Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 5A
General Assembly reaches midway point
I t is hard to believe we are
almost to the mid-point of
the 2008 General Assembly.
However, we have been very busy
in the Senate and days get away
quickly. We have been taking
up issues of great importance to
Georgians and property taxes are
one of them.
Property tax is a heavy burden
to taxpayers across the state and
it has become the most unfair
way to collect revenue. To remove
the pressure of increasing reas
sessment values, we have had two
resolutions introduced and passed
by unanimous vote this week in
the Senate. They are:
•Senate Resolution 686 proposes
an amendment to the Constitution
to require the freezing of existing
residential real property values
and to provide that residential real
property must be appraised for ad
valorem taxation purposes at their
fair market values as of the date
of the owner’s acquisition.
•SR 796 calls for a change in
the uniformity requirement as it
applies to residential and non-
residential real property. The
assessed value of residential and
non-residential real property for
all ad valorem tax purposes will
not be increased from its 2008
valuation, except in limited cir
cumstances. The 2008 valuation
may be increased in any taxable
year by up to two percent for
residential real property, and up to
three percent for non-residential
real property.
Both are Constitutional
Amendments and they are desig
ned to solve problematic portions
of the Georgia tax code, and to
provide acco
untability of
governments.
Alleviating
the burden
that property
tax places on
Georgians
will put more
money into
the pockets of
the people and
help establish
a uniform
process for tax assessments in
the state. I support both of these
Constitutional Amendments that
have passed through the Senate
and that will suppress increases in
the assessed value of property in
Georgia. The amendments could
be voted on by the people as a
local referendum on the ballot in
November.
Also passing by a unanimous
vote in the Senate this week was
Senate Bill 388. This legislation
will establish an identity theft task
force within the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation. Governor Perdue
included $1 million in his budget
proposal this year to fund the task
force, which will combat identity
theft on several fronts. Identity
theft cost Georgia citizens more
than $25 million in 2006.
I introduced Senate Resolution
827 in the Senate again this year.
It calls for the United States
Congress to withdraw the United
States from the Security and
Prosperity Partnership of North
America and from any other bila
teral or multilateral activity that
seeks the economic merger of
the United States with any other
country.
The resolution passed out of the
Veterans and Homeland Security
Committee this week.
Many other bills and resolutions
have been introduced in both the
Senate and in the House. Nine
bills have been introduced that
have to do with illegal immigra
tion.
The Human Life Amendment,
HR 536, was granted a hearing
on February 18 and on February
20. The hearing took place in a
sub-committee of the Judiciary
Committee. There are at present
67 co-sponsors of HR 536. HR
536 focuses on the right to life
and states that this right to life is
paramount. The amendment sta
tes that the ward “person” in our
State Constitution applies to “all
human beings, irrespective of age,
race, sex, health, function, or con
dition of dependency, including
unborn children at every state
of their biological development,
including fertilization.”
The Human Life Amendment
lays the groundwork for challen
ging Roe vs. Wade.
Remember our troops! If you
would like to send a care package
and would like to find out how,
visit: http://GIAAmerica.org/
donate.htm
Please know it is my privilege
to serve you and the 50th District
at the Capitol. Feel free to call
my office at 404-463-1367 if you
have a question or a need. God
bless you. God bless Georgia.
Senator Nancy Schaefer serves
the 50th District of Georgia which
includes Banks County.
nancy
STICK WITH
THE CLASSIFIEDS
Your 25-Word Classified Ad
Goes Into 4 Newspapers
& On The Internet For Just $10.00
CALL 367-5233
or ONLINE at
mainstreetnews.com
Reaching thousands of children.
Focusing on one overriding goal.
Teaching respect for our environment.
The NEW Waste Management.
Because today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders, we go out of
our way to help them develop a genuine respect for the
environment we all share. That’s why the NEW Waste
Management provides videos, CDs and other teaching tools to
help students of all ages understand how environmental
awareness is at the heart of what we do every day.
We show them how state-of-the-art engineering techniques help
us safely maintain and restore landfills into usable green
spaces. How we use advanced optical sorting technologies to
efficiently recycle plastics and glass. And how we transform
common waste products into uncommonly clean energy that
powers homes and businesses.
We partner with communities all across North America to
educate students about our environment and the steps we are
taking to safeguard it for generations to come. It’s another way
we’re making a difference. One community at a time.
