Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - Pike County Journal Reporter - Page 3A
Concord Wireless Internet striving toward 100 customers
BY DWAIN W. PENN
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Concord Wireless In
ternet generated intense
interest at the April 13
council meeting. Resi
dents county-wide want
to know more about the
service and its increasing
access across the county
with its competitive
cost. Mayor John Strick
land, CEO of CW1, gave
his monthly report on
growth.
“We have 27 subscrib
ers today,” said Strick
land, which is a 125%
increase from March 9.
“Getting people hooked
up to the system is
ongoing despite foliage
problems. The Johnson
tower benefits a few and
perhaps more later. A
site was found at Hilltop
with an antenna to be
installed there.”
“Our goal is to have
100 subscribers as soon
as possible in order to
begin recouping our
investment. We are work
ing with Georgia Power
for use of power poles
at $6 a pole. As of today,
our total investment is
$41,000.”
To bring service to a
certain area, the use of
an industry innovation
called a “pop” is eco
nomical, while improving
service and increasing
customer base. Initial
cost of pops is $2,500
each and will serve 8 to
10 customers.
Strickland asked
council to approve an ad
ditional $15,000 to reach
100 customers. Within
a week, the company
hopes to begin paying
the $1,800 a month fee
for the fiber optic ser
vice. Meanwhile the city
is expecting $125,000
from the federal govern
ment for COV1D related
expenses, and internet
service does qualify for
a portion of the funds.
Council approved a
transfer of a total of
$20,000 from the capital
improvement fund for
internet growth.
COUNCIL ALSO:
• Heard that city clerk
Sharon Casey has sub
mitted notice of resigna
tion. After nine years, she
will move on to the city
of Senoia.
• Heard from water su
pervisor Doug Neath that
Kent McCord conducted
the final inspection of the
north wastewater dam
and pond. Approval was
requested and granted to
repair sewer on Highway
18 outside the city not to
exceed the amount of the
only bid received, unless
after a search, a lower
bid is submitted.
• Learned from Dalton
Thiel that Green Street
will be paved when the
county can schedule the
work. Meanwhile the city
will pull aggregate and
use cold pack in prepara
tion of paving.
• Appointed Anita
Neath as interim city
clerk until a full-time
clerk is hired through the
process of acquiring re
sumes through April 30.
• Heard a budget
workshop is scheduled
for Tuesday, May 25, 7
p.m. at city hall.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Local items and sites are being sought for the filming of the TV Show American Pickers.
History channel’s American Pickers
looking for local sites to film show
Know of a cache of
antiques in Pike County?
Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz
and their team will
return to Georgia as they
plan to film episodes of
the American Pickers
across Georgia in May
2021. American Pickers
is a documentary series
that explores the fasci
nating world of antique
“picking” on the History
channel. The show fol
lows Mike and Frank as
they hunt for America’s
most valuable antiques.
“They are always
excited to find sizeable,
unique collections and
learn the interesting
stories behind them. As
they hit the back roads
from coast to coast,
Mike and Frank are on a
mission to recycle and
rescue forgotten rel
ics. Along the way, the
Pickers want to meet
characters with remark
able and exceptional
items,” said casting as
sociate Kourtney Myers.
“The pair hopes to give
historically significant
objects a new lease
on life, while learning
a thing or two about
America’s past along
the way. Mike and Frank
have seen a lot of rusty
gold over the years
and are always looking
to discover something
they’ve never seen be
fore. They are ready to
find extraordinary items
and hear fascinating
tales about them.”
American Pickers
is looking for local
leads. If you or some
one you know has a
large, private collec
tion or accumulation
of antiques that they
can spend the better
part of the day looking
through, send the name,
phone number, location
and description of the
collection with photos
to americanpickers@
cineflix.com or call
855-OLD-RUST or tag on
facebook: ©GotAPick.
Commissioners reduce speed
limit, approve hotel/motel
tax, hear litigation updates
County commission
ers heard a litigation
case against the clerk
of court has been dis
missed, added a hotel/
motel excise tax to
the county’s code and
reduced the speed limit
on a portion of McKin
ley Road during their
Wednesday, April 14
meeting.
County manager
Brandon Rogers said
he received a request
to reduce the speed
limit on McKinley Road
between Highway 19
and Williamson-Zebulon
Road from 35 to 25 mile
per hour due to dust
traveling from the dirt
road to homes in the
area. The speed has
already been reduced
from 45 mph. Rogers
said the road is three
quarters of a mile and
is on high priority to be
paved at a cost of around
$700,000 to $800,000. The
change was approved by
a 3-1 vote with chairman
Briar Johnson in op
position, noting that he
would rather the road be
coated with calcium to
reduce dust.
County attorney Rob
Morton reported to
commissioners that the
plaintiff in the lawsuit
against the clerk of court
has agreed to dismiss
the case. He said other
matters being worked
on behalf of the county
include litigation matters
involving an action with
a sheriff’s deputy and a
motion has been filed for
dismissal in that case as
well.
