Newspaper Page Text
o
o
THE
ACKSON
H Wednesday, October 11, 201 i
ERALD
VOL. 143 NO. 19
36 PACES 3 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
Merged in 2017 with
The Commerce News
A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549
75c COPY
Thieves steal
equipment
from Harco
Thieves took thousands of
dollars worth of lawn equip
ment from the Harco Rental
store on Washington Street
in Jefferson Sunday morning.
Two men took only a few
minutes to enter the store,
load a van and leave.
Film from store cameras
shows two men at the store
just before 4 a.m. They used a
wood ladder, made from 2 by
4s on the front of the building
to knock off the sound box so
an alarm wouldn't be heard,
the police report says.
The alarm was broken.
The thieves took “several
saws, blowers and concrete
saws,’’ some on which locks
were cut or broken and pulled
from the wall. Much of the
equipment taken was the
Stihl brand.
Store manager Gregory
Pass showed police one man
at the store at 3:46 a.m. with
bolt cutters. He opened the
gate. The metal framed doors
were bent open.
At 3:56 a.m., a white van
appeared with its headlights
off.
A store employee said
Monday morning the total
value of the stolen items was
about $8,000.
Warehouse
projects
proposed
By Alex Pace
Three new warehouse proj
ects — totaling a little over
4 million square feet — are
being proposed in the City of
Jefferson.
The city has received
three annexation and zoning
requests for the projects, but
consulting city planner Jerry
Weitz noted the requests “are
still under review for com
pleteness.”
The applications may be
considered at the Jeffer-
son-Talmo Planning Com
mission meeting on Nov. 21.
Trammell Crow Company
plans the largest of the three
proposed projects with two
warehouses totaling 1.7 mil
lion sq. ft. on Hog Mountain
Road near Valentine Indus
trial Park. The two build
ings (one 216,000 sq. ft., the
other 1.5 million sq. ft.), are
continued on page 2A
BOC O.K.’s higher budget, lower tax rate
By Mike Buffington
A booming economic recovery
and some leftover SPLOST funds
are expected to pump up county
spending next year while at the
same time lower the millage rate
this fall.
The Jackson County Board
of Commissioners set its mill-
age rates last week, along with
approving the FY2018 budget.
The millage rate for incorpo
rated towns will be 10.933 mills
while the rate for unincorporated
areas will be 9.416 mills. Tax
bills are expected to be mailed
Oct. 20.
The BOC also approved the
various fire district tax rates for
the county (see chart.)
Among the budget highlights:
• Despite the lower millage
rates, a jump in the tax digest
along with new construction will
bring in an additional $2.5 mil
lion to the county next year.
Property taxes are expected to
bring in $24.6 million, which is
58 percent of the county’s gener
al fund revenues.
• $1 million is being set aside
to go toward building a county
agricultural center.
• Salaries and benefits spend
ing make up much of the bud
get’s overall increase. Pay hikes,
additional staffing, higher health
insurance costs and changing the
county’s correctional institute
employees from a contribution
plans to a defined benefit plan
will cost the county an additional
$2.8 million in spending next
year.
• Net debt service payments
tops $8.9 million next year. But
in a one-time move, the county
is using $2.4 million of leftover
SPLOST funds to help make that
payment, a move that will free
up general fund money for other
purposes.
• Among special projects in
the budget is the engineering for
intersection projects at Ednaville/
New Cut roads at Hwy. 53: engi
neering for the intersection at
Hwy. 60 and Hwy. 124; and engi
neering road improvements for
Hog Mountain Road in Jefferson.
Jackson County 2018
Budget Spending
All Funds Combined
General Govt.
