citizen asked
for more time so voters could
decide what they want.
Council member Kenerly
said the move would make the
police “dormant” to revive it
later when finances improve.
“We haven’t done away with
the police department,” council
member Butler said. “We’ve
laid off people and it’s going
dormant.”
Following a 25-minute
closed-door meeting to discuss
personnel on Friday evening,
the council outlined its admin
istrative changes in the amend
ed budget.
The official transition from
city-provided police protec
tion to county coverage was
slated to start Monday — when
Sheriff Stan Evans and Maj.
David Cochran, and experts
in handling evidence and the
state’s crime information cen
ter would come to Hoschton,
Denney said on Friday.
“So everything will be phased
out by the end of the pay cycle,
at the end of January,” she
added.
Hoschton will offer the police
department’s office space at
city hall for the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office, Denney said.
The council also approved a
motion on Wednesday to sell
two Dodge Chargers purchased
by the former city council with
funds from a legal settlement
with Hoschton’s former city
engineer over faulty design of
the wastewater treatment plant.
Once sold, the money for
those patrol vehicles will be
earmarked for water and sewer
expenses, while additional
money for selling other police
equipment will be designated
in a reserve account for public
safety.
BUDGET
In amending its 2010 budget
on Wednesday, the council also
provided a look at its budget
for 2011.
In 2010, the general fund
budget projects income total
ing $439,475 — which doesn’t
include revenue from police
fines or background checks. It
does show an estimated $45,000
in the sale of surplus property in
the public safety department.
Expenses in the 2010 general
fund budget are expected to top
$235,000 — which leaves a
potential $204,417 surplus at
the end of the year.
For 2011, the general fund
budget is also expected to stay
$150,160 in the black with
income reaching $373,235
and expenses estimated at
$223,068.
As for the water and sewer
budget, Hoschton expects to
save $71,755 in 2010, but lose
$427,345 in 2011. The 2010
water and sewer budget will
stay afloat in 2010 largely
because of a one-time payment
from a former city engineer in a
legal settlement.
The 2010 and 2011 water and
sewer budgets don’t express
ly show a potential $485,000
water tank conversion project at
the city’s wastewater treatment
plant.
In December, Hoschton offi
cials learned that the planned
project may not be neces
sary and were seeking sec
ond opinions when they later
learned that former mayor Bill
Copenhaver signed an agree
ment in September with the
contractor to move forward
with construction.
On the advice of the city
attorney. Mayor Denney recent
ly declined to discuss details
about Hoschton’s next steps for
the project, such as voiding the
contract.
When a citizen asked
Wednesday about the $485,000
project, Denney said: “There is
absolutely no comment tonight
on that. It’s not on our agenda,
and I’m sorry that we can’t talk
about that tonight.”
Meanwhile, Hoschton still
owes more than $6 million to
the Georgia Environmental
Facilities Authority (GEFA) for
loans to expand and improve
the city’s wastewater treatment
plant.
City attorney Thomas
Mitchell said while it’s never
been done before, GEFA could
require Hoschton to impose a
property tax to pay back the
state loans.
Council member Butler esti
mated that to keep the police
department and pay the GEFA
loans, citizens would have to
pay $1,200 a year in property
taxes.
“For me, it’s an end-
all tonight,” Butler said on
Wednesday. “Because for every
month that we put off not sav
ing money in the bank, it’s
just another month shorter that
we’re going to die for 2011.”
Council member Kenerly said
she’s done everything she can
to help Hoschton keep its police
department — but there’s no
other place to cut expenses.
“We’ve looked over this,” she
said. “We’ve beat it to death.
We’ve gotten rid of everything
we have, except employees. So
what we talked about is putting
it (police department) dormant.
That doesn’t mean we’re get
ting totally rid of it. It just
means that we put it dormant
until we can afford it better.”
Kenerly said she was the last
to admit that Hoschton is at the
bottom of the barrel and cutting
the police department was the
last choice.
Sheriff continued from page 1A
reduced in any way, if you do
start patrolling in Hoschton?
Evans: There’s no real way
of being able to say until we
actually start catching all of
the calls. We have calls out
in the county that have to be
answered, too, and we’ll be
taking care of both of them.
Hopefully, we can do it in a
timely fashion.
MainStreet Newspapers:
Currently, the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office has four
“zones” in the county in which
it patrols in. Are there any
plans to increase the number
of zones, thereby increasing
the number of patrol officers
in the county?