Commissioners ap
proved the first reading
of the hotel/motel excise
tax ordinance, pending
further discussion about
tax percentages of the
Pike code of ordinances.
Morton said changes
can be made after the
first reading but the
board needs to indicate
what percentage to tax
any future hotels or
motels.
He said the county
can keep all of up to 3%
of taxes on the estab
lishments and there is a
specific way additional
funds over 3% must be
used.
County manager Rog
ers said he thought 5%
would be the best tax
rate for Pike, noting that
the authorization limita
tions allow restricted
funds for a community
auditorium or theatre
owned by the county
or municipality, renova
tions substantially or
fully completed before
July 1, 1995 or a percent
for general recreation
through a contract with
the recreation authority.
THE COUNTY ALSO:
• Was presented with
the proposed Fiscal Year
2021-22 budget.
• Approved the
Internet Access and Ser
vices Intergovernmental
Agreement with the city
of Concord to allow the
city’s internet service to
reach outside of the city
limits.
• Approved the sec
ond reading of the Pike
County code Chapter 35,
including revisions to
Personnel Policy regard
ing full-time employment
and benefits.
• Approved use of
$22,470 in Impact Fee
credits at Peach State
Airport to cover the
expenses of a water line
expansion at the airport.
• Approved the
purchase of two leased
dump trucks, accepted
the low bid from First
National Bank for financ
ing and authorized the
county manager to sign
necessary documents.
• Approved issuing an
alcohol license for retail
sales of beer for Marcus
Kyzer, 3K Enterprises
Inc., doing business as
Cadies Corner, at 10030
Highway 19 north in
Zebulon.
March net tax revenues up 3.7 percent in the state of Georgia
The state of Georgia’s
net tax collections for
March totaled nearly
$1.90 billion for an
increase of almost $67
million, or 3.7 percent,
compared to March 2020,
when net tax collections
totaled $1.83 billion.
Year-to-date, total net tax
collections approached
$18.94 billion, for an
increase of roughly $1.55
billion, or 8.9 percent,
compared to FY 2020
when net tax revenues
totaled $17.39 billion
after nine months.
The deferred com
mencement of Indi
vidual Income tax return
processing - concur
rent with the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS)
guidance that directed
the acceptance and pro
cessing of 2020 Individual
tax year returns begin
ning February 12,2021
- delayed income tax
refund processing and
contributed significantly
to the highly favorable
net tax collection reve
nue variance reported in
February. Subsequently,
an acceleration of refund
processing in the March
reporting period reduced
the impact of the refund
processing delay on
year-to-date net revenue
collections.
The changes within
the following tax catego
ries help further explain
March’s overall net tax
revenue increase.
Individual Income Tax:
Individual Income Tax
collections totaled $931.7
million for the month,
which was a decrease of
$39.7 million, or -4.1 per
cent, compared to last
year when Individual Tax
collections totaled $971.4
million.
The following no
table components within
Individual Income Tax
combine for the net
decrease. Individual
Income Tax refunds
issued (net of voided
checks) were up $292.2
million, or 69.8 percent.
Individual Withholding
payments increased by
$218.9 million, or 18.4
percent, compared to FY
2020. Individual Income
Tax Return payments
were up $22.2 million, or
32.7 percent, over last
year. All other Individual
Tax categories, including
Estimated Tax payments,
were up a combined
$11.4 million.
Sales and Use Tax:
Gross Sales and Use
Tax collections totaled
more than $1.05 billion
during the month, for an
increase of $118.3 mil
lion, or 12.6 percent, over
March 2020. Net Sales
and Use Tax increased
by $75.6 million, or 16.5
percent, compared to the
previous fiscal year when
net sales tax totaled $457
million. The adjusted
Sales Tax distribution
to local governments
totaled $512.9 million for
an increase of $45.1 mil
lion, or 9.6 percent, com
pared to FY 2020. Lastly,
Sales Tax Refunds fell by
roughly $2.4 million, or
-21.2 percent, compared
to last year.
Corporate Income Tax:
Corporate Income Tax
collections increased
by $23.7 million, or 21.6
percent, over last year to
a total of nearly $133.9
million for the month.
The following no
table components within
corporate income tax
make up the net increase.
Corporate income tax
refunds issued (net
of voids) were down
roughly $22.9 million, or
-63.1 percent. Corporate
income tax estimated
payments increased
$12.7 million, or 21.3
percent, over last year.
All other corporate tax
types, including tax
return payments, were
down a combined $11.9
million.
Motor Fuel Taxes:
Motor Fuel Tax collec
tions fell by roughly $2.3
million, or -1.6 percent,
compared to FY 2020.
Motor Vehicle - Tag &
Title Fees:
Motor vehicle tag
and title fees increased
by $4.3 million, or 12.7
percent, while Title Ad
Valorem Tax (TAVT)
collections increased by
roughly $7.8 million, or
15.7 percent, over last
year.
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