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PAGE 6A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 20. 2008
Governor's Proposal
Would Cost Local
Gov'ts $2.8 Million
By Mark Beardsley
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s plan to cut
$428 million from the state bud
get would cost Jackson County’s
governments — or their taxpayers
— more than $2.8 million.
Perdue has proposed eliminating
the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant,
a program started by former Gov.
Roy Barnes to provide some relief
for local property taxes. The pro
gram provides homeowners with
an $8,000 homestead exemption
on their property taxes.
The program provided for cities,
counties, school boards and other
entities levying property taxes to
reduce their levies, with the state
reimbursing them.
In Jackson County, the total
credit to local taxpayers last year
amounted to $2,846,115, accord
ing to figures provided by Tax
Commissioner Don Elrod and
Jackson County Finance Director
John Hulsey.
Whether Perdue’s plan will
come to fruition remains up in
the air. The Association County
Commissioners of Georgia is rec
ommending that counties issue
property tax bills with the grant
exemption amid reports that nei
ther state House nor Senate lead
ers want it eliminated.
The state typically sends out the
rebate checks in late fall. ACCOG
warns that if the credit continues,
it could be March before the reim
bursement arrives.
Elimination of the credit/grant
would help trim almost a quarter
of the $1.6 billion Perdue hopes
to cut from the state budget. He’s
also announced a six-percent bud
get cut in most state agencies, and
school boards have been advised
to expect a two-percent cut for
this school year and an additional
three-percent for the following
year.
If the credit is eliminated,
school systems would be hit hard.
The Jackson County Board of
Education would have to absorb
$1.4 million, the Commerce Board
of Education $134,824 and the
Jefferson School System $170,074
— on top of the other cuts being
proposed by Perdue. The board of
commissioners would have to cut
more than $907,000.
But the cuts would also trickle
down to the county’s fire districts.
The amount for 2008 is expected
to be higher, but based on 2007
tax rates, the following amounts
would be cut:
Jackson schools
$1,419,274
Jackson County
$907,220
Jefferson schools
$170,075
Jefferson city
$86,725
Commerce schools
$134,824
Commerce city
$9,617
Fire Districts
Arcade
$6,690
East Jackson
$8,607
Harrisburg
$9,241
Jackson Trail
$10,509
Maysville
$3,258
Nicholson
$7,148
North Jackson
$6,949
Plainview
$7,889
South Jackson
$9,211
West Jackson
$26,319
County To Advance
Airport $3 Million
From Bond Funds
By Angela Gary
The Jackson County Industrial
Development Authority and
board of commissioners have
agreed to add a $3 million airport
expansion project to the list of
economic projects funded with
bond revenue.
The $3 million is expected to be
reimbursed to the county by the
Federal Aviation Administration.
The IDA approved the plan at
a meeting Friday morning. The
BOC signed off on the project at
its meeting Monday night.
The airport project calls for con
structing a parallel taxiway on the
west side of the airport, as well as
a terminal facility. The money will
also be used for the purchase of
52 acres for the project.
“I think the airport is one of
the most important projects for
economic development,” IDA
member John Buchanan said at
Thursday’s meeting. “... It will
give us another important tool to
attract industry to the county.”
Volunteer Storm Spotters
Sought For Jackson County
The Jackson County EMA and
the Northeast Georgia Amateur
Radio Club will host a storm spot
ter and sky warn class Monday,
Oct. 20, from 7-10 a.m„ at the
Braselton Police Department.
Barry Gooden of the National
Weather Service will be the
instructor.
For more information, contact
Eddie Gilbert at 706-654-2500 or
egilbert@westjacksonfd .com.
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Danielsville, Georgia
Realtor Sees Housing Slump Easing
By Mark Beardsley
Frank Norton Jr. is the guy
who would be standing on the
deck of the sinking Titanic giv
ing a PowerPoint presentation
about the opportunities ahead
in the construction of lifeboats.
He’s the ultimate optimist.
So it’s no surprise that the
president of The Norton Agency
takes the glass-half-full approach
to the mortgage crisis and hous
ing slowdown.
Speaking as Sam Thurmond’s
guest to the Commerce Kiwanis
Club Aug. 14, Norton said he
sees signs of recovery in the
charts and graphs he uses to
track real estate sales and trends
in Northeast Georgia.
“I believe we have troughed,”
he said of the slowdown. “We
may be bouncing on the bottom,
but we have hit the bottom.”
Norton said his company was
“ahead” 27 percent in July over
the previous July.
“Real estate, despite what you
hear on the national news, is
selling every day,” he said.
Norton is known locally for
predicting growth trends, one of
which is that Metro Atlanta will
eventually cover an
area from Macon
on the south, to
Greenville and
Chattanooga on the
north. The current
slowdown has not
changed his view.
“With this real
estate pause, it may
not happen to us as
quickly, but it’s still
going to happen,”
he promised.
