Newspaper Page Text
10-A
The Summerville News, Thursday, March 12, 1987
COUNTY OFFICIALS
Budget Confusion
Topic Of Meeting
Confusion over some of the
?roposed 1987 budget figures
or Chattooga County
dominated Wednesday morn
ing's second monthly meeting
of the county’s top officials.
County Comissioner Harry
Powell advertised several pro
rosed departmental budgets in
ast week's edition of The News
and announced a public hear
ing on the figures would be
held at 10 a.m. next We ines
day, March 18.
At this week's county of
ficials' meeting, Powell opened
the session by reading a set of
figures he said “‘we are going to
do our best to operate by dur
ing the current calendar year.
LOST?
The advertisement last
week didn't list proposed ex
genditures for Sle office of
lerk of Court. Powell was
unclear in his answer Wednes
day when asked what had hap
pened to the clerk's budget last
week.
Lann Cordle, clerk of court,
said afterward he had given the
commissioner's office his pro
posed budget and was told that
1t agpar_ently had been misplac
ed by Powell's office prior to
last week's ad being pl)aced in
the newspaper.
“Lann, explain it to him
why I forgot it,” the commis
sioner said. *“We haven't even
found it. We thought they were
in the same bag. We haven't
found it.”" Joking, the commis
sioner said, *'l think he slipped
it out.”
The listing read by the com
missioner included $25,000 for
auditing services for the
county.
AUDIT COSTS
At various times during
Wednesday morning's
breakfast meeting at the M&M
Cafeteria, Sheriff Gary McCon
nell, Cordle and Probate Judge
Jon Payne pointed out that
their indvidual office budget
also listed amounts %or
auditing services.
Commissioner Powell said
the $25,000 was the total
amount proposed to be f)ajd by
the county to auditors for this
year, adding that he has receiv
ed re(flt]lests that the county
open the work to bids.
Payne, McConnell and Cor
dle wanted to know if the
amount for auditing services
was being listed twice in the
overall county budget since it
was listed separately in one
category as well as in their in
dividual office budgets.
The commissioner said the
$25,000 was the total amount
budgeted for auditing, but the
officials never obtained a clear
response to their questions on
that issue.
Sandra Hollifield, financial
consultant for the Georgia
Department of Community %f—
--fairs (DCA), was at Wednes
day's meeting. She also attend
ed the first meeting last month.
David Tidmore, foreman of the
February term Chattooga
Grand Jury, which recom
mended the monthly sessions,
also attended both meetings.
EXPENSES
The commissioner said the
total proposed budget for this
year is estimated at $3,825,923
in expenses. No revenue flgurgs
were listed at Wednesday's
meeting. Commissioner Powell
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236 N. COMMERCE ST. SUMMERVILLE
said it was difficult to estimate
revenue because of the uncer
tainty of tax collection
amounts. He said the county in
January received a check of
$187,000 from the state in
special option sales tax monies
for roads and bridges in
January but later received a
letter from the state saying the
county had been overpaid and
the excess would be withheld
from the county's next check.
The February check was a bit
over $32,000, he said. He
pointed to the state’s action as
indicative of the uncertainty of
revenue forecasts.
Total for the two months,
based on the commissioner's
figures, was $219,000, or an
average of almost SIIO,OOO per
month in sales tax revenue.
However, he had listed on
ly $622,360 as expenditures for
roads and bridges in the 1987
proposed budget read Wednes
day, as well as in last week's
advertisement. ‘‘That is the
money that I have today of
sales tax,” he said, not in
cluding the $32,000 February
check.
ACCURATE?
Asked if the $622,360
figure would be accurate for
the entire year of 1987 since
Chattooga received around
$1.2-million in sales tax
revenue last year, Powell
replied, *“Why, {eck no. You
know it's not because we spent
a hell of a lot of money a pav
ing roads this past fall. .. so
that wouldn't be the total of it
at all.”
Ms. Hollifield said the ques
tioner was asking for the total
estimated amount of sales tax
for 1987.
“I'm telling you the truth
when I tell you it’s impossible
because when they send you a
check for $187,000 and then
hold out $98,000, I'd be afraid
to say,” Powell said. **...l'd
be afraid to say. Something is
wrong but I don’t know wiat
it is. But that if that's all we
were supposed to get we were
certainly let down on the
months that we got over a hun
dred thousand and theyre just
common months like
November, October, so forth.”