Evans: No immediate plans.
Of course, the number of patrol
officers we have is determined
on the current staffing level.
That fluctuates from time to
time, as far as vacancies, and
what not when they happen.
Also, funding — increased
funding; if we increase staff,
of course, increase in funding
would have to be dealt with
somewhere down the line. I
don’t currently have any plans
to ask for any increase funding
for patrol officers at the pres
ent time.
MainStreet Newspapers:
With the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office now taking
over patrolling in Hoschton,
will that affect your budget in
any way?
Evans: It won’t directly
affect the budget, it’ll affect the
cost for service of our depart
ment, and, of course, the more
calls we have to answer, the
bigger the burden. We don’t
know what they (Hoschton)
have been doing, as far as
how many calls they have per
a year or anything like that. I
really don’t know.
The situation at hand ...
I understand that they have
not funded the police depart
ment there in Hoschton for
the upcoming year. Hoschton
is within Jackson County and
we have no alternative but to
furnish law enforcement ser
vices to the City of Hoschton,
because it’s in Jackson County.
We have been doing that on a
part-time basis, just as we have
in the City of Pendergrass and
Arcade, because of their bud
get cutbacks. We provide a
certain amount of that now.
It’s not going to be something
new to us. We’re not going to
have to re-invent the wheel.
It’s just part of the business,
I guess, the hand that’s been
dealt to us and we’ll take care
of it.
MainStreet Newspapers:
Do you anticipate for next
year’s budget having to ask for
an increase in funding in tak
ing over Hoschton’s services?
Evans: I don’t intend to ask
for an increase in patrol per
sonnel.
MainStreet Newspapers: Do
you have any particular plans
for patrolling in Hoschton or
will it remain as you are cur
rently doing?
Evans: It will remain
as we’re currently doing.
Whatever happens, we’ll have
to take care of it and we’ll
provide whatever manpower
is needed.
MainStreet Newspapers:
Have you talked to the city
about getting office space
there?
Evans: No we have not. I
don’t know if I’d have per
sonnel to put in an office
space. Our officers that will
be responsible for patrolling
Hoschton will be out patrol
ling Hoschton. We’re really
not going to have any employ
ee that I can designate to sit in
an office.
MainStreet Newspapers: If
the sheriff’s office is unable
to respond to an incident in
Hoschton, would you ask
Braselton to assist in a call?
Evans: I don’t expect us to
ever be where we can’t respond
to an incident in Hoschton. We
get backup from time-to-time
from Braselton or Jefferson or
Commerce — whoever. As do
we provide backup to those
agencies. We will never be
where we cannot respond to a
call. Now, they may assist us
in standing by for us until we
get there or serve as a backup
to one of our officers, just as
we do (for) them.
MainStreet Newspapers:
So, the sheriff’s office will be
taking over all of the investi
gations, accident reports, etc.
in Hoschton?
Evans: We haven’t been
asked to take over any of it
— that goes with the terror-
ity. We’ll provide whatever
law enforcement services are
needed, because those are
Jackson County residents.
And that’s just the situation
at hand.
MainStreet Newspapers: A
concern in Hoschton is that
is expected to trim more than $1 billion from the
current budget that expires June 30, then take up the
FY 2011 budget.
Benton reiterated previous statements that educa
tion is likely to take some big hits in the supplemen
tal budget.
“They’re calling for another two percent of QBE
cuts,” he said. “It’s just killing the local school sys
tems.”
That said, Benton sees no alternative.
“We can look at it (state revenue) and try to find
the money, but if you find the money somewhere,
it’s got to come from somewhere else,” he said. He
points out that when this budget was approved, edu
cation claimed 48 percent of the revenue. But after
all of the mid-budget cuts - most of which came
from non-education areas — education’s share of
the current budget is up to 57 percent.
“I imagine education is going to take a hit,”
Benton said. “The furloughs will save about $120
million, and I don’t know what the QBE reduction
will do.”
Benton also plans to reintroduce a bill he submit
ted last year that did not get out of Rules. It would
require the addition of a bitter taste to antifreeze.
“It’s a safety measure for children and an animal
safety thing too,” he said. The bill was the result of a
constituent’s concern, and Benton thinks he’s got a
better chance to get it to the House floor this year.
