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Commerce News C gOYOfl RoiiflClliO
PAGE 2A • SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Program Offers
Tax Credits To
Home Buyers
Many people do not know
they could receive as much
as $9,800 in tax credits if
they buy a home this year.
Three new government pro
grams offer great assistance
to buyers.
First-time homebuyers can
get up to $8,000 in a federal
tax credit. The credit amount
is equal to 10 percent of
the home’s purchase price
up to $8,000. An $80,000
home, for example, would
generate the full credit. If
the credit is greater than
the taxes owed, the IRS will
send a refund check, so the
credit is not lost. No special
forms are needed, the credit
is simply claimed on the
federal income tax return.
The sale must close by Dec.
31.2009.
The Georgia tax credit
is not limited to first-time
homebuyers, but the home
must have been listed on
the market prior to May
11 of this year. (The intent
is to reduce housing that
has been on the market for
an extended time.) Buyers
need to close before Nov.
30.2009, to claim the credit.
The tax credit will be 1.2
percent of the purchase
price, up to $1,800. The full
amount cannot be claimed
in a single year but rather
is divided over a three-year
period.
The Neighborhood
Stabilization Program (NSP)
is a federal program aimed
at rehabilitating foreclosed
homes. A $14,000 second
mortgage will be provided
for repairs and/or down
payment assistance. Buyers
do not have to be first-time
homebuyers but must occu
py the home as their prima
ry residence. Participating
lenders must pre-qualify
buyers to begin the loan
process. This program will
end June 30, 2010.
Some limitations apply,
but these resources could
very well make the differ
ence for someone wanting
to buy a home now.
Madison Fair
Continues
Through Sat.
It finally feels like fall —
time for good boiled pea
nuts, time for the ferris
wheel.
Madison County’s annu
al agricultural fair opened
Tuesday and continues
through Saturday at the
Comer Fairgrounds off
Hwy. 22.
The annual event provides
local citizens with a chance
to view what Madison
County’s agricultural com
munity has to offer, with
cattle, pig and goat shows.
There is also nightly musi
cal entertainment, nightly
drawings for prizes. And,
of course, there’s a wide
range of rides, from the kid
die variety to the lose-your-
lunch, high-speed spinners.
Unlimited rides cost $15
Thursday and $18 Friday
and Saturday. Gates open
at 6 p.m. nightly, with a
Saturday matinee from
noon to 4 p.m.
Here is the schedule for
the remainder of the week:
•Thursday, Oct. 1, Bobby
Compton Band, 7 p.m.; Jr.
4-H and FFA beef cattle
show, 7 p.m.
•Friday, Oct. 2, Soul
Connection, 7 p.m.; goat
show, 6 p.m.; local kids cat
tle show, 7 p.m.
•Saturday, Oct. 3, The
New Dixie Storm, 7 p.m.;
open cattle show, noon.
Girl Scouts
Seek Scouts,
Scout Leaders
The Girl Scouts of Historic
Georgia are holding recruit
ment round ups for girls and
adult volunteers throughout
the area.
Girls ages 5-17 are invited
to participate. The cost of
annual membership is $12.
Girl Scout journeys lead
girls through age-appropri
ate adventures that inspire
them to leadership.
Young girls may plant a
garden and learn to appreci
ate the different flowers and
plants that grow there, while
learning about friendship
and honesty. Teens may
identify ways to improve
their community and begin
a public campaign for
change, while learning the
value of networking and
setting an example.
For more information
about becoming a Girl
Scout — or to volunteer —
visit www.gshg.com or call
706-774-0505.
Class To Train
People As
Storm Watchers
A Sky Warn class to train
volunteers to spot storms
— and pass along vital
“ground truth’’ information
to emergency personnel
— will be held Monday,
Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. at the
Nicholson Civic Center.
Sky Warn is a program
of the National Weather
Service to improve severe
storm warnings. Volunteers
come from all walks of
life, but generally have an
interest in the weather and
serving the community.