STATE LAW
Sheriff McConnell said
state law requires him to sub
mit his budget to the commis
sioner by June 1 each year for
the following calendar year.
That means a little less than 90
days remains before depart
mental budgets for 1988 must
be submitted to Powell, the
sheriff pointed out. Other
department heads indicated
that state law makes similar
demands on their offices.
The commissioner indicated
it was difficult to estimate
revenue and expenditures so
far in advance.
McConnell asked whether
line items within a total depart
ment budget, once approved,
can be modified by the depart
ment head without approval of
the commissioner as long as
the department head remains
within the overall budgeted
amount, and abides by legal re
quirements for receiving bids
on items of less than SI,OOO.
Commissioner Powell in
dicated that such modifica
tions can be made by a depart
ment head as long as he stays
within the total budget for the
Ms. Hollifield said the coun
ty is “‘on the right track’ in
sofar as getting all depart
ments on strict budgets but
that it needs to follow through
on current procedures.
PROPOSAL
The News has learned that
a proposed budget was
EreK/lared for the commissioner
y Ms. Hollifield and Jim Fin
ney of the county's auditing
company. Those figures were
not announced by the commis
sioner Wednesday. Ms.
Hollifield indicated at the
meeting that the commissioner
had modified the original sug
gested budget and :file didn't
have the latest figures. She
recalled at the session that
some $3.2-million in estimated
general revenue was projected
in the pr?osal developed by
her an Finney, and
$4.5-million in total revenue, in
cluding sales tax, was
estimated by that document.
The commissioner had re
guested DCA assistance in
eveloping budgeting
procedures.
Hugh Don Hall, tax com
missioner, estimated that it
takes around a year to collect
about 90 percent of that cur
rent year's projected property
tax revenue. Ms. Hollifield said
most Georgia counties collect
around 85 to 90 percent of the
total digest eacfi year. With
back taxes, collections during
a year usually run a bit more
than 90 percent, Hall indicated.
POWELL'S LIST
The proposed expenditures
listed by Powell at tfie meeting
included the following:
Powell's office, $229,874;
sheriff's department, including
the jail, $943,330: probate
judge, $107,436.92; tax com
missioner and prolperty
assessors, $210,236.58; clerk of
court, $202,159; solid waste,
$210,000; ambulance service,
$391,395; health department.
$116,466; Department of Fami
ly and Children Services,
$32,898; library, $19,800:
registrars, $15,000; auditors.
$25,000; hospital indigent care,
$20,000 (Powell said SIO,OOO
had already been paid to the
hospital this year toward pur
chase of a new X-ray machine);
county agent, $18,000;
forestry, $2,669.50; nutrition
center, $6,000; ASCS office
rent, $2,400; county doctor,
$900; and roads and bridges,
$622,360.
AMBULANCE COST
Anticipated ambulance ser
vice expenses this year appear
to be more than twice as high
as they were before Powell took
over the service from Chat
tooga County Hospital on Jan.
1, 1986. The hospital wanted
“a ballfiark figure” of $13,000
a month (or $156,000 annually)
to operate the service when
Powell took it over, a hospital
spokesman said in April, 1986.
During that month, the com
missioner said in a radio broad
cast it was costing the county
around $21,000 a month (or
$252,000 yearly) to operate the
service at that time. The com
missioner also said in the April,
1986 broadcast that the
$13,000 per month figure re
quested %y the hospital had
been too high.
After some research, The
News has learned that a pro
posed total budget of
$4,533.000, including an
estimated $1,330,000 in sales
tax revenue, was given to
Powell for his consideration
earlier this year. It included
$3,203.000 in general revenue.
REVENUE
Estimated ambulance fees
were $90,000 while beer
revenue was expected to bring
in $195,000. 'l'ge jail was an
ticipated to provide around
$150,000 in revenue from the
housing of out-of-county
prisoners while Payne's office
was expected to produce some
$25,000 in fines and forfeitures
for the county. Taxes on in
surance and licenses were ex
pected to bring in some
$200,000.
Under the expenditures
category, some $40,000 was
listed to go for fire protection
and around $40,000 for recrea
tion. When asked about
whether he plans to provide
any recreation fees to the city
of Summerville for county
residents, the commissioner
said that hadn’'t been decided
as of Wednesday because the
total budget hac(n't been com
pleted in some smaller
categories.
