Newspaper Page Text
Uhe Summerville News
ADOPTS ‘DEFICIT° BUDGET
Trion Lowers Tax Rate
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
A deficit budget that may
end up without a deficit has
been ap&roved by the Town of
Trion's Mayor and Town Coun
cil. The town has also lowered
propert{ taxes dramatically,
primarily because of sales tax
revenues for its schools.
The Council last Thursday
ni%ht gave its okay to a
1986-87 fiscal year budget that
calls for $201,176 more in ex
penditures and $195,709 more
In revenues than last year.
The new budget projects
$3,487,069 in revenues, com
pared to $3,291,360 last year —
and $3,536,477 in expenses,
compared to $3,335,301 in the
1985-86 fiscal year. It official
ly provides for a deficit of
$49,408, compared to a deficit
figure of $43,941 in the 1985-86
budget.
'lghe deficit, however, in
volves the town's gas depart
ment and the Council okayed a
rate increase of 25 cents per
thousand cubic feet of natural
gas effective Aug. 1. That in
crease is expected to bring in
an additional $60,000-é)lus in
revenues, which would erase
most or all of the department’s
projected $61,427 deficit —
cause of the expected overall
budget deficit. The 1985-86
budget was not officially
Booster
Meeti
eeting
The Chattooga Countf'
High Band Boosters will
meet at 7:30 p.m. next
Tuesday at the band room.
All band parents of
students in grades 7-12 are
invited. 5
A new president will be
elected.
BAKER SPEAKS
Sesquicentennial
Commission Meets
The Chattooga County Ses
quicentennial Commission last
Friday evening reviewed a ten
tative schedule for activities in
1988.
Presented by Commission
member Pam Echols, they in
cluded a tour of homes April
15, 16 and 17. A historical
pageant is set for Aug. 12 and
13 that year, along with selec
tion of a Sesquicentennial
Queen and her court. The
pageant would be held at the
Chattooga High football field.
An agricultural fair is
slated for Sept. 28 through
Oct. 2, to be kicked off Sept. 28
with a singing convention. A
bakeoff is also planned for
Sept. 29, 1988.
Events will climax that
weekend with a parade, beard
and costume contest, music
and fireworks Sept. 30, a Sum-
Nelly and school reunions Oct.
1 and church homecomings
Oct. 2, according to the ten
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Discuss Sesquicentennial Schedule
Officials of the Chattooga County Ses
uicentennial Commission are shown
3iscussing the tentative schedule of
changed to reflect the new gas
rgte. Currently, tfhe tß(>wn
charges an average of $4.48 per
thousand cubicafi:et of gas.
TAXES LOWERED
The Council also lowered its
roperty tax rate from 11 mills
51 mill is $1 tax per SI,OOO of
taxable prorerty) to 5.75 mills
—a dr&y of 5.25 mills. Mayor
J.C. Woods attributed the
decrease to an estimated
$254,190 in sales tax revenue
the town hopes to receive dur
ing the next 12 months. That
revenue is equivalent to about
6.5 mills in town taxes, the
mayor said.
Under a formula approved
last year by county voters, the
Chattooga County School
System will this year receive
72.84 percent of revenue deriv
ed from the special on(;f)ercent
countywide school sales tax
while Trion will get 27.16 per
cent of the total.
Under the 1986-87 budget,
Mayor Woods said Trion
schools will receive the same
amount as last year —
$376,294. The school portion of
the revenue is included within
the overall town budget, he
explained.
The new budget shows a
surplus of $1,074 for the
general fund, a $61,427 deficit
or the gas department (which
the town expects to be erased
by the gas rate hike); the sewer
department shows a surplus of
SIOO and the recreationrgepart
ment shows a surplus of
$10,845.
Last year’s budget showed
a surplus of $97 in the general
fund, a $51,363 deficit in the
gas department, a $4 surplus in
the sewer department and a
surplus of $1,453 in the recrea
tion department.
GENERAL FUND
By department, the 1686-87
budget calls for revenues of
$976,450 and expenses of
$975,376 in the general fund,
compared to_ income of
$906,234 and outgo of
$906,137 budgeted last year.
Although the actua{ gas
| tative schedule.
{ Historian Robert Baker,
| who is continuing to research
| for a history of the county, ad
| dressed Commission members.
