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Vol. 140 No. 28 24 Pages 2 Sections rpl WEDi 1/16 AUGUSr Commerce News Wednesday AUGUST 31,2016 www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Deadlines advanced for Labor Day Because of Labor Day falling next Monday all deadlines for the Sept. 7 issue of The Commerce News will be advanced. All news announce ments, church items, social news and photo graphs must be submitted by noon on Friday Sept. 2, to assure publication on Sept. 7. All advertising copy including classified ads, must be submitted by noon on Friday Sept. 2, as well. The offices of all Main- Street Newspapers will be closed on Monday Sept. 5, for the Labor Day holiday. As for the newspapers, they will be printed, dis tributed and mailed on the regular schedule. Council meeting set back 1 day Commerce’s mayor and city council — like the rest of the city’s employees (except police) — will take the Labor Day holiday off next Monday Sept. 5. The city council usual ly holds a “work session” (non-voting) meeting on the first Monday night of each month in the Commerce Room of the Commerce Civic Center. To accommodate Labor Day and a visit by coun try music legend Bill Anderson to Commerce, the council will hold its “work session” on Tues day, Sept. 6, at 5 p.m. See “Council” on 3A Contact Us •News: news@mainstreet- news.com, call 706-621-7238 Follow us on Facebook by liking The Commerce News www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com Online INDEX Church News ....01A Classified Ads 8-9B Crime News 6-8A Obituaries 11A Opinion 4A School 5-6B Sports 145 B Social News.9A-12A MAILING LABEL BELOW Tigers romp against Banks Co, Leopards — Page IB Eric Redmon raises funds for B&G club - Page XX Maysville to raise tax rates slightly Net millage rates to be .51 mills on Banks County side, .98 on Jackson County side BY SHARON HOGAN The Maysville City Council plans to hike the town’s tax rates slightly this year for both Jackson and Banks county residents. Public hearings on the proposed millage rates will be held at 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 8. The council will vote on the millage rate in a called meeting at 7:45 a.m. on Friday Sept. 16. The proposed net millage rate for the Banks County side of Maysville for 2016 is 0.53 mills - up from 0.51 mills in 2015. (The 2016 gross mills for Banks County residents is 7.62 mills with a 7.09-mill rollback.) The proposed net millage rate for the Jackson County side of Maysville for 2016 is 0.98 mills - up from 0.69 mills in 2015. (The 2016 gross mill for Jackson County residents is 7.62 mills with a 6.64 mill rollback.) Both the Banks County and Jack- son County tax digests reflect decreas es for 2016. The Banks County digest dropped from $19.4 million in 2015 to $18,899 million for 2016. The Jackson County digest dropped from $20.5 million in 2015 to $20.4 million for 2016. “We are coming through a down economy. Building is picking up. Maybe this will only be for one year,” said council member Charlie How- ington. Other Business In other business: • The council tabled action on bids for an aerator in the pond at the new city park. Two bids were received on the project, but the council had ques tions about each bid. Mayor Richard Presley said he would call the bidders and get additional information before a vote is taken. • Chip McGaughey, Engineering Management Inc., was on hand to discuss the walking trail and how work on drainage would affect the trail construction. The city has received a grant for funding of the walking trail and McGaughey advised the grant could include piping to divert water away from the playground. Barry Lord spoke about a fix for the drainage problem and he said he would send the plans for the project to McGaughey for his consideration. Totally focused Tiger Town Twirler Caroline Conger is all concentration as her squad per forms at the Tigers on the Town pep Rally Thursday night in Spencer Park to kick off the high school athletic season. For more photos, see page 7B. Sales tax receipts gaining on Jackson Co. budget projections Although revenues continue to run behind the budget, the August disbursement from the local option sales tax (LOST) did gain a little ground, according to an email from Jackson County finance director Trey Wood. “We have received our August, 2016 LOST distribution from the Georgia Department of Revenue in the amount of $538,641 for sales made primarily in July 2016,” Wood