TICKS
If you are a camper,
backpacker or gardener, check
for ticks, especially on the back
of the neci an(l, above the
ankles. Ticks, found on low
hanging shrubs and grass, at
tach themselves to uncovered
portions of the body, say
?Epecialists with the Georgia
xtension Service.
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CITY PLANS TO “CLEAN UP” OLD PUMP STATION
Council Approves Action At Monday Meeting
Final Utility Pact
from front page
records to determine how much
a city resident has overpaid his
utility bills to the city during
the last 10 years. The resident
had been charged higher non
city rates although he lived in
the city and paid city taxes.
The error was caught only
recently. The Council proposed
crediting his future utility bills
with the amount arrived at
during the research.
— Agreed to extend a six
inch water main about 1,000
feet on Alexander Street and
install a fire hydrant.at the re
quest of a resident on the
street. The panel also noted a
problem in tSw area with dogs,
cows, goats and hogs.
— (Gave final approval to a
state-mandated or(l)inance on
new speed limits on several ci
ty streets. First reading of the
measure was held in Fe%ruary.
- Signed maintenance and
utility relocation agreements
relating to the Curran Street
bridge. as required by the
Georgia Department of
Transportation. Letting of a
coniract on the project was
held up by the I)()I)‘ a couple of
weeks ago but McCalmon said
Monday night that the DOT
told him it could award the
$33,246.28 contract to Batir
Construction Co., Adrian,
within the next 60 days.
HIX STREET CLOSING
Decided to close a por
tion of Hix Street as of April
1. but not abandon the road
way. The closing had been re
°
Lawsuit
Continued
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In Court
A $55,500 damage suit fil
ed last year in connection with
a 1985 traffic accident has been
continued to the August term
of Chattooga County Superior
Court.
The case of Billy Joe Kiser
and Shirley Kiser against Lois
Acres Downey of Gadsden,
Ala., was on the February pre
trial calendar, court officials
said, but the Rome law office of
the Gadsden woman's attorney
burned, causing a loss of his
records in the case.
The lawsuit filed by the
husbhand originally asked for
$47,500 in damages but it was
later amended to ask for SB,OOO
for his wife, Shirley, for *‘loss
of consortium.”
It was filed in connection
with a Nov. 28, 1985 accident
on Highway 114 where Kiser
was struck by a vehicle while
walking along the west
shoulder of the roadway.
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FOUR
Brooke Renfroe was 4 years old
March 9. She celebrated with a
McDonald's party on Satur
day, March 7. Her guests were
Sue and Amanda Van Pelt,
Charles, Sandra and Luke Pat
terson, Steve, Kathy and
Blakely Hampton, Donald,
Jennifer and Rachel Sosebee,
Patty Bentley, Colin Crider
and Brooke's grandmother,
Margaret Mann; Bryan Ren
froe, Brooke's brother; and
parents, Foye and Carol Ren
froe. Grandparents are Mr. and
Mrs. Allen Mann and Mr. and
Mrs. Winston Renfroe.
quested by residents of the
area.
— Authorized door-to-door
sales by Southeastern
Publishers for college students
during the summer months,
with each individual solicitor to
be licensed, rather than the
overall company.
— Okayed tl‘;e purchase of
summer uniforms for the police
department at a cost of
$2,107.45 from East Ridge
Men's Shop. Law Enforcement
Equipment Co. submitted a bid
of $2,441.60. Chief Arlen
Thomas said the total is
around S3OO more than the
budget but pointed out that
the Council earlier required
policemen to wear hats, an add
ed cost of $760.45. _
— Was told by City Clerk
Bert Self that the city's voter’s
Big B
Sales Rise
Big B Inc., which has a
store in Summerville, announc
ed this week record sales and
earnings for the fiscal year end
ed Jan. 31.
Sales rose 19.6 percent to
$209,787,000 from
$175,431,000 in the prior year.
Despite loss of investment tax
cre£ts and higher than normal
startup costs from a record 29
new drug stores and one new
home health care center, earn
ings rose to $4,469,000; up 10.6
percent over the prior year.
Earnings for the fourteen
week fourth quarter rose 51.3
percent to $1,742,000 from
$1,151,000 in the prior year.
Sales increased to a record
$62,587,000, up 16.7 percent
from $53,634,000.
