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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
May 13,2021
From the Staff
Two truths on growth:
It doesn’t mean lower taxes;
owners have right to develop
Last week’s coverage of the growth
now pouring into Pickens County,
aroused strong sentiments from readers,
both online and in the real world.
There are two facets of growth we’d
like to clarify. First, growth does not typ
ically lead to lower taxes and second,
property owners have a right to develop
their properties within the existing zon
ing and regulations.
These are two fundamental facts on
development that are often missed.
It’s often argued that if more develop
ment occurred, then we’d see lower
taxes. In a way that would seem logical -
bigger tax base, lower tax bills. More
people paying in, results in healthy
county coffers and more public perks
with less individual cost. Unfortunately,
that hasn’t been the case across Georgia.
The most developed (in residential and
commercial) counties have the highest
property taxes. Fulton County has the
very highest property taxes in the state.
Cobb and Cherokee also have higher
taxes than most counties in Georgia, in
cluding Pickens, showing that develop
ment doesn’t drop the costs for individual
homeowners.
And, looking at the other end of the
scale, small middle and south Georgia
counties such as Warren and Wilcox,
boast the lowest tax rates.
The website tax-rates.org does an ex
cellent job of compiling graphs/charts of
all Georgia counties most recent tax rates
and then applying them to the median
priced house in that county and giving
you their median tax rate.
Among a few comparables:
The median property tax in Georgia is
$ 1,346 per year for a home worth the me
dian value of $162,800. Pickens has a
median property tax bill of $ 1,134 based
on a median home value of $170,600.
• Cherokee: $1,665 median bill on a
$201,900 median home value;
• Dawson: $1,430 tax bill on a $201,400
median home value;
• Fulton: $2,733 tax bill on a $253,100
median home value;
• Fannin: $633 tax bill on $172,400 me
dian home value;
• Gilmer: $749 tax bill on a $137,600
median home value.
And among counties on the other end
of the scale:
• Warren County: $314 tax bill on
$61,100 median home value (lowest in
state)
• Wilcox: $493 tax bill on median home
of $56,900.
We always point out Pickens’ location,
adjacent to the booming metro, but south
of the mountain counties who really ben
efit from tourist cabins, lake homes and
packed downtown. We straddle the line
between metro and mountains.
As we grow, the belief that a bigger
tax base will equal a lower tax bill for
homeowners is not something that ap
pears to be likely. In fact, based on the
rest of the state, more population may
lead to more commercial businesses but
it will probably mean higher, not lower,
taxes.
Second, we often hear people put for
ward arguments in planning and zoning
meetings essentially saying they don’t
want any more congestion or growth.
Perhaps none of us do.
But there’s a problem with that argu
ment from a government policy stand
point. Georgia, like most states,
recognizes the property owner’s right to
develop his land within the zoning/land
use codes.
This makes it very difficult, and po
tentially costly from a lawsuit, for any
city or county government to turn down
a development, simply because the
neighbors object. We’re not saying that
concerned neighbors shouldn’t speak
their minds and that government should
n’t listen, but we encourage them to think
through their position and make it more
forceful than “too crowded.”
There is undoubtedly change coming.
Let’s hope we are prepared and handle it
as well as possible — both our govern
ment and members of the community.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
Py Caleb Smith
Snake in
the Grass
Nope Rope, Danger Noo
dle. They go by many names,
but no matter what you call
them, they’re still snakes.
How do I describe my feel
ings towards snakes?
As the philosopher poet
Tom T. Hall once said, “I
don’t like old sneaky snake.”
But that seems to be too mild
a phrase to describe my
thoughts. To be fair, if I wrote
exactly what my feelings
were on snakes, my editor
would have to redact all the
bad words out and I would be
left with a two sentence col
umn, so I’ll leave it the way
Mr. Hall put it.
It could be fairly said that
I have an actual phobia of
snakes. It’s so bad, there have
been times in my life where I
was nestled in bed, drifting
off to sleep, and the thought
enters my head ‘What if a
copperhead were to slither
under the sheets and use you
for warmth.’
‘Self,’ I say to myself.
‘That is foolish, impractical,
and has so little possibility of
ever happening that it doesn’t
even bear thinking about. ’
‘Yes,’ myself whispers
back. ‘But what if?’
That usually kills any
chance I have of sleeping that
particular night.
Whatever feelings I hold
towards snakes, they don’t
seem to have them towards
me. Indeed, it seems like
snakes love me and indeed
do everything in their power
to be near me. I’ll be out on
the lake, peacefully minding
my own business and think
ing simple thoughts, when
I’ll happen to look down into
the water. Usually there will
be a snake of some sort,
writhing its way through the
water towards me.