wrote. “This marks the seventh month’s collections to be included in the FY 2016 budget. “Our budgeted FY 2016 goal for local option sales tax receipts is $5,600,000. The seventh month of LOST revenue for FY 2016 is up $33,757 over the same period last year. Over all, collections are under budget by one per cent or $16,406 through the period.” A month ago, LOST proceeds were $88,000 below budget projections. Meanwhile, the county also got a distribu tion of $897,691 from the Department of Rev enue from the special purpose local option See “Sales tax” on Page 3A Garbage, recycling pickups are pushed back to Tuesday next week Residential garbage and recycling pickup in Commerce will take place on Tuesday next week, thanks to the Labor Day holiday. WastePro will not operate on Monday, which is Labor Day, so Commerce residents should remember to have their garbage and recycling roll-outs at the curb by 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6, for their weekly pickup. IDA approves bonds, abatement deal for Amazon The Jackson County Industrial Development Authority approved a $37 mil lion bond issue for the new Amazon fulfillment center in a called meeting last Friday morning. The company is getting an eight-year schedule of tax abatements that will save it $504,023 in county and fire district taxes over eight years. During that same time, it will pay $210,530 in county and fire district taxes. The abatement schedule starts at a 90-pecent abate ment in the first year, then falls to 85 percent, 75 percent, 65 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent and to 10 percent in the seventh year. On school taxes, the abate ment is 50 percent each year. While it will save a total of $526,651 over the course of the abatement, it will pay a like amount in school taxes. Chamber of commerce president/CEO Jim Shaw said the company will pro vide 700 jobs averaging $30,000 a year, for a $21 mil lion annual payroll. The abatement covers per sonal property. The company is leasing space in a building. “An investment of $37 million in equipment is fairly extraordinary for a business like this,” Shaw told the IDA. “It’s a great project,” remarked IDA chairman Scott Martin. “Hat’s off to Jim Shaw for working to get it here.” Bond attorney Jim Wood ward said the bond validation hearing will be held October or November. The IDA is working on a similar bond issue and abate ment for Williams Sonoma, that is winding down, accord ing to Woodward, who said the bonds on that project have been validated and the closing is expected in the near future. Audit Report Treasurer David Lathem went over the IDA’s audit, which covers both 2014 and 2015. The IDA suffered opera tional losses in both years, largely due to lack of land sales and bond fees. In 2014, it was $224,733 in the red large ly because it took a $186,689 paper loss on land in the Cen tral Jackson Industrial Park it sold for less than it was listed on the books. In 2015, the IDA had an operational loss of $58,073. IDA chairman Scott Martin reminded the IDA that the land sold to the Humane Society was unsuitable for industrial use. The Humane Society plans to use it to build an animal shelter and for a dog park. “That’s the way it works with the IDA,” said Shaw. “If you don’t have bond fees and don’t have land sales, you have no income. The expenses are regular annual expenses, like the IDA con tribution to the Alliance for Economic Development ($30,275) and professional fees. The revenue, when you sell land or have bond fees, comes in lump sums.” The IDAs 2015 expenses included $30,275 to the Alli ance and $7,126 in legal fees. The 2016 audit will show a “profit,” because the IDA had two bond issues, from which it will receive substan tial income — from Amazon and Williams Sonoma. “Overall, it was a very good audit,” Lathem commented, “very clean, no issues.” Bonded Debt As of Dec. 31, 2015, IDA-is- sued industrial revenue bonds outstanding totaled $646.8 million, payable by the companies involved. “Nei ther the authority the county nor any political subdivision thereof, is obligated in any manner for repayment of the bonds,” the auditor noted. On the other hand, Jack- son County is obligated to pay almost $32 million in bonds the IDA issued on behalf of the county to build infrastructure for econom ic development, primarily roads, plus another $9.14 mil lion in bonds issued in 2012, also under a contract with Jackson County. The IDA itself has no debt.