Newspaper Page Text
EJCHS FFA MEMBERS EXCEL
A number of East Jackson Comprehensive High School FFA members
earned awards and recognition at state and district events: Pages
11-12A
SHARKS AT STATE
22 Commerce Tiger Sharks qualify for
the state swim meet July 24: Page IB
Vol. 134
No. 22
24 Pages
2 Sections
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
Commerce Slews
Wednesday
JULY 15, 2009
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
City
Students
Fare Well
OnCRCT
Commerce students
improved their passing
rates on the state CRCT
exams in 23 of 32 catego
ries in 2009.
The Georgia Department
of Education recently
released the results of the
spring tests in grades 1-8.
The Criterion-
Referenced Competency
Tests (CRCT) measures
how well students acquire
the skills and knowledge
outlined in the state’s
curriculum, known as
the Georgia Performance
Standards (GPS).
Commerce students
made the most improve
ment in math, with each
grade faring better than
the same grade the previ
ous year.
In the third grade, for
example, 8.7 percent
failed the math portion
of the test on their first
try, down from 25 percent
the previous year. Fourth
graders failed at a rate of
Please Turn to Page 5A
cmm
THURSDAY, JULY 16
Scattered T-storms: Low, 69;
high, 80; 60% chance rain
FRIDAY, JULY 17
A
Scattered T-storms: Low, 68;
high, 87; 40% chance rain
SATURDAY, JULY 18
A
Isolated T-storms, Low, 63;
high, 86; 30% chance rain
SUNDAY, JULY 19
Isolated T-storms, Low, 64;
high, 85; 30% chance rain
Precipitation this month
.46 inches
Precipitation This Year
26.56 Inches
INDEX
Births 3B
Church News 6B
Classified Ads 7-9B
Calendar 3A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 4-5B
Opinions 4A
School News .... 1 1-1 2A
Sports 1-2B
Social News 3B
Shrinking Property Values?
Jackson, Commerce Tax Digests Increase In Spite Of Recession
By Mark Beardsley
If the housing bust and
attendant recession lowered
property values, the word
hasn’t gotten to Jackson
County yet.
The county’s preliminary
tax digest shows a 1.3-per
cent growth in value. The
digest is the basis for prop
erty taxation.
The spartan growth is bad
news for governments that
rely on increases in the tax
able value of property to
bring in more money each
year, but it’s also bad news
for taxpayers who expected
to pay less in property taxes
this year because their hous
es and land are worth less.
In many areas of Georgia,
housing prices have fallen
25 percent or more, but tax
digests largely do not reflect
that market truth.
More than 500 Jackson
County taxpayers aren’t
buying the official version
of their property’s value and
have filed appeals. Should
the appeals be successful,
it is not out of the question
that the tax digest could
shrink, something that has
not happened since the
Great Depression.
In Commerce, the pre
liminary digest shows a
4.5-percent growth over
2008, according to Steve
McKown, the city’s finance
director. That’s something
of a relief for someone who
tries to find the money to
fund a city budget each
year.
“If we leave the 1.5-
mill tax rate, we’ll collect
12,000 more dollars,’’ said
McKown, who termed the
revenue growth as “flat.’’
“I would call it flat,’’ he
explained. 'There are some
changes, but there are other
changes in the digest that
cancel them out.’’
Any successful appeals
Cont. on Page 3A
Prolific Donors Honored
With its community blood drive Tuesday at the First Baptist Church
of Commerce, the American Red Cross paid tribute to some of its
high-volume donors. Technician Dominic Overton bandages the arm
of Cheryl Leuthner, who has given more than seven gallons of blood.
Photo by Mark Beardsley
Decision Due
Soon On
Reservoir Site
By Mark Beardsley
The data has been collect
ed and its analysis is under
way. Jackson County offi
cials could begin the task
in September of selecting
one of three Nicholson
area sites for a future coun
ty reservoir.
“All of the environmen
tal and geotechnical data
has been collected,’’ engi
neer Richard Cheek told
the Jackson County Water
and Sewerage Authority
Thursday night. “We are
evaluating it and plan to
present a draft report to
the authority by mid-Sep
tember.’’
Data collection has taken
almost a year as some own
ers of land affected by the
three sites were hesitant
to allow engineers or sur
veyors onto their property,
but the work was finally
completed last month.
Cheek, who works for
Prime Engineering, said
that the draft report is not
likely to include a recom
mendation as to which of
the three sites is best suited
for a reservoir.
“We will probably end up
coming up with a selection
matrix with all of the com
ponents that need to be
taken into consideration,’’
he explained.
Those components will
include cost, the number of
property owners affected,
permitting issues (includ
ing wetlands mitigation),
water quality and yield —
among others.
“We will evaluate each
of these and indicate in a
matrix form how each of
the sites compares with the
others,’’ Cheek said.
While the water and sew
erage authority is the lead
agency under which the
analysis is being done, the
Jackson County Board of
Commissioners is funding
the study and will likely —
with input from the author
ity — make the final deci
sion as to which site is
selected.
The sites are all locat
ed in the vicinity of
Nicholson. The largest is
along Little Curry Creek
Cont. on Page 3A
Meeting Budget Unlikely
For Commerce Gas Fund
New Report Cards
Come Under Fire
But City BOE Sticks With Plan
To Implement In Grades 3-4
By Ben Munro
The decision to move
forth with new report cards
at Commerce Elementary
School drew a rare split
vote from the Commerce
Board of Education.
After much discussion,
the board voted 4-1 to
implement “standards-
based’’ report cards for
grades 3-4 for the next two
school years.
Grades K-2 already use
the new progress reports.
Rodney Gary voted
against the move.
Standards-based report
cards lack the traditional
A-F grading system, but pro
vide better details about a
child’s knowledge, accord
ing to some educators.
“There’s no doubt that it’s
a better information report
card,’’ superintendent James
“Mac’’ McCoy said.
A standards-based report
card makes the following
assessments: exceeds stan
dards (E), meets standards
(M), progressing towards
standards (P) and lacks
standards (L).
Cont. on Page 5A
By Mark Beardsley
Two weeks into his new
budget, Commerce Gas
Department superinten
dent Jim Eubanks figures
his department is already
$400,000 behind.
That’s a figure not likely
to be made up barring
some sort of major (and
unexpected) development
during the remaining 50
weeks of the city’s fiscal
year.
“Last year I budgeted
about $7 million (to pur
chase) gas. This year I bud
geted about $2.5 million,’’
explained Eubanks.
The Gas Department for
years has been the city’s
profit center among its
utility funds. Historically,
officials have been able
to transfer as much as
$850,000 out of that fund
into the General Fund to
finance departments from
police to recreation to the
library.
Then the housing bust
hit. Louisiana Pacific, the
city’s biggest gas customer,
slowed production, then
closed. Huber Engineered
Woods, the second-largest
customer, cut its usage by
60 percent.
During the peak of the
housing boom, LP alone
was earning the city about
$500,000 a year in profits,
Eubanks said. By the time
it closed, the city’s profit
on LP gas use was down to
$175,000 to $200,000.
“That’s just an indica
tor of how much the load
has dropped off in recent
years,’’ said Eubanks.
“Almost all of that is the
large industrial loads. The
commercial and residen-
Cont. on Page 3A