Emergency manage
ment, law enforcement,
fire departments or res
cue squads, amateur radio
clubs and church groups
are some of the organiza
tions frequently involved
in the effort.
The class will be taught
by meteorologist Ben
Gooden. The National
Weather Service, Jackson
County EMA and the
Northeast Georgia
Amateur Radio Club will
host the event.
Any person or organi
zation can become Sky
Warn spotters, but must
first receive training from
the National Weather
Service. Spotter classes
are typically held between
October and March.
To register, email egil-
bert@westjacksonfd.
com. The Nicholson Civic
Center is located on
Lakeview Drive.
Event Planned
To Raise Funds
For Courthouse
A Historic Courthouse
Heritage Celebration is
planned for Oct. 24 as
part of the fund-raising
effort for the historic
county courthouse reno
vation project.
The dinner will be held
at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct.
24, at the Jefferson Civic
Center. Entertainment
will be provided.
Tickets are $50 each or
$350 for a table of eight.
All funds raised will go
toward the renovation
project. A private spon
sor is funding the cost of
holding the dinner.
Tickets are available
from members of the his
toric courthouse commit
tee or by calling 706-621-
0489.
Property Values
Down Slightly
In Madison Co.
For the second straight
year, Madison County’s
overall property value
dipped slightly.
The real and personal
tax digest — or overall
county property value —
for Madison County in
2009 is $729.6 million,
down less than one half of
one percent from $732.8
in 2008.
Madison County tax
levying authorities, such
as the county commission,
school board and indus
trial authority, advertised
their five-year tax histories
in this week’s paper, a first
step toward approving tax
rates, which will happen
in mid October, with tax
bills expected to hit prop
erty owners’ mailboxes in
November.
Both the school board
and the commissioners
plan to keep their tax rates
steady in 2009, while the
industrial authority is plan
ning a .013 mill increase,
from .926 to .939 mills.
That will generate roughly
the same tax revenue for
the IDA in 2009 as in 2008,
up $3,029, from $628,226
to $631,255.
Though the county digest
has dipped slightly over
the past two years, the
county’s overall property
values are still $187 million
— or 34.5 percent — more
than they were in 2004
— $729.6 million this year
versus $542.4 million five
years ago.
Between 2004-2007, dur
ing the housing boom,
Madison County property
values jumped 35.7 per
cent from $542 million to
a peak of $736 million in
2007.
American
Legion To
Meet Monday
American Legion Post 93
will meet at 7 p.m. Monday,
Oct. 5, at Wingslinger’s Grill
on South Broad Street in
Commerce.
CASA Training
Class Planned
For October 13
A new class for the Pied
mont Judicial Circuit’s Court
Appointed Special Advo
cate (CASA) program will
begin Oct. 13 from 6-9 p.m.
at the First Baptist Church
of Commerce, 1345 South
Elm Street.
This class will run every
Tuesday night from Oct. 13
through Nov. 24.
Call Annette Raymond at
706-387-6375 for an applica
tion and to register.
Immigrant Completes Long Road To U.S. Citizenship
By Michael James
Hinkle
(Hinkle teaches a citi
zenship class in Jackson
County. He wrote this arti
cle to recognize Literacy
Month in September).
On Tuesday, July 28,2009,
Esmeralda Orozco stood
proudly with tears of joy in
her eyes as she raised her
right hand and nervously but
meticulously pronounced
each and every word of
the long awaited Oath of
Allegiance to the United
States of America at the
United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services
(USCIS) Building in
Atlanta.
The event was especially
gratifying and memorable
for Mrs. Orozco because
she was the final member
of her immediate family to
become an American citi
zen. Her husband took the
Oath of U.S. Citizenship
13 years earlier and their
three children were all born
in the U.S. For the Orozco
family, this represented the
culmination of over 17 years
of sacrifice, hard work and
assimilation. More impor
tantly, she had realized her
dream of having one family,
under God, indivisible with
the same U.S. Citizenship,
justice and liberty for all.