He will have to get his
manuscript to the gublisher by
| July, 1987 an the book is sup-
Eosed to be off the presses
efore Christmas of next year,
| he said.
i He had planned to end the
| book in 1950 but the publisher
’ insisted he update it to 1986,
1‘ Baker said, a move which add
| ed “‘36 more years work’ to his
task. He has been researching
the book for the last six years.
The research has included
100 fyears of newspa’Fer
microfilm provided by The
Summerville News, Baker said,
and he is now up to 1963 in his
study of the papers. He picked
up an additional stack of old
newspapers at The News last
Friday that had not been
microfilmed, Baker said.
events for the year with historian Robert
Baker (center). The%' are Edgthe McGin
nis (left) and Pam Echols. (Staff Photo).
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the
It appears that the price of
the 1,000-page book may be
around $27.50, although that
firice is not firm. And he will
ave to sell 700 copies just to
pay the publisher, he explain
ed. The tentative title is *‘Chat
tooga: The Story of a Count
and Its People,” he indicate({
Commission Chairman
David Jones said timing is
crucial in the panel's work, ad
ding that the panel didn’t want
people “clobgered to death”
with sesguicentenm’al reports a
year and one-half before the
events.
Bill Gilbert reviewed the
logo and slogan for the ses
-3;licentennial. The logo was
awn by Linda Espy and the
slogan, “‘Chattooga — A Pro
ud Heritage, A Progressive
Future,” was developed by
Faye Gilreath.
The next meeting of the
Commission was set for 6:30
p.m. Friday, Oct. 24.
Thursday, July 31, 1986
area’s cities, a situation he said
the emplog'ees don't alwa'ys
understand. He apologized for
his resEonse Thursday night,
saying he had been *‘surprised”
by the question.
EQUIPMENT
Meanwhile, the Council
agreed to obtain bids on a
variety of equipment for town
de{:artments. including a new
police car to cost an estimated
$11,500, truck for the gas
department, a Bobcat frontend
loader for the sewer depart
ment and a new tractor,
mower, dump truck and leaf
vacuum motor for the
maintenance department. The
maintenance equipment costs
— an estimated $39,675 —
won't come out of the town
budget, the mayor said, but
out of a town capital expen
ditures account. 'Fhe account
will still have around SIOO,OOO
left after the maintenance
department expenditures, he
said.
Bids also are to be obtain
ed for repairs to the town's ten
nis court and swimming pool.
The pool repair is estimated at
$33,000.
Referring to the gas depart
ment's anticipated deficit dur
ing the meeting, Mayor Woods
:ek S ‘; A i
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HEALTH EDUCATOR PHILLIP BENSON
Speaking To Optimist Club Members
SAYS BENSON
Teen Pregnancy
Up In County
Teen-agers in Chattooga
County had 62 babies in 1969,
the Summerville-Trion Noon
Optimist Club was told last
week. But in 1984, teen girls in
the county were responsible for
92 of the reported pregnancies,
including 65 live births and 37
abortions.
The speaker was Phillip
Benson, public health educator
for Chattooga County. He
resides in Dalton and serves
the area out of Ringgold.
Georgia has tge fifth
highest teen pregnancy rate in
the nation, the Optimists were
told. One of every 10 girls
under 20 will become pregnant
in the state this year, Benson
said.
Of every 1,000 live births in
1984 in the United States, Ben
son said, 96 were to girls 11 to
19. This compares to a rate of
34 in Canada and 14 to 25 in
such nations as Sweden and
Finland, he said.
SUICIDE
Health statistics about
teen-age girls who become
?r'einan.t at 15 or younger are
r}% tening, Benson related. A
girl who becomes pregnant at
15 is six times more flely to
die in childbirth than a 20-year
old, he said, and 10 times more
likely to commit suicide. She
also faces a more likely
possibility of malnutrition and
miscarriage, Benson continued,
and usually must end her
education.
Infants born to young
mothers are more likely to have
' YXY |
said the town's engineers had
recommended an increase of at
least 20 cents per thousand
cubic feet to bring in around
$60,000 more. All councilmen
except Hoyt Williams voted
for the measure to raise the
rate 25 cents. In the past,
Mayor Woods said, the town
has been passing along to town
residents only the wholesale
price increases and none for
overhead in the town depart
ment. Williams said the town
had also received refunds of up
to $90,000 per year from the
Southern Natural Gas Co. in
the past. “‘That's what's kept
us swimming,” Woods replied.
Without a rate hike, the mayor
indicated, property taxes
might have to be raised.