From everyday collection to environmental protection, look to
the NEW Waste Management.
706-677-2650
www.wm.com
Used Books and Audiobooks
Sell & Trade Gently Used Books
Trading begins after grand opening weekend. *
Thousands Of Books
Located near Lenox and Outback, Commerce Crossing
Store Hours:
M - Th 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. • Fri & Sat 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sun 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
All books are priced 50% or more off the price new
706-335-BOOK (2665)
Owners Ronda & Scott Sailors
J
Plan for weed control in lawns
A s each day draws us closer
to spring and summer, the
memories of last year’s
battles with the annual grasses, such
as crabgrass and goosegrass, come
back to haunt us. You work so hard
to get that turfgrass lawn looking
like a solid, green carpet, and then
the crabgrass weeds begin popping
up looking like large carpet stains.
Well, now is the time to start
planning your strategy to kill the
crabgrass before it shows up in your
lawn.
You can do this with pre-emer
gence herbicides. Pre-emergence
herbicides work by applying them
as a granular product to your lawn
before the grass seeds germinate.
When the seeds germinate, the
young roots absorb the herbicide
which stops the plant cells from
growing, and the plants, trying to
emerge from the seeds, die.
The proper timing for applying
pre-emergence herbicides is very
important. Poor control of annual
grasses can be due to applying the
herbicide too late or it may be due
to the lack of rainfall or irrigation
to activate the herbicide before the
seeds germinate. Knowing how
early to apply a pre-emergent is
also important. You must first know
the grass weed species you want to
control. Then you can determine
the soil temperature at which the
seeds will germinate and apply the
pre-emergent before the soil reaches
that temperature. Crabgrass seeds
germinate at
55 degrees
F, whereas
Goosegrass, or
Crowfoot grass,
and Barnyard
grass germinate
at 60 degrees.
A rule of thumb
that some hom
eowners go by
is to apply the
pre-emergent
when the dogwoods are blooming.
All preemergence herbicides flow
through the upper portion of the
soil so as to affect the weed seeds.
If these herbicides are not washed
into the soil, they decompose by
the ultraviolet rays from the sun or
they dissipate into the air. However,
the length of time a herbicide can
remain on top of the soil surface
before moving into the soil to pro
vide weed control depends on the
type of herbicide applied.
The preemergence herbicides
used on turfgrass are mainly in the
dinitroaniline and triazine classes.
The dinitroanilines are applied to
the soil surface and are the type of
herbicide that needs to be watered in
soon after application. These herbi
cides affect the roots of germinating
seeds by shutting down the root cell
growth. Some of the product names
of this class of herbicide are Balan,
Surflan, Prowl, XL, Curbit, Team,
and several others.
The class of preemergence herbi-
cides called triazines affect the weed
seeds differently. The roots absorb
them as nutrients are taken in, and
the chemical translocates throughout
the seedling plant. The chemical
then stops the photosynthesis process
and the plant dies. Some of the prod
ucts containing triazines are Aatrex,
Bladex, Caparol, Princep, and others.
These are the main preemergence
herbicides that you will commonly
find at the local garden supply store
if you plan to get a head start on
controlling the weeds in your lawn.
The local lawn and garden supply
stores have already begun to stock
their shelves with certain pre-emer-
gent herbicides.
Products that perform well on the
annual grasses contain the active
ingredients, benefin, dithiopyr, or
trifluralin. Some of the companies
that manufacture these herbicides
to be sold at the local stores are,
Pennington, Scotts, Hi-Yield, and
StaGreen.
Be sure to read the label directions
or ask for help before you make
your purchase so that you will get
the proper herbicide for the specific
weeds you want to control.
If you’re not sure which one
you need or you would like more
information, give us a call at
706-677-6230, or come by the exten
sion office and pick up a bulletin on
pre-emergence herbicides.
Bob Waldorf is the Banks County
extension agent.
Thoughts on Banks comprehensive plan
Dear Editor:
Upon walking out of the courthouse
after the public hearing on the new
Banks County Comprehensive Plan,
I felt confused. I had planned to
discuss the specifics of the proposed
plan which I had printed off the
Banks County website and previously
studied. I felt as if I had gone to the
store to buy a loaf of bread and when
I walked out I realized that I had not
bought any bread, but instead had
somehow been sold a “Veg-o-matic.”
