Newspaper Page Text
(T uinjtnn JJeuih
Volume 110 No. 102
Covington Kiwanians heard Sen. W. D. Ballard,
representing the 45th District, speak out in favor
of the passage of the “Freeport Amendment,
number 5 on the ballot on Nov. 2. as a means of
Sen. Ballard urges passage
of "Freeport Amendment''
Senator W. D. Ballard of
Covington urged the passage of
the “Freeport Amendment” when
voters go to the polls on Nov. 2,
as a means of diversifying in
dustry in Georgia and providing
a broader tax base for rural
counties in a speech Thursday
before the Covington Kiwanis
Club.
The “Freeport Amendment",
number 5 on the ballot, would
permit local governments to
exempt inventories from ad
valorem property taxation as a
means of attracting industry from
communities in neighboring states
which offer the loophole.
“Georgia is the only state in the
Southeast that does not have
some form of freeport legislation,
and South Carolina, which has
what we call aa pure freeport has
outstripped us all several fold in
attracting industry,” Ballard said.
Gov. George Busbee, a panel of
state legislators, and the state
Department of Community
Development (Industry and
Cost of child rearing
is rising in Newton
Parents in Newton County are
finding that the cost of bringing
up a child has risen considerably
in recent years.
For the average family, rearing
a child from birth to age 18 now
takes nearly three times the
amount it earns during a whole
year, according to tire latest gov
ernment studies.
Byway of comparison, 30 years
ago a typical family needed no
more than $7,425 to provide for
a child to age 18, according to
figures compiled at that time.
Today, it would not come close
to covering food costs alone.
Swine flu clinics set
Swine flu shots will be available
to Newton County residents free
of charge on Sunday, Nov. 7, as
immunization clinics are set up at
three different locations.
The clinics will be held between
the hours of 1 and 7 p.m. at the
Jaycee Youth Center on Brown
Bridge Road, Sharp Middle
School in Covington and Palmer
Stone’ Elementary School in
Sen. Ballard at Kiwanis
rural counties attracting industry and broadening
their tax base at Thursdays meeting at the Crest
Bestaurant in Covington. Ballard was introduced
by Covington City Manager Frank Turner.
Trade) have blended their efforts
with those of such private-interest
groups as the Georgia Chamber
of Commerce to sell the amen
dment to voters.
“The freeport legislation really
just gives counties like Newton a
local option of making ad
valorem tax exemptions in three
different ways, if local people see
the need and pass such a
measure in a local referendum,"
said Ballard.
The three exemptions that can
be made under the “Freeport
Amendment", separately or
collectively, if it passes and if the
people of a county pass it also,
are: (II exemption on goods in
process of being manufactured on
Jan. 1; exemption of finished
goods in plant on Jan. 1; and
goods’ manufactured out-of-state,
but being held in the producers
warehouse in this state, for later
shipment out-of-state.
“I believe that four of the five
counties that I represent will be
Just how much a family spends
in the process of bringing up
junior depends, for the most part,
on its financial ability and its
geographic location. In general, it
ranges from 2.9 to 3.6 times its
annual net income.
For families in Newton County,
where an after-tax income of
SII,OOO to $12,000 was the
average in the past year, the cost
is estimated at about $37,900 per
child.
The findings are based upon
data compiled by the Department
of Agriculture, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the Institute of
Oxford.
The shots will be administered
by officials from the West Health
District to persons 18-years-old or
older.
The mass immunization effort is
being coordinated by the Newton
County Jaycees, tbe Covington
Lions Club and the Covington
Optimist Club.
4 Prite- Winning Neu*i>ai>er, Serving Newton County For 110 Yean
Covington, Georgia — Tuesday, October 26,1976
in favor of the Freeport
Amendment." Ballaru said.'
Newton, Barrow, Walton, and
Morgan counties need to attract
more industry and will likely vote
to pass it.”
When questioned about
Amendment No. 2, which would
allow a Georgia governor to
succeed himself for a second
term, Ballard pointed out that a
Georgia governor already has
more power than the governor's
in other states around that allow
two terms, and it could be
dangerous for a governor to
control almost everything in state
government for an eight year
period.
"Gov. George Busbee was a
hard-working legislator while I
served with him, and he has
made us a good, hard-working
governor who has the best in
terest of the people of Georgia at
heart, but every men that gets
elected governor in Georgia is not
a George Busbee," Ballard said.
Life Insurance and others.
The bills connected with the
birth of the child, which is the
initial cost of parenthood, have
gone up 40 percent in the last
five years, reports the Life Insur
ance Institute.
On average, including hospital
and medical expenses, the layette,
furniture and the like, they now
come to approximately $2,190.
