Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
Benton: Budget cuts on agenda for legislature
Contact Rep. Benton
District 31 Rep. Tommy Benton can be
reached by phone at 706-367-5891 (home)
or at 404-656-0177 (office); or by e-mail at
tommy.benton@house.ga.gov.
For daily updates on legislative action and links
to Georgia representatives, U.S. Congressmen,
Senators and other officials, visit Benton’s Web
site at www.tommybenton.com.
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
THE GEORGIA General
Assembly is beginning to crank
out new bills as the 2010 legis
lative session gets into swing,
but there’s been no word from
the gorilla in the room yet,
according to Rep. Tommy
Benton (R-Jefferson).
“I don’t know when we’re
going to get the supplemental
budget,” said Benton Monday
afternoon. “We’re going to
have to cut in excess of $1
billion.”
What stands to make the
process more difficult is the
fact that other state agencies
took heavy cuts already in the
current budget, leaving edu
cation most likely to see the
budget ax.
“They had an Appropriations
Committee meeting today to
try to come up with some
thing,” Benton said.
While he wouldn’t call it a
groundswell, Benton said he’s
received a number of emails
from people suggesting that
“before we cut education more
we ought to raise the sales tax,”
Benton said.
That’s something the District
31 representative said he’d be
willing to consider. He calls the
sales tax “the fairest tax of all
because if you don’t buy some
thing, you don’t pay it.”
On the other hand, the House
leadership has already closed
that door.
“It’s just one of those things.
The leadership says there will
be no new taxes,” he points
out.
Benton said he “has no prob
lem with” raising the sales tax
because: “If the money prom
ised by the state is not there,
the only alternatives school
systems have is to raise ad
valorem taxes or cut services.”
Benton also pointed out that
a number of school systems —
including Jackson County —
are pushing up against the state
limit on ad valorem tax rates
for schools. Asked if he would
introduce legislation allowing
the Jackson County School
System to exceed 20 mills of
taxes, if requested by the coun
ty school board, Benton said:
“I'd have to think about that.”
While the supplemental bud
get remains the largest obstacle,
the House did approve other
bills aimed at trying to help
school systems cope with their
financial challenges.
Among them, said Benton:
•a bill extending the deadline
for schools to qualify for state
capital outlay funds. The fund
ing bill had been scheduled for
“sunset” this year.
•a bill extending 30 days to
May 15 the deadline by which
teachers must be under con
tract. The bill is a recognition
of the fact that delays in the
state budget process will make
it difficult for school boards to
know how much state fund
ing they’ll have by the earlier
deadline.
•an amendment to the law
under which middle schools
are funded to allow systems
who move a grade — 6 or 8
— to another school because
of crowding to keep middle
school funds.
•a bill that allows the
Department of Education
to notify school systems of
updates in the Georgia Sexual
Offender List online instead
of by mail. That is expect
ed to save the Department
of Education $8,000 a year,
Benton said.
•a bill correcting an over
sight in legislation passed last
year that said the state would
end funding for people pursu
ing “leadership” degrees who
were not employed in lead
ership roles. According to
Benton, last year’s legislation
did not provide sufficient time
for those people already pursu
ing degrees - who were to be
exempted from the effects of
the bill — to complete their
degrees.
In addition, Benton said the
House will take up a bill this
week that provides some flex
ibility — one student in grades
K-5 and two in grades 6-12 —
in dealing with maximum class
size requirements.
“They say that could save the
state and local school boards
about $450 million a year,”
Benton said.
Other items of interest
include:
•expected passage by the
House Tuesday of Benton’s
bill requiring manufacturers of
antifreeze to add a bitter taste.
The bill passed out of commit
tee by an 11-2 vote. Results of
that vote were not available by
press time.
•discussion of a bill to pro
hibit local police departments
from running radar on the
interstate highways
•a bill introduced by James
Mills of Hall County that
removes a requirement that
borrowers, when the property
against what they have bor
rowed has decreased in value,
from having to ante up more
collateral.
Fire training center guidelines vote ahead Feb. 15
BYANGELA GARY
OPERATING guidelines for
the county fire training center
will be voted on by the Jackson
County Board of Commission
at its Feb. 15 meeting, to be
held at 6 p.m. at the court
house.