As a mother and home
maker Mrs. Orozco never
lost sight of her dream of
becoming an American
citizen. While at home, she
took a number of different
self-study English language
courses that provided basic
vocabulary and grammar.
Then, in 2006, she enrolled
in the Lanier Technical
College Adult English as a
Second Language (ESL) and
U.S. Citizenship Class held
Wednesday evenings, at the
campus in Commerce.
Mrs. Orozco was the fifth
student from the class to
successfully pass the U.S.
Citizenship Test during the
previous two years. Elva
Sandoval, Oscar Pena,
Rigoberto Sandoval and
Rosa Huizar also accom
plished the goal. Both Mrs.
Orozco and Mrs. Sandoval
continue to attend the
Wednesday evening classes
to improve their command
of the English language and
to assist classmates real
ize their dreams of U.S.
Citizenship.
Mrs. Orozco was born
in Zacatecas, Mexico, an
area dominated by small
farms and cattle ranches.
Most families were very
humble and struggled
daily to satisfy their basic
needs. During Esmeralda’s
childhood, there were few
opportunities to pursue
a formal education. As
the fourth in a family of
six children, Esmeralda
spent most of her time
helping with the house
hold chores and working
the fields with her parents
New U.S. citizen
Esmeralda Orozco.
and siblings. At the age
of 19, Esmeralda married
her childhood sweetheart,
Jose Manuel Orozco, and
the newlyweds moved to
California to start a new
life together.
The couple was soon
blessed with three healthy
sons. Esmeralda recalls
how pleased she was to
give birth to her children
in the U.S. Even though
initially times were finan
cially difficult, the couple
preferred to work multiple
jobs rather than ask for
public assistance. No mat
ter how trying the times,
they always filed and paid
their state and federal
income taxes.
The Orozco family
moved to Commerce over
six years ago in search
of a safer living environ
ment and a more finan
cially lucrative future.
Like other immigrant
parents, Esmeralda and
Jose Manuel have made
countless sacrifices so
their children could have a
better quality of life, edu
cation, and employment
opportunities. Their three
sons — Gerardo, Ricky
and Jonathan — are all
students in the Jackson
County School System.
The three have aspira
tions of attending college
and/or a technical school
upon high school gradua
tion. Esmeralda and Jose
Manuel are extremely
proud and appreciative of
their success in breaking
the cycle of poverty that
they endured by giving
their children the oppor
tunity for a better life in
America.
The day Mrs. Orozco
took the Oath of
Allegiance to the United
States of America she was
accompanied by 114 other
foreign-born immigrants
from 45 countries.
To become a naturalized
citizen, one must be 18, a
legal permanent resident
for five years, a person of
good moral character, and
have a working knowledge
of the English language.
Once these requirements
are satisfied, applicants
must submit a completed
Form N-400 (Application
for Naturalization) along
with $675 in application
fees. Next, the regional
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office of U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services
(USCIS) will process the
application and contact
the prospective applicant
with an appointment for
the initial interview. This
part of the process could
take six months to a year.
During the interview, a
local USCIS Officer will
test the applicant’s ability
to read, write, speak and
comprehend the English
language. Most foreign-
born applicants find the
initial phase of the inter
view extremely difficult
due to their limited English
language proficiency.
Applicants are given two
opportunities to success
fully negotiate the process
before they must resubmit
their applications and pay
an additional $675 applica
tion fee. Once the appli
cant successfully passes
the initial phase of the
interview, he or she will be
required to take the U.S.
Citizenship Test consisting
of 10 questions on United
States history and govern
ment. Each applicant must
answer six of 10 questions
correctly to pass. The 10
questions are randomly
drawn from a standard list
of 100 questions published
by the USCIS.
Finally, if the applicant
correctly answers six of
the 10 questions, he or she
will be invited to take the
Oath of Allegiance to the
United States of America
during a ceremony con
ducted by the USCIS.
Immediately following the
ceremony, the applicant
will receive an original copy
of Form N-550 (Certificate
of Naturalization) docu
menting his or her U.S.
Citizenship.
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