Instead of discussing the actual
comprehensive plan, it seems that I
was a victim of a classic ‘bait-and-
switch’ scam. We were given a new
stack of papers at the meeting which
were used as the basis for discussion.
This data had little or no substance,
in my opinion, just a few general
ized topics and some pictures. The
presentation also had no specifics
or substance and did not address the
specific goals and assumptions of the
actual proposed comprehensive plan.
Some good questions were asked
by Elaine Gerke about the ongoing
process. I asked why sustainability
was not addressed. The BOC voted
to accept the plan without discus
sion.
I have the following comments
regarding the comprehensive plan
which was not discussed substan
tively by the board or the private
contractor, MACTEC, making the
presentation:
(Chapter 2) Identification of
Potential issues and Opportunities:
Opportunities -We need to add:
Sustainability - All new devel
opment must be sustainable. This
means that water supply and sewage
disposal should be provided on site
(or at a nearby remote site if not
otherwise possible) by and at the sole
expense of the property owner. Site
coverage should not have an exces
sive impervious surface coverage in
order to minimize surface water run
off and maintain an adequate supply
of ground water. Natural areas of
trees and vegetation should be main
tained to counteract the effects of
global climate change brought on by
development and provide an adequate
watershed to supply the water for that
development and process the effluent
from it. In addition, retroactive anal
ysis of existing development needs to
be retrofitted to meet this criterion as
much as is reasonably possible.
Economic Development
Issues -Some comments:
Lagging wages in the county- As
pointed out in this document, Banks
County has a large population of
retired persons affecting this figure.
Also many people living in the coun
ty work outside the county. Because
we have much lower taxes we don’t
have the same cost of living as coun
ties packed with development which
have very high taxes.
Tax base reliance on residential-
Increasing commercial and indus
trial development will only increase
residential needs. As in every other
county that has done this, the tax
burden on residential will go up.
Agricultural use is the only use that
keeps taxes low and does not spur
residential development which is dis
advantageous to our tax rates. (Cows
and trees don’t need county services
like people and businesses do.) Only
sustainable, self reliant residential
development makes any economic
sense.
Need for new industry- As noted
previously, this increases taxes and
decreases quality of life unless done
sustainably.
Holding on to young residents-
There is no lack of employment
beyond the state average in Banks
County and there are job opportuni
ties in and near the county. This is
just a smokescreen for more quick and
costly (to the taxpayer) development.
Smart, slow, sustainable growth will
provide good work for all.
Limited sewer slows economic
development- Public sewer systems
are the most costly of any infrastruc
ture item, both in initial costs and
maintenance. This will increase the
tax burden on all - especially agricul
ture. A septic system on site requires
more land and initial investment by
the developer but does not cost the
taxpayers. It also does not transfer
water from the local watershed but
recycles it, processing the effluent
by natural means - for free. It also
does not require massive expendi
ture of public funds and engineering
fees. Economic development may be
slowed but this will ultimately draw
quality ‘green’ businesses and other
development to Banks County. A
slower controlled growth is what we
really need - along with maintaining
a low tax base and great rural envi
ronment.
It appears to me that the initial
proposed comprehensive plan is the
same tired old myopic format that has
been around for decades. It brought
us Gwinnett County and many other
debacles. We need to plan for the
future; not fall into the pitfalls of the
past. We are facing global climate
change, water shortages and huge
government debts resulting from our
past failures. It is time for a new
approach that will not destroy the
beauty of our county and put us in the
poorhouse.
We need a plan that will maintain
and enhance our county and our qual
ity of life. We need a plan that pro
vides for slow controlled growth and
emphasizes fiscal and environmental
responsibilities for us and future gen
erations. The proposed plan does not
address this. I urge our leaders and
planners to reconsider these basic
premises and lead us into a different
future.
I have more comments on the rest
of the proposed comprehensive plan.
Sincerely,
Larry Hess
Hollingsworth Community
ATTENTION!
HAVE YOU GOT CREDIT CONCERNS?
Do you need a 2nd chance with your vehicle financing?
Do you need dependable transportation?
LET YOUR JOB HISTORY AND YOUR
DOWN PAYMENT BE YOUR CREDIT!
CALL 866-636-4881
High % of approvals
''Mayne~ l\ieal
Chevmiei
Hwy. 441 in Commerce
706-335-3196 • 800-798-7435
www.wayneneal.com
SERVICE HOURS:
M-F 7:30-6:00 • Sat. 8:00-4:00