EMS director Steve Nichols
presented the proposed guide
lines to the BOC at a meeting
this week. He has met with
representatives of all of the fire
departments to get input.
“We feel comfortable with
this plan,” Nichols said. “We
feel like it’s a good plan. The
fire departments are comfort
able that they can use it with
ease. The liability issues are
covered...A lot of work went
into this. We’ve had a lot of
good input.”
ALSO ON THE AGENDA
Other items on the agenda
at the Feb. 15 BOC meeting
include the following:
•revising and updating the
drug policy for the county’s
transit program to bring it into
compliance with federal regu
lations.
•readopting the existing
building codes as amended
with updated state mandates.
•approving an agreement
with the City of Commerce
to provide for transportation
of residents in the city to the
county’s senior center. The
city will pay $1,500 annually
for this service.
•renewing the contract with
the department of transporta
tion for the van service that
serves the elderly, disabled and
non-driving public.
•approving the lease contract
with Badcock Furniture to
continue using a portion of the
building in Commerce where
Lanier Tech is housed. The
monthly rent will be $2,500.
•changing the earlier
approved furlough day for July
6 to July 2.
•approving a consultant
agreement with Moreland
Altobelli Associates for
groundwater monitoring,
methane gas monitoring and
general engineering at the
landfill.
•approving a lease agreement
with Guy Dean Benson for
rental property at 5787 Holly
Springs Road, Pendergrass,
which is used as a med sta
tion.
•approving a resolution
allowing Athens-Clarke to
rejoin the Joint Development
Authority of Northeast
Georgia.
•asking Rep. Tommy Benton
to introduce legislation allow
ing Jackson County to pur
chase the I.W. Davis Detention
Center from the Georgia
Department of Corrections
for $1 after the initial 20-year
lease.
•approving an agreement
with other governments in
the county to continue to use
Traylor Business Services
for the property verification
program. Traylor Business
Services has been working
with the county board of asses
sors in conducting business
personal property verification
on randomly selected busi
nesses. So far, over 400 busi
nesses have been audited or
are scheduled to be audited.
•approving an agreement
with the City of Nicholson for
the East Jackson Park walk
ing trail project. The cost is
$40,000 and it will be paid
for with special purpose local
option sales tax (SPLOST)
revenue.
•authorizing the exchange of
four tracts of unneeded prop
erty for the Zion Church Road
project.
Subdivisions continued from 1A
of commissioners is willing to consider
setting up special tax districts in order for
the property owners in each subdivision to
be able to pay for needed improvements,
provided that the minimum required num
ber of property owners consent to having
a special tax district and provided that all
other issues of non-compliance can be
resolved in order for the county to issue
building permits.”
Members of the Jackson County Board
of Commissioners have indicated that
there is little support for the county to
use tax funds to help bail out owners who
have lots in defunct subdivisions.
“It should not cost the other taxpayers
one dime to administer this,” commis
sioner Tom Crow said Monday night.
Commissioner Dwain Smith said, “I
just don’t want to see the taxpayers of
Jackson County be obligated to pay for
something they haven’t approved of.”
There are 69 subdivisions in the county
that are in violation of the county codes.
Subdivisions with empty lots, roads in
disrepair and soil and erosion problems
can be found in all comers of Jackson
County. New construction in these devel
opments is at a stand-still because build
ing permits can’t be issued if the codes
are not met; and the developers of many
of these projects have walked away from
them during the housing bust over the last
three years.
Since it was first reported that some
subdivisions are out of compliance with
county regulations, eight developers have
contacted the county and are working on
getting in compliance.
Dwain Smith to seek
re-election to BOC post
DISTRICT 4 representative Dwain Smith announced Monday
that he will seek re-election to serve another four years on the
Jackson County Board of Commission.
The primary election will be held July 20. Qualifying will be
held from 9 a.m. on April 26 to noon on April 30.
District 3 commissioner Bruce Yates’ seat will also be on the bal
lot. He has not announced whether he plans to seek re-election.
Historic courthouse
restoration update given
BYANGELA GARY
ONE OF the leading forces
behind the restoration of the
historic courthouse in Jefferson
gave an update on the project
to the Jackson County Board of
Commission Monday night.
