Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
MW.
H Wednesday, July 20, 2011
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 137 NO. 6 44 PACES 3 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75« COPY
— Inside —
Back to school:
•Back to band
page 16A
•JCCHS gets new asst,
principal, AD., page 8A
Op /Ed:
•'On the 1996
Olympics and school
supplies'.. . . page 4A
Sports:
•JCCHS welcomes new
athletic director
page 1B
Features:
•Local pianist returns
from Italy, hopes to win
$20,000 for his school
page 1C
•Church offers hope for
the hungry..... page 15A
Other News:
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Legals
pages 5-16C
•Church News
page 7B
•Obituaries
pages 12-13A
•School News
pages 10-11B
County debt among highest in state
Hulsey: Time to get in maintenance mode
BYANGELA GARY
THE JACKSON County government is in the
top 10 percent in the state in its per capita debt
burden and county officials say that paying that
debt back will be a financial struggle through the
year 2024.
As of March 31, the county’s outstanding debt
totaled $179.3 million. The debt service per capita
is $2,966.
From a cash flow standpoint, payments on
the debt are set to rise rapidly in the coming
years, consuming a higher percentage of the
county’s budget.
Finance director John Hulsey presented a debt
continued on page 10A
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Finance director John Hulsey reported
on the financial situation at the Jackson
County Board of Commissioners retreat
Tuesday in Athens. Interim county man
ager Leonard Myers and commissioner
Bruce Yates are also shown.
Photo by Angela Gary
Eyes on Dizzy Dean
LINING UP FOR OPENING CEREMONIES
Fans line the fences Thursday at the Dizzy Dean World Series opening ceremonies at Gresham
Motorsports Park. Seventy-four teams and close to 1,200 players ventured to Jackson County for
the 9,11, and 13-year-old tournament. See more coverage on 1B. Photo by Ben Munro
JHS annex could be gone by Christmas
Will make room for
new construction
BY BEN MUNRO
THE JEFFERSON High School
classroom annex’s days are now
numbered with demolition expect
ed at the end of this calendar year.
The old annex will make way for
a new classroom building as part of
$25 million worth of construction
planned by school leaders. Other
projects include a new academic
wing, cafeteria and kitchen at the
elementary school and a new high
school kitchen and gym.
“We’re not going to have as
much time in the annex as we
had hoped,” superintendent John
Jackson said. “We thought we
could get another year, but the
contractor said as close as the gym
and the classroom building addi
tion will be at the high school,
they really need that entire space to
work in. So that annex will prob
ably be gone after Christmas.”
When the annex is razed, some
teachers will have to relocate to
mobile units, while the system’s
server and fiber optic cables will
need new homes, too.
Jackson wants to find a new
location for the server and fiber
optics by October in case the con
struction manager wishes to go
forth with the annex demolition
earlier than expected.
As for the rest of the projects,
Jackson said that drawings and
concepts for all new construction
could ready by this week for view
by school officials. One of the
main focuses is settling on where
to place the new gym.
“They pretty much feel like they
know what they’re going to do
with the elementary (school) and
I think they feel pretty good about
the classroom building (at the high
school),” Jackson said. “It’s getting
the gym located is where they’re
focusing right now.”
Jefferson voters passed a bond
referendum March 15 related to
the Education Local Option Sales
Tax (ELOST) to issue bonds - up
to $25 million - to fund all these
projects.
Tax digest
drops 3.7%
JACKSON COUNTY’S net tax digest is
expected to fall 3.7 percent this year, less of a
drop than many officials had expected. That
data is based on preliminary numbers from
Jackson County Tax Commissioner Don
Elrod released this week.
Last year, the county’s tax digest fell 5.3
percent. Some officials had anticipated that
the county’s tax could drop as much as 10
percent this year.
For the Jackson County School System,
that district’s digest is projected to drop 4.9%
according to county data.
Although a number of tax appeals remain,
preliminary data has historically been an
accurate indication of the final digest. Local
governments use the projections as they craft
their upcoming budgets.
While the digest shrunk overall due to
lower property values, both commercial and
industrial property values rose this year.
Overall, Jackson County’s tax digest is
expected to be $2.22 billion this year, down
from $2,305 billion last year.
The county’ largest taxable digest was
$2,433 billion in 2009.
‘Better’ tax digest
may lead to fewer
school furlough days
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THERE’S STILL hope that if the budget
figures are right, Jackson County School
System employees may not have as many
furlough days as currently planned.
Superintendent Shannon Adams said
Monday that the almost-completed Jackson
County tax digest is slated to drop three per
cent. He warned last month that local prop
erty taxes paid to the school system could
drop anywhere from five to 20 percent.
Adams said he was “mildly encouraged”
about the better-than-expected tax digest
numbers provided county tax commission
er Don Elrod.
“Those numbers sound somewhat
encouraging — compared to what we talk-
continued on page 11A
Thieves ram
vehicle into
Nike Outlet
JACKSON County Sheriff’s
Office deputies responding to a
burglary call at the Nike Outlet
Store early Sunday morning
found a car inside the store.
Officers responding around
4:15 a.m. found a gold 2001 Ford
Explorer with a Barrow County
tag still running and in drive with
the driver’s side door open. The
car was reportedly stolen from a
driveway in Barrow County.
The officers checked the build
ing, but no one was found inside.
Store merchandise was found
in bushes along the side of the
store and a white high-top-type
shoe, believed to belong to one of
the perpetrator’s was also found
in the bushes.
The JCSO Criminal
Investigation Division is investi
gating the incident.
Where to draw the lines? boc looks at redistricting
LOOKS AT REDISTRICTING
GIS manager Joel Logan reviews redistricting options at the
Jackson County Board of Commissioners retreat Tuesday in Athens.
Commissioners Bruce Yates and Chas Hardy and BOC chairman
Hunter Bicknell are also shown. Photo by Angela Gary
BY ANGELA GARY
JACKSON COUNTY’S four district
board of commissioners seats need to be
redrawn to meet federal voting guidelines.
Two of the four BOC seats currently have
17,000-plus potential voters, while the other
two districts have less than 13,000 each.
District 1, which is now served by Tom
Crow, has a population of 17,596, and
District 3, which is served by Bruce Yates,
has 17,541 residents.
District 2, which is served by Chas Hardy,
has a population of 12,950, while District 4,
served by Dwain Smith, has 12,398.
The BOC discussed possible redistricting
options at an all-day retreat held Tuesday at
The Georgia Center in Athens. GIS director
Joel Logan presented information on redis-
tricting. No decisions were made, but the
BOC would have to begin the process imme
diately in order to have the new districts in
place by 2012. The next timeline would be
having the changes in place by 2014.
A redistricting plan must create districts
that are relatively equal in population. The
goal is to not split any voting precincts or to
split as few as possible, Logan said.
The proposed redistricting map presented
at the retreat splits three voting precincts —
Harrisburg, South Jefferson and Talmo. An
attempt was made to not split cities, however,
Jefferson is in so many voting precincts that
some parts of it are split, Logan said. The tar
get population in the proposed map is 15,121
in each district.
The commissioners were asked to review
the proposed plan and provide input to
the county manager. Once a consensus is
reached, public hearings will be held and the
BOC will vote on the new districts.
A decision would also have to be made
on whether to try and meet the deadlines to
make the changes by 2012. BOC qualifying
is in May of 2012.
“I think we need to push forward as
quickly as we can,” commissioner Bruce
Yates said.