Norton presented charts to
demonstrate that the inventory
of new houses in the Atlanta
(including Jackson County) mar
ket — those built and never sold
or occupied — peaked in the
second quarter of 2007, while
the number of houses under
construction peaked in the third
quarter of 2006 “and has been
trailing down ever since.”
“All of the inventory is out
on the marketplace,” Norton
declared.
That housing starts are off
50 to 60 percent is “good for
the economy,” Norton insists,
though he admits “not for build
ers and bankers.”
“The basket of avail
able inventory is shrink
ing,” he concludes.
As that inventory fur
ther declines, construc
tion will begin again.
“We have to eat up
the houses before we
eat up the lots,” Norton
added. “We’re not going
to regain the value of the
land until we eat up the
lots, and we’re not going
to regain the value of the lots
until we eat up the houses.”
Jackson County, said Norton,
has an 11-month inventory of
houses. The houses that are sell
ing, he said, are those under
$250,000. He proposed that
there is a market for what he
called “workforce housing,”
houses that are $225,000 or less
— affordable to school teachers,
bank tellers and other working
class citizens.
“That is what we need to be
promoting,” he said. “We are
starting to run out of certain
price points at certain loca
tions. In Jackson County, there
are none (new houses) under
$200,000, but that is where the
buyers are.”
Norton also sees a silver lin
ing on the dark cloud of high
gasoline prices, particularly
in the industrial market where
he believes location along
Interstate 85, because it is on a
corridor that serves the Atlantic
seaboard, will appeal to compa
nies hoping to trim fuel costs.
“What we are going to see is
the 1-85 industrial character will
change,” he said. “There is no
reason to locate on 1-75, 1-985,
Georgia 400 or 316, and where
will they locate? They’ll locate
here.”
As for the foreclosure rate,
Norton said that if five states,
including California, Florida
and Arizona are removed, there
is only a 4.9 percent increase in
foreclosures.
Locally, he suggested, the
worst is over. July saw 169
foreclosures in Hall County. In
August it fell to 136.
“And we’re down here. Were
not out of the woods, but we’re
down,” he said, pointing to a 2.6
percent decline in foreclosures
between the first and second
quarters.
Frank Norton
Director Of Regional library Pushes
For More Book Funding From County
By Mark Beardsley
Alan Harkness used a
guest appearance before the
Commerce Area Business
Association to plug his favorite
cause.
The director of the Piedmont
Regional Library suggested
that his audience should ask
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners for more money
for library books.
Specifically, Harkness wants the
board to adopt his proposal to
provide $1 for every resident of
Jackson County for books. The
money would be divided among
the county’s municipal libraries to
bolster their inventory.
In most Georgia counties,
Harkness said, the bulk of library
funding comes from the county
government. Jackson County’s
municipalities fund their libraries
at a rate of about $20 per person,
he said, while Jackson County
contributes “less than $2.”
“That might bother you,”
Harkness said. “And it might
not, but as more people move
into the unincorporated parts of
the county, that puts an undue
burden on the cities.
“I have asked Jackson County
for $1 per person for books.
That’s not a lot of money. I hope
we’ll get it.”
Harkness reminded his audi
ence that Georgia ranks last
in the United States in public
library books per capita.
“We’re behind Louisiana,
we’re behind Arkansas. We’re
behind Alabama. We’re behind
Mississippi,” he said. “If that
doesn’t get you motivated ... the
best way to help the libraries
here is to buy more books.”
One of Harkness’ favorite bits
of anecdotal evidence to support
“investment” in public libraries is
that several states use “reading
readiness levels” of their states
“to determine how many beds
they’re going to put in their pris
ons.”
“I’d rather buy books than pris
on beds,” he states. “You invest
in your future, you invest in your
children when you support your
libraries.”
The PRL director did praise the
city of Commerce for its support
of the Commerce Public Library.
“You are very lucky to have
a supportive city. The city of
Commerce supports its library
better than any other city in the
region,” he boasted.
He also pointed out that
Jackson County has more librar
ies per capita than any other
county in Georgia.
Harkness compared libraries to
businesses, noting that they have
an inventory to maintain, have
human resource issues, maintain
financial records, have customer
service issues and have competi
tion.
School Board Settles Coach's Suit
By Kerri Testement
The Jackson County Board of Education has settled a lawsuit with
a teacher who claimed he was passed over for a head coaching job
three times based on his age and gender.
Raleigh Pastrick, Hoschton, was 59 when he filed a lawsuit in
December 2007 against the school board, superintendent Shannon
Adams, East Jackson Comprehensive High School principal Pat
Stueck and EJCHS athletic director Joe Lancaster.
Pastrick claimed he was not hired as a head basketball coach for
the county school system on three occasions in 2006-2007.
Pastrick filed a discrimination claim with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission in April 2007 alleging that he wasn’t given
the jobs based on his age and gender.
In July 2007, Pastrick was also not selected for the vacant head
coaching position of the men’s basketball team at JCCHS. The law
suit says a “younger, less qualified” man was hired for the job.
Pastrick’s lawsuit further contends the defendants “retaliated
against” him after denial of the coaching position in July 2007.
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