$7.57 million
Public Safety
$22.39 million
Courts
$4.1 million
Public Works
$2.4 million
Health/Welfare
$3.1 million
Parks/Rec
$1.6 million
Indep. Agencies
$465,000
Non-Departmental
$2.99 million
Fire District Tax Rates
Nicholson
1.5 mills
West Jackson
3.63 mills
Harrisburg
1.47 mills
South Jackson
1.95 mills
Jackson Trail
1.95 mills
North Jackson
.73 mills
Plainview
1.51 mills
Maysville
1.8 mills
Arcade
1.64 mills
East Jackson
1.6 mills
Central Jackson
2.031 mills
MAYORAL OPPONENTS DISCUSS JEFFERSON’S NEEDS
Jefferson mayoral candidates Roy Plott (incumbent, shown left) and Steve Quinn (right) discuss the city’s needs during a
political forum hosted by the Jefferson Area Business Association.
Plott, Quinn discuss city needs at forum
By Mike Buffington
It wasn’t exactly a love-fest, but last week’s political forum for
the Jefferson mayoral race saw the two candidates agree more than
disagree.
Incumbent Mayor Roy Plott and challenger Steve Quinn answered
questions for an hour-and-a-half last Thursday at a political forum
sponsored by the Jefferson Area Business Association. Another
forum was scheduled for Thursday Oct. 12 hosted by the county GOP.
On only two issues did Plott and Quinn have strongly differing
views at last week’s forum: The need for a city property tax cut, and
whether or not the city should study building a multi-million dollar
aquatics center.
TAX RATE
Both candidates mentioned the tax cut issue in their opening state
ments, then again commented when a question was specifically asked
about it.
Plott said that during his first two years in office, the city cut its
tax rate.
“In the last two years, we’ve held the millage rate steady primarily
due to errors in the 2016 tax digest,” Plott said in his opening state
ment. “They forgot to go out and assess the new industrial buildings.”
Later in the program when asked specifically about lowering the
millage rate, Plott said the city didn’t cut the tax rate this year because
it had to fill four new positions and give a 3-percent pay raise to
employees.
“We’ll probably be able to lower it next year,” he said.
For his part, Quinn, a former council member who resigned to run
for mayor, said he had fought for the last four years to cut the city’s
tax rate. He said that while rolling back the tax rate might not put
much money into taxpayers’ pockets, “it tells citizens the city cares.”
Quinn said he agreed with the creation of the four new positions,
but that the city had enough growth and reserves to make those hires
and give a tax cut. He said that after allowing for capital projects
and setting aside $3 million in reserves, the city has $1.4 million in
excessive cash on hand.
“The rollback is not going to make anyone rich, but it’s going to
put money in your pocket and citizens will say, ‘hey, I like living in
Jefferson because the leaders are thinking about us,”’ he said.
Quinn also said the city’s growth and strong financial position
makes this the right time to do a tax rate cut.
“Jefferson is in the best financial shape it’s ever been in,” he said. “I
would agree (to not cut the tax rate) if we had no growth... but we’re
not (flat on growth), we’re planning for growth for the next two or
three years, maybe longer.”
AQUATICS CENTER
As a councilman, Quinn had proposed the city study building an
aquatics center. He said last week that while the council earlier agreed
to do a feasibility study, no such study had been done. Quinn said that
he wants the council to study how such a center might be co-used by
the town, local school systems and other area towns. But he said that
he didn’t want to put the burden of such a facility on taxpayers.
“The idea that I want to spend taxpayer money on an aquatics
center is false,” Quinn said. “That is the last thing I want to do. But I
think we can find a way to do (build) it.”
Plott. however, was cool to the idea of an aquatics center.
“I think we are several years away from looking at something like
that,” he said.
Plott said that such a facility might cost $8-$ 16 million and that
while some have been successful, others have been a drain financially.
“I agree, when the time is right, to look at it,” Plott said.
OTHER ISSUES
On most other issues, the two candidates were in general agreement
during the forum, including:
• both candidates agreed that the city street department needs more
resources to keep up with the town’s growth.
• both candidates want to see the city use social media to get more
information out to citizens.
• both candidates agree with plans for downtown revitalization,
continued on page 2A