GAS “PROFIT”
He explained that the gas
department showed an actual
‘‘profit” of $3,573 before
transfers out to two other
departments. Revenues were
anticigated at $1,537,750 while
actual department expen
ditures were listed at
$1,534,177. However, $30,000
will be transferred to the
recreation department and
$35,000 will be transferred to
the general fund, the mayor
see TRION LOWERS, page 10-B
low birth weight, to be
gremature and to suffer from
irth defects than babies born
to women 20 or older, he said.
Children born to teen or pre
teen girls are more likely to be
abused due to the immaturity
of the mothers and lack of
parenting skills and to live in
poverty, Benson told the Op
timist Club members.
The State Health Depart
ment, which also works
through the Chattooga County
Healti Department, has had a
teen maternity program for the
last four or five years, he said,
but too few teens are aware of
it. Among other things, it pro
vides for pre-pregnancy testing
and visits to physicians once a
month during the first seven
months of pregnancy and
visits weekly during the final
two months, Benson said. The
Women, Infants and Children
(WIC) program also offers
vouchers for food for expectant
mothers and their chil(mecn. he
continued.
The 10-county Rome health
district is spending sl-million
a year in services to teens, not
counting other programs, the
speaker said.
ASSERTIVENESS
Benson said the health
department offers to schools,
churches and other groups an
assertiveness training program
for teens to teach them to “‘say
no.” It also has positive
residual effects in the area of
drinking and driving, ‘date
see PREGNANCY, page 10-B
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P e “‘f‘ - § i " L
Two Injured In One-Car Accident
Two teen-agers were injured in a one-car
accident on Lyerly Highway around 6
p.m. last Thursday, July 24, according to
Georgia State Patrol Trooper Mike King.
Taken to Chattooga County Hospital and
Floyd Medical Center and later dismiss
ed were John T. Adams, 15, and Joseph
NEW X-RAY EQUIPMENT BOUGHT
Hospital Okays
Revised Budget
The Chattooga County
Hospital Authority Monday
night adopted a revised budget
for 1986-87 calling for revenues
of $2,895,960 ancF operating ex
genses of $2,388,502 for the
ospital and Oak View Nursing
Home.
The new budget was
adopted after the panel in June
failed to raise hospital room
rates by five percent as propos
ed by Hospital Executive
Director Betty Wollstein. At
that time, the panel adopted
what a%peared to be a deficit
budget but Mrs. Wollstein said
Monday night that the
previouslii adopted document
did not show a deficit.
DEBT SERVICE
In addition to operating ex
penses, the budget adopted
Monday night indicates debt
service costs and capital expen
ditures of an additional
$98,640. With those costs in
cluded, the hospital's projected
surplus for the coming year
amounts to $45,138 budget
figures indicate.
The revised budget com
pares to estimated gross
revenues of $2,677,070 in
1985-86 and projected ex-
Eenses of $2,226,848. The
ozpital’s capital expenditures
and debt service for last year
were estimated to total
$43,290, giving the hospital a
projected surplus of $67,608 at
the end of June.
Mrs. Wollstein at the last
meeting indicated to The News
that hospital inpatient revenue
would drop from a projected
$1,241,682 back down to the
1985-86 figure of $1,144,871
without the room rate increase.
However, she said Monday
night the revised budget shows
inpatient revenue droppin
down to $1,211,583. She saig
increases remain ‘‘built in”’ in
other departments of the
hospital and that the only
decrease in revenue resulted
from failure of the Authority to
approve room rate increases
from $136 for a semi-private
room to $142 daily and from
$l4O to $147 daily for a private
room. That loss of revenue ap
pears to amount to $30,099.
So instead of a deficit for
1986-87 of $21,574, the
hospital should show a surplus
of $45,138 providing there are
no expensive ettxipment or
maintenance problems, Mrs.
Wollstein said.
Meanwhile the hospital's
financial statement for tfie last
12 months ending June 30, in
dicates that the%mospital and
Oak View Nursing Home
recorded a surplus of $103,723,
somewhat under the an
ticipated budget surplus of
$110,898.
C%pital exgenditures —
$49,767 — and debt service
amounted to $106,213 during
the last 12 months, the state
ment showed. A total of
$43,290 had been antic(irated
in the budget adopted last
year.