Big B Inc. operates a chain
of 163 stores, including 153 Big
B Discount Drug stores
located in Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Mississippi and Ten
nessee; five B-Mart food and
Drug stores located in
Alabama; and five Big B Home
Health Care Centers%ocated in
Alabama and Georgia.
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list will be purged in com
pliance with state law.
— Once again tabled a pro
posed employee benefits revi
sion until eacl; Council member
receives a copy of the measure.
DRAINAGE
— Agreed to ask for a cost
estimate on resolving a water
drainage problem on Bittings
Street, at the request of Mayor
Cash.
— Approved removing 96
natural gas customers at
Menlo ancgi Lyerly from Sum
merville's mandatory fire pro
tection charge list of $4 per
month. Fire protection for
those residents is supplied by
Lyerly and Menlo, NFcCalmon
said. The residents will be
credited for past charges, city
officials indicated. McCalmon
added that the city has receiv
ed only 10 requests from city
utility customers that they not
be charged the mandatory fire
protection fee. Mayor Cash
added that while the Trion Fire
Def)artment may respond to
calls in the Dickeyville and
Pennville areas, it would have
to use City of Summerville
water lines to replenish its
tanker trucks. McCalmon said
no serious problems have
arisen with the subscription or
utility fee fire protection pro
gram implemented by the city
as of Jan. 1 this year.
— Was told that a rough
draft of the city's fiscal year
1986 audit is supposed to be
ready by the Council’s April 13
meeting.
NAMED FIELD
— Named the new Little
League practice field at the
Bolling Road recreation com
plex for the late Kenneth Mit
chell, a former Chattooga High
School baseball coach and
assistant football coach. Mit
chell died last summer.
— Suggested, at
McCalmon's request, that the
Chattooga Chamber of Com
merce be contacted about sup
porting May as ‘‘cleanup
month” in the city. Mayor
Cash pointed out that the city
has an ordinance in effect
designed to deal with abandon
ed property, refuse and similar
nuisances.
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OLD MOTOR, PUMP IN DILAPIDATED BUILDING
Water Station, Oil Mill Road, Summerville
Judge Rules In
Favor Of Couple
A Chattooga County cou‘s)le
has received a favorable judg
ment in a lawsuit they filed last
year against an insurance com
pany in connection with a fire
that destroyed their mobile
home.
Chattooga Superior Court
Judge Joseph “Bo" Loggins
ruled in Favor of James
Stephens Jr. and Emma
Stephens and against (}eurfia
Farm Bureau Mutual In
surance Co.
Judge Loggins heard
evidence in a non-jury trial on
Feb. 13 and handed down his
ruling on Feb. 17. It was filed
in court last Friday. He award
ed $14,552.65 to the couple,
plus interest and costs,
pushing the total amount to
$14,611.65.
The couple said it had a
homeowner's policy that was in
effect on a mobile home from
Jan. 27, 1986 to Jan. 27, 1987.
Last April 27, the original suit
said, the $19,000 mobile home
was destroyed by fire.
As of last Dec. 5, the suit
claimed, the insurance com
pany had paid only SI,OOO on
the loss to the Stephens couple
and none to Southtrust Mobile
Service, which held the mor-
Lga%e on the home.
he couple sought SIB,OOO
for the home's loss, $7,600 for
f)ersonal property, $3.800 on
oss of use of the home and 25
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Dr. John Proctor Dr. David Corriher
percent of the liability of the
company and attorney's fees.
Judge Loggins said cash
value 0% the mobile home was
$19,000, less $18,357.88 paid to
Southtrust for a net amount of
$642.18 to the couple. He also
awarded the couple $7,600 for
the loss of personal property
and $2.800 I)or the loss of use
of the home ($3,800 minus the
SI,OOO already paid), and a
penalty against the company
of $2,760.53, plus attorney's
fees of $750.
Owls Meet
Pigeons
The plastic owls obtained a
couple of weeks ago by Chat
tooga County have been in
stalled on three sides of the
courthouse in an effort to keep
Eigeons from roosting and
efouling the steps with their
droppings.
Tfiey have met with only
limited success so far, said
Marvin Powell, courthouse
custodian. The owls seemed to
help on the north and west
sides but not much on the Com
merce Street side, he indicated.
“Hoot Owl" Powell, as he
has become known to cour
thouse personnel, is hoping for
better results in the coming
weeks.