Charlotte Mealor, chairman
of the committee overseeing
the courthouse project, reported
that the 1966 addition has been
removed, the clock repair is
almost complete and the window
work will be finished soon.
“It is exciting to see all of the
scaffolding around there,” BOC
chairman Hunter Bicknell said.
Mealor said the committee
believes the company repairing
the windows is the same firm that
installed them in the early 1900s.
She is researching this matter.
Mealor also reported on the
finances for the project and said
a fundraiser dinner brought in
$22,610.
“We can not say enough about
the many, many people who
stepped in and helped with the
Heritage Celebration,” Mealor
said.
Private donations have also
been collected and the committee
has applied for a grant. A bond
approved earlier for economic
development allocated $2 million
for the courthouse project.
Plans coming up include
an art contest and Spring Day
Celebration on the courthouse
grounds.
On another issue related to the
courthouse, Mealor reported on
a request to allocate $26,448 to
replace all concrete window sills
in the 1908 addition with granite
sills. The cost for replacing the
window sills with concrete sills
would be $20,000. The BOC will
vote on this request at its Feb. 15
meeting, to be held at 6 p.m. at the
new courthouse.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Monday
night:
•Ann Rogers and Henry
Slocum were reappointed to serve
on the county board of health.
•county manager Darrell
Hampton reported that staff is
moving forward with declar
ing county-owned property on
Sanford Road as surplus and sell
ing it.
Call for review of tax
valuation process on hold
BYANGELA GARY
A MOVE to ask the Georgia
Department of Revenue to con
duct a performance review of all
phases of the county’s property
valuation process is on hold.
The Jackson County Board of
Commission was set to vote on
calling for the review at its Feb.
15 meeting. But at a meeting
this week BOC chairman Hunter
Bicknell recommended holding
off to see what state laws related
to this might be enacted.
“In light of legislation intro
duced by Chip Rogers, there
may be major property tax over
haul for the state of Georgia,”
Bicknell said. “I ask that we
delay action on this until we
see what the State of Georgia
does...It may become a moot
point.”
Commissioner Bruce Yates
said, “If legislation doesn’t
address our needs, I hope we
take a look at this later.”
Yates added that he has “great
confidence” in the county’s tax
assessor board.
Bank continued from JA
surprise. It comes amid continu
ing real estate and foreclosure
problems in the area. Although
it is the largest local bank fail
ure to date, most had expected
the FDIC action to take place
in the near future. The bank
had been under a scathing cease
and desist order since last sum
mer and its bank rating status
had fallen to the lowest level in
recent months.
SCBT will not acquire any
of the assets or assume any
liabilities of Community Bank
& Trust’s former bank hold
ing company, Community
Bankshares, Inc., nor its other
bank subsidiaries. Community
Bank & Trust of West Georgia
and Community Bank & Trust
of Alabama.
“This is a great step for our
company,” said Robert R. Hill
Jr., president and CEO of SCBT
Financial Corporation in a news
release announcing the move on
SCBT’s web site. “The addi
tion of Community Bank &
Trust’s 36 locations enhances
our presence on the 1-85 cor
ridor from Charlotte to Atlanta.
This 110-year-old institution has
a long history of serving the
financial needs of the citizens
of Georgia. We look forward
to helping them continue this
legacy of service.”
The local branches will con
tinue to operate as Community
Bank & Trust, a division of
SCBT.
71
<2
DAVID COONEY, DMD
Fomily Dentistry
has moved to his new location at
1057 Winder Hwy. • Jefferson
(Across from Community Bank)
706-387-0305
Make an
appointment
today to
come by
and see the
new office!
Terrie, Dr. Cooney, Jennifer, Ashley, Anita, Angie
C
One Night Only!
BlueBilly Grit
at
Mike’s Down Under
in Jefferson, Ga.
Friday, February 5 at 9:00 p.m.
Performing songs from their newly released CD,
“Mill Grinder’s Blues”
Now on sale at www.bluebillygrit.com
www.cdbaby.com and www.digstation.com
Check out our website for other show listings and band info.
www.bluebillygrit.com