NO DEFICIT
So rather than an expected
budget surplus of $67,608 at
the end of the fiscal year, the
financial statement indicates
that the h(fif)ital and nursing
home actually ended the year
Richard Adams, 13, Lyerly. The vehicle
was traveling north on Lyerly Highway
near Chattooga High Schocl when it went
out of control on a rain-slickened roadway,
crossed the centerline and into this utifi
ty pole. (Staff photo by Tommy Toles).
$2,490 in the red, includin%
debt service and capita
expenses.
The statement also in
dicates that the hospital spent
$52,935 for ind;fent care dur
ing the last fiscal year and that
itiad bad debts of $196,239.
The Authority asked
AuthoritK attorney Carlton
Nines, who attended the ses
sfon, to get with Mrs. Wellstein
and Asst. Administrator
Shirley McCrickard and obtain
an exact breakdown of indigent
care bills and costs. Vines was
asked to then contact Chat
tooga County Commissioner
August Grand
Jury Convenes
The August term Chat
tooga County Grand Jury will
convene at 9 a.m. Monday in
the courtroom of the cour
thouse, Summerville.
Prospective jurors drawn
for the term include the
following:
Joe Gaffney, 33 Park Ave.,
Trion; Jerry C. Johnson, Route
1, Box 287-B, Summerville;
James Lamar Logan, Route 1,
Trion; David Gwinn Snow, 407
E. Washington St., Summer
ville; Mrs. Bob House, Route 1,
Box 449, Lyerly; Grady
Winters, Route 2, Lyerly; Joan
Prescott Whaley, Box 486,
Summerville; Myrtis E. Bolds,
Menlo; and ]{lizabeth S.
Everett, Route 4, Summerville.
Joey H. Harris, P. O. Box
691, Trion; Russell R. Jenn
ings, 258 Tavern Lane, Trion;
Max R. Baldwin, 1 Dairy Rd.,
Trion; Gregory F. Harrison,
Route 2, Box 49, Summerville;
Jo Wyrick Walker, Summer
ville; Mrs. Carl W. Nix, Tate
Road, Trion; Ronald B.
e
9,275 Registered
For Aug. 12 Vote
A total of 9,275 Chattooga Countians is registered to
vote in the Au%. 12 general primary, according to the Chat
tooga Board of Registrars. That figure compares to 9,231
registered in 1984.
The totals for 1984 and 1986 by precinct follow:
PRECINCT 1984 1986
Alpine 581 582
Cloudland 210 204
Coldwater 179 169
Dirtseller 98 99
Dirttown 379 395
Haywood 65 58 (v
Lyerly 577 B§7l o
Pennville 419 430 . ..
Seminole 95 89 e
Subligna 155 164 i
Summerville 4,191 4201
Teloga 265 258 :
Trion 2,027 2,049
Totals: 9,231 9275
Harry Powell to explain the
hospital's financial situation
and indigent care costs and
seek assistance from the
county.
After a discussion of the
merits of two types of X-ray
equipment and possible finan
cing methods, the Authority
voted unanimously to buy new
General Electric *-ray equTlg
Eent a:l a:?ii.lt of 3}2346(:1_00.
b sock fimanih
from the Georgia Hospifi
Association.
Dr. Herman Spivey, Sum
merville, said the point had
see HOSPITAL, page 10-B
Williams, Route 1, Box 205,
Summerville; Kimberly Lynn
White, Route 1, Box 304,
Trion; Jimmy Ray Pinion,
Route 2, Summemli" e; Michael
Blalock, Box 36, Trion; Pamela
K. Heflvood, Route 1, Box
271-A, Menlo; and Patsy Croy
Hall, Box 21, Trion.
Sylvia Brooks Hall, Route
2, Lyerly; Michael Herman
Howell, Route 1, Menlo;
Hubert A. Pruitt, Cloudland;
Mrs. Hester Hurtt, Menlo;
Shirley W. McCrickard, Route
1, Menlo; A. B. Day, Menlo;
Ricky Thomas Jones, Route 4,
Box 51, Summerville; Patricia
Ann Jackson, Box 174, Lyerly;
and Mrs. Robert L. Hend};'ix, 7
N. Congress Street, Summer
ville.
Jennie Lou B. Chamlee, 110
Tate Road, Trion; Ruth Col
lette, 18 Sunset Lane, Trion;
James Lynn Hall, Route 1,
Menlo; Betty Cook, Route 2,
Box 188, Lyerly; Gail L. Rush,
Route 1, Summerville; and Iva
Nell Reece, Menlo.
5.
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