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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