‘Hey man,’ its blank eyes
seem to say, ‘What’s up?’
I usually respond by
calmly paddling my way
back to shore and calling it a
day. Sometimes the snake is
especially large or unusually
close. In those instances, I
have been known to get out
and push the boat to shore in
order to make a more speedy
exit.
I do all that I can to avoid
even looking at snakes. Un
fortunately, social media is
filled with pictures of the
slippery reptiles. In addition
to that, I live so far in the
boondocks, I have to get in
my car and drive if I want to
see asphalt. With the woods
and pastures and my own
yard, it’s inevitable we run
into each other, especially
when I put off mowing the
grass as long as I do.
“Don’t worry,” my wife
tells me. “They’re more
afraid of you than you are of
them.”
“Not possible,” I say
grimly as I adjust my anti
snake suit, which is really
just a repurposed suit of
armor I got from the Renais
sance Fair. “But nice try.”
[Caleb Smith is a long
time, award-winning, colum
nist for the Progress.]
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
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School
AT 50MT POINT iXMG m
EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. ONE OF THtSE
TWO DECIDED TO BECONE A
BIRTHING PERSON.,,
OTHER VOICES
Impact Pickens statement on resolving
problems with school system
By Steve Lowe
President
Impact Pickens
As noted last week in the
Progress our school system
has enjoyed some great re
sults over the past several
years due in large part to
some great administrators,
teachers, and support staff, in
spite of the instability of
leadership at the district
level.
This instability and inef
fectiveness in leadership has
gone on far too long and our
current situation has reached
a crisis level. What follows
is a response from Impact
Pickens on our vision for tak
ing steps to resolve this lead
ership instability.
As a first step we believe
that our current superintend
ent, Mr. Young along with the
three board members Finley,
Smith, and Holland must re
sign or be removed. They
have completely violated the
public trust through their im
moral and unethical actions.
They cannot have any part in
leading our children. They
have clearly demonstrated
their desire to serve their own
personal agenda and not the
best interest of our kids and
community.
The next step is filling the
board, by adding three quali
fied members to serve along
side Mr. Green and Mr.
Gartrell. The appointment or
election of these three indi
viduals is critical. This is a
thankless post many times
and I've heard it said "there is
no way I'm running for
school board, who wants that
job."
The events of the last few
months should prove to us as
a community how important
these posts are. We must get
rid of this mindset that keeps
qualified people in our com
munity from seeking these
posts. We need individuals
with proven moral character
and a servant's heart who
want these posts to serve our
kids and our community.
They must not have agen
das to fulfill personal inter
ests. They should have
demonstrated the ability to
work collaboratively with
others toward a common
goal. They need to be willing
to invest the time to under
stand our schools and our
community.
Once a working school
board is in place the next step
is hiring a new permanent su
perintendent. This new board
needs to take the approach
that we’re looking for the
most qualified person with a
vision for what our school
system can become. It is not
important if they’re local or
who they know. The impor
tant qualities are a demon
strated love for kids, strong
moral character, a servant’s
heart, the ability to lead oth
ers, and a proven knowledge
of school leadership.
To move our system lead
ership forward we also be
lieve this must be a person
with high energy. This person
should also be someone who
has demonstrated an ability
to work collaboratively with
others in a community.
Our new board must work
as a team and hold each other
accountable to do so. Being a
team means that the board
chair keeps all the members
advised of what they know.
There is no one member
keeping secrets but what one
knows, all know as it relates
to issues/concems in our sys
tem. There must be an estab
lished chain of
communication regarding
complaints. Far too often in
dividuals in our community
by-pass proper staff within
the system regarding a con-
cem/issue to talk directly to a
board member. This creates
untold havoc within our sys
tem.
Board members must send
these people back to the ap
propriate staff and seek to get
the complaint resolved
through proper channels. It
should only reach the board
if it has made its way through
the superintendent and still
hasn’t been resolved.
Our board and superin
tendent must have open and
transparent communication
between themselves and
throughout our system. We
cannot have the board or su
perintendent hiding informa
tion from each other. This
practice has led to much of
the dysfunction we’ve seen
in our school system leader
ship.
These ideas are not meant
to be exhaustive, but are
some key areas we believe
must be addressed in order
for us to have the system of
excellence we desire. We be
lieve this can happen and are
committed to doing our part.
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI
LOW
RAIN
May
04
67
53
2.48
May
05
68
44
.00
May
06
65
44
.00
May
07
61
40
.00
May
08
66
42
.00
May
09
77
51
1.36
May
10
67
54
.00
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"I think they call it the economy."