He’s also signed onto a bill to make it illegal to
text while driving and has introduced a bill removing
the requirement that school systems notify parents of
excessive student absences by registered letter.
As for local legislation, Benton is preparing to
introduce a bill amending Arcade’s charter to pro
vide for staggered elections and is awaiting a request
from Maysville for an unspecified charter change.
The House was scheduled to hold budget hearings
this week. Next week it will be in session Monday
through Thursday and off on Friday.
Sales tax continued from page 1A
million — compared to the 2009
budget of $37.6 million, he said.
To save money, the county has
implemented 12 furlough days
for employees in 2010 and has
trimmed their benefits, Hulsey
said. It has also restructured its
debt service payments.
At the end of 2009, the county
had $9 million in reserve funding,
but that’s used to help manage
any financial storm during a slow
economy, Hulsey said.
CENSUS
Joel Logan, county GIS coor
dinator, is spearheading Jackson
County’s Census effort.
Since 2000, the county’s pop
ulation has grown from 41,000
to an estimated 60,000. The
number of people in a commu
nity helps determine the amount
of federal and state funding,
along with representation,
Logan said.
“Funding is heavily deter
mined by your population,” he
said.
Logan encouraged citizens to
take 10 minutes to answer the
10 questions coming from the
Census Bureau in March. Those
who don’t complete the ques
tionnaire may get a visit from a
Census worker.
Census Bureau is also com
pleting testing for temporary
employees through the end of
March, Logan said.
Nicholson continued from page lA
Crawford said, “I would rather
see us buy library books than go
to Savannah.”
The council discussed hold
ing three public hearings on the
proposed budget. However, the
city attorney checked and advised
the council that only one public
hearing is needed since the City
of Nicholson does not collect a
property tax.
The city council will hold a
public hearing on the proposed
budget at 9 a.m. on Thursday,
Jan. 28, at city hall. The proposed
budget is available for public
inspection at city hall during nor
mal business hours.
The city will vote on the bud
get at a meeting in February.
The date for this meeting will be
announced later.
OTHER BUSINESS
hi other business:
•the council set its work ses
sion meetings for 7 p.m. on the
third Tuesday of each month.
The meetings will be held in the
Nicholson Community Center.
•tabled action on the compre
hensive partial plan update reso
lution until the February council
meeting.
•Jackson County Board of
Commissioners member Dwain
Smith and Jackson County Parks
the incident response time
won’t be as good as the city’s
police department. What can
you tell those citizens and
business owners in Hoschton
what to expect with the cover
age from the sheriff’s office?
Evans: I have no idea what
the response time of the City
of Hoschton is, so I’m not
concerned with that, person
ally. I can tell you that we will
get there in a timely fashion
and as quickly as we can,
whatever the incident.
Like I said, we have been
providing a certain amount
of law enforcement services
to not just Hoschton, but also
Pendergrass, Arcade and to a
lesser extent, the other cities.
But certainly those three cit
ies, anyway. And we haven’t
had any complaints from the
citizens as it relates to our
time in responding. We’ve
been doing that at no charge
— I might add — to the cities,
because they’re all in Jackson
County and they’re part of the
overall scope.
MainStreet Newspapers:
Any other comments?
Evans: No, I’m not going
to get into the political fracas
up there of tit-for-tat stuff.
We didn’t ask for to have
the increased responsibility
of providing law enforcement
services to Hoschton. But like
I say, just because we didn’t
ask for it, doesn’t mean we’re
not going to be responsible
for it. And we’re going to
provide the best service we
can in the most timely fashion
that we can — as we have
already been doing.
and Recreation Director Ricky
Sanders presented the revised
drawing of the walking trails to
be constructed at the East Jackson
Complex. Sanders advised con
struction is expected to start on
this project within a month with
completion before the Daisy
Festival, weather permitting.
•Maxwell reported clearing
has started on the site of Dollar
General, next to River of Life
Worship Center, Highway 441,
Nicholson.
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The Humane Society of Jackson County
The Humane
Society of
Jackson
County
PETS OF THE WEEK
For a complete listing of our animals available for adoption,
please visit our website at www.hsic.com
Please call Jefferson Veterinary Hospital
at 706-367-5161 for these pets
Animals in Humane Society Foster Care
Call 706-367-1111
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Please Don’t Litter, Spay and Neuter
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‘Pet of the Week” is made possible by these community-minded sponsors:
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