Some of this cost is usually
covered by insurance.
As time goes on, food becomes
a major item. A family of mod
erate income will spend about
$13,500 to feed the child for the
18 years.
Clothing is also an important
expense, especially in the teen
years. Over the whole period it
comes to about $4,480. Medical
care adds another $2,260.
Other basic costs include recrea
tion, transportation, housing, edu
cation and personal care.
The 550 or so boys and girls in
Newton County who reach 18
each year represent a total outlay
on the part of their parents of
approximately $20,845,000. And
that is only to the point at which
they are ready for college.
Newton tax digest
will be factored
The Property Tax Unit of the
Georgia Department of Revenue
advised Tax Commissioner
Bonham L. Johnson by phone
Thursday that the Newton
County Tax Digest for 1976 had
not been approved, and in order
for the digest to be accepted it
would have to be factored by 12
per cent.
Johnson said that he was disa
ppointed that the Newton County
Board of Equalizers had reduced
property valuations in the county
by $1,301,557, prior to the
Airport Master Plan
discussed at hearing
The future aviation needs of
Covington and the surrounding
area were discussed at a public
information hearing Thursday
night at City Hall.
Covington’s mayor and council
were joined by officials from
Rockdale County, local aviators
and other interested citizens as an
Airport Master Plan for the
county was outlined by Welker d
Complimentary subscription
If you’re 100 years old and a
resident of Newton County, you
qualify for a complimentary
subscription to The Covington
News. This policy went into
effect last week when Miss Eva
Gardner sent us a check to renew
a subscription for her sister, Miss
Bell Gardner. She attached a
note telling us that Miss Bell was
now 100 years old and she
wondered if we had a special rate
for subscribers of that age.
We do have a half-price sub
scription rate for senior citizens
that we feature periodically, but
we didn’t have anything special
for centenarians. Leo S. Mallard,
president of The Covington News,
decided the Newton County
Centenarian receives complimentary subscription
Miss Bell Gardner, who was 100 years old on May
26, receives a returned check from The Covington
News. Christel Foster, subscription manager of
The Covington News, visited Miss Gardner to
2 Sections
submission of the digest.
“We felt that the Department of
Revenue would have accepted our
original digest without a factor,"
Johnson said, “but now we face
the factor, possible suits over the
factor, and late tax bills again
this year."
Deputy Tax Clerk Carol Mit
chell said that the county can
either accept the 12 per cent
factor by the state or go back
through the complete assessment
process.
Associates, the engineers chosen
to do the study.
The plan, which is being done
with 75 percent federal funding,
is a necessary step before any
community can expect federal ad
in building an airport.
Several recent studies, including
one done by the Mclntosh Trail
Area Planning and Development
Commission, have [minted to the
residents who reach that century
mark deserve special con
sideration.
Christel Foster, subscription
manager for The Covington
News, made a trip to visit Miss
Gardner and personally return
her check and inform her of her
complimentary subscription. Miss
Bell, who passed the 100 mark
with a May birthday, is usually
quite active. Right now she’s
recuperating from a broken hip
which has slowed her down a bit.
The break is mending and she's
recovering nicely. We hope that
reading The Covington News will
help her pass the time during her
period of recuperation.
return the check and inform her that she would
receive a complimentary subscription to the
newspaper in the future.
Fifteen Cents
"We are short handed now, and
we don’t have the time to have
the digest assessed again," Mrs.
Mitchell said, “and if this were
done, 1 don’t know when the
people of this county would get
tlur tax bills.”
Since the Department of
Revenue has ordered the tax
digest factored the Newton
County Board of Commissioners
will have to decide whether to
accept the factor or assess
property again.
future need of a new, larger
municipal airport in Newton
County.
Although there is little doubt a
new airport will be needed
eventually. City Manager Frank
Turner emphasizes any actual
construction is probably at least
ten years away. "It should be
noted that this is a long range
plan, with complete development
scheduled for the year 2000,” he
said.
He [minted out, however, that
the city could go ahead and
choose the best [tossible site, and
purchase it with future needs in
mind.
A number of potential sites
around the county were discussed
at the Thursday meeting, but it
will probably be the first of next
year before Welker <S Associates
makes a firm site recom
mendation to the mayor and
council. Any site chosen would
have to meet the approval of the
Federal Aviation Administration
in order for federal funds to be
made available.
The Rockdale County officials
who attended the hearing were
interested in local airport plana
because their county, too, would
stand to benefit if a new airport
is built here. Studies have in
dicated the need for an air
carrier airport in the Rockdale
County area but the small size of
the county could limit the
development of one there.
