Vol. 140
No. 25
24 Pages
2 Sections
rpl WEDi
I h O AUGUS r
Commerce News
Wednesday
AUGUST 10,2016
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Maysville in
red, but has
deep reserves
Maysville ended 2015 in the
red, according to the town’s
recently released audit. But the
city still had a huge amount of
reserves that far exceeded the
state’s recommendations.
Maysville took in $738,000
in 2015 in its General Fund,
but spent $823,000, leaving
$85,000 of red ink.
At the end of the year, the
town had $740,000 in undes
ignated reserves, an amount
equal to 100 percent of its
yearly revenue. The state rec
ommends local governments
keep 15-25 percent in reserves.
The town’s water and
sewer department was also in
the red last year, but by only
$8,900 after SPLOST transfers
into the system.
On an operating basis, the
city’s water and sewer system
lost $108,000.
EPD calls out
city on water
line repair
When it comes to working
around a waterway, it’s best
to call before you dig. Call
the Environmental Protection
Division, that is.
That’s what the city of
Commerce learned recently
when the EPD came out to a
Waterworks Road site where
the city was trying to prevent
a water line from breaking.
“The creek was under
mining an eight-inch water
main,” reported city manag
er James Wascher. “It was
sagging and about ready to
break. We assumed — incor
rectly as it turned out — that
we could go out and shore up
the main under our original
(EPD) permit.”
A night out with
the Commerce
Police
Department
— Page 2A
Benton turns 80
— Page 10A
Among the first at school
Second grader Emily Wilson was one of the first students to arrive at
Commerce Primary School by bus when the 2016-17 school year began Friday
morning. For more photos of the first day of school, see pages 2A and 10B.
City BOE
to drop tax
rate slightly
Saving $27 per $100,000
of assessed property value
Commerce property owners should see their tax bills drop
slightly this fall. The Commerce Board of Education voted to
reduce its tax rate to 19.139 mills, down from 19.85 last year.
Each mill represents $1 of taxes for every $1,000 of assessed
value.
The rate will be finalized at the board’s Sept. 12 meeting
after the school system advertises its five-year tax history. The
change represents a savings of about $27 a year for each
$100,000 in assessed value.
Because of technicalities in Georgia law, the board had to
roll back its property tax rate to avoid having to advertise that it
was raising taxes, even though the system’s net tax digest fell by
about $600,000, superintendent Joy Tolbert explained. The tax
digest increased in the areas of real property personal property
and mobile homes, but the amount of exemptions went up $2
million, creating the net loss.
Had the system kept its tax rate at the 2015 level, it would
have collected less revenue than last year but would have been
considered by the Georgia Department of Revenue to have
raised taxes.
The system will keep its bond rate at three mills. The bond
tax is used along with education local option sales tax revenue
(ELOST) to pay down the system’s 2009 and 2016 (2007 bonds
just refinanced).
The school system’s budget anticipates $90,000 per month
See “EPD” on Page 3A
Contact Us
•News: news@mainstreet-
news.com, call 706-621-7238
Online
Follow us on
Facebook by
liking The
Commerce
News
Closing Benton
First of 2 hearings brings
heated east-west exchange
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
INDEX
Church News 9A
Classified Ads 8-9B
Crime News 6-8A
Obituaries 11A
Opinion 4A
School 1OA
Sports 1-3B
Social News 6-7B
MAILING LABEL BELOW
Despite a plea from Jackson County
School System superintendent April How
ard that a public hearing on a plan to close
and repurpose Benton Elementary School
be “harmonious,” Monday night’s board
of education meeting sometimes took the
tone of middle school bickering.
Several parents verbally attacked board
members and Howard over the issue. At
other times, parents from east and west
argued and shouted at each other.
“They called us names,” said one east-
side parent about west-side parents.
At another point, a west-side parent took
a dig at the emotional tone of BES support
ers.
“We closed West Jackson Primary
School without an emotional outburst,” she
said.
BOE member Lynn Wheeler, who
opposed the closing of BES, was accused
by one west-side parent of supporting the
use of trailers for students on the west side.
When Wheeler tried to say she had never
made that statement, she was drowned out
with chatter by west-side parents.
“I’m not doing this,” Wheeler said as she
sat the microphone down.
Over recent months, Howard had urged
all sides of the debate to focus on the big
ger picture and to not allow the issue to
create an east-west split in the county.
But Monday night, that split was obvious.
“The dissention is disheartening tonight,”
Howard said at the close of the meeting.
Most of those who spoke on both sides
Monday night had been before the board
on previous occasions to debate the matter.
To a large extent, the hearing was just a
repeat of what has been said over the last
Look at zone map
Attendees at the hearing on
closing Benton ElementarySchool
look at a map of the proposed new
school attendance zones.
18 months about the issue.
The Vote
The board recently voted 3-2 to close BES
in order to save around $550,000 a year in
overhead costs and to use those funds for
other education demands. Monday night’s
hearing at East Jackson Middle School and a
second one schedule for next Monday at East
Jackson Comprehensive High School, are
required by the state before BES can officially
be declared shuttered.
Benton has only 267 students and is
geographically close to both South Jackson
and East Jackson elementary schools. BES
See “Benton” on Page 3A
See “BOE” on Page 3A
Council to consider
tapping into reserves
The Commerce City Council will consider approving the
use of $264,000 in reserves — including $100,000 rolled over
from its last fiscal year—when it meets Monday night at 6 at the
Commerce Civic Center.
The council will be asked to amend both its Fiscal Year 2016
and FY 2017 budgets.
State law requires the city to amend its budget at the end of
each fiscal year to reflect variations between the budget and
actual income and expenditures.
For FY 2016, the city had greater-than-expected revenues
in its budgets for the Downtown Development Authority the
Commerce Civic Center, the Electric Fund and the Water Fund
to the tune of about $100,000.
City manager James Wascher recommends that the city
roll that money over into the FY2017 budget, along with about
$154,000 in other reserve funds to pay for health insurance
costs that were well over what was anticipated for the current
fiscal year, a 2.5-percent employee pay raise, part-time mainte
nance help for the Commerce Recreation Department, money
to hire an outside contractor to maintain the Boys and Girls
Club property Spencer Park and the new Smallwood Drive
park, and the funding of an additional code enforcement
officer.
The total funds added to the FY2017 budget will amount to
$264,577.
Other Agenda Items
Other matters on the agenda for consideration by the city
council Monday night include:
•the reappointment of Adam Fouche, Andre Rollins and
Jimbo Stephenson to the Commerce Planning Commission
for four-year terms.
•approval of a beer and wine package sales license to
Manveer LLC, 2595 North Broad Street (the former Presto’s
location).
• approval of street closures for the 39th annual Tigers on the
Town Pep Rally on Thursday Aug. 25, at Spencer Park. Parts
of Little, Oak and Pine streets will be closed during the event.
• changing the date of the council’s September work ses
sion from Monday Sept. 5, to Tuesday Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. due
to the Labor Day holiday. Since the Commerce Room of the
Commerce Civic Center will be occupied by a session of city
court, the meeting will be moved to the Cold Sassy Room in
the civic center.
