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PACE 2A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2008 Millage hike possible in Baldwin WILLIAMS TALKS ABOUT CITY OF BALDWIN WEBSITE Celena Williams (standing), c7marketing.com, talked to Baldwin City Council members at Thursday’s (Oct. 9) work session about a new city website. Also shown (L to R) are: council member Robert Bohannon, Mayor Mike Kelley, council members Rodney King and Ray Holcomb and city clerk Brandy Kyle. Photo by Sharon Hogan BY SHARON HOGAN Baldwin leaders discussed a possible millage rate increase at Monday's meeting but took no action. Baldwin Finance Director Betty Harper said the current 8 mills in property tax “should co ver" what the city has budgeted. She added that the current mi llage rate would give the town approximately $12,000 over its budgeted expenditures. “If the millage rate is raised to 8.25 mills, this would put the city at $28,000 over expenditu res,” Harper said. Harper said she recommen ded putting the extra money that would be generated by the raise in the millage rate into a capital fund for unexpected purchases that do come up. Harper said she wants to have a meeting with the budget/finan ce committee to look at numbers before a decision is made in the millage rate. No date was given for the meeting. “We will need to have three public hearings, one in the mor ning, one in the evening and one anytime,” Harper said, if the council decides to raise the mi llage rate. Baldwin City Attorney David Syfan said, “You have to run a legal ad a week before the hea rings and the hearings have to be done a week before you change the millage rate.” Baldwin City Council mem bers did receive a bit of good news at the work session on Thursday, Oct. 9. Harper said both the Habersham and Banks County tax digests are up this year. “This is unexpected news,” Harper said. OTHER BUSINESS In other business: •Celena Williams, c7marke- ting.com, presented information to the council for a new City of Baldwin website. Williams said the cost to the city would be a one-time fee of $3,100 to build the website, plus $24.99 per month for the hosting fee and $19.99 annual registration fee. Williams said the proposed site would serve the community and open up a line of commu nication. Williams said the city could sell advertising on the site to help offset the cost. “The site would be fully editable, you wouldn’t have to have a person with web training to edit the site,” Williams said. Harper said, “We have the cityofbaldwin.com now, but it doesn’t have interac tion with the public.” •Baldwin resident Andrea Harper questioned the council about the comprehensive plan that is due in October 2009. “I wonder what’s happening and can concerned citizens be of any help?” Harper asked. Ma yor Mike Kelley said, “I am very much interested in getting help from concerned citizens. I hope the council would like to do the same thing.” Syfan said, “You can have a group as an advisory council.” The problem with the concerned citizens is the Department of Communi ty Affairs wants you to have a professional planner to meet the regulatory requirements of what does into the plan,” Syfan said. Syfan added, “Part of the up date is the future land use map and I’d like to have a say in the direction of the city’s land use map.” Syfan told the council they would need to look at the charter and decide what type of form the advisory committee should take. Some councils let each member appoint somebody to serve on the advisory council. “It’s in your discretion,” Syfan said. Council members Beverly Holcomb volunteered to serve as the council’s liaison with the citizens’ advisory council. •A. Harper asked the council to take action against the ow ners of a vacant lot next door to her property. Harper said the lot looks bad and that a crew cleared the brush off the neighboring lot and piled it in the drainage ditch. The lot is owned by a Church of God of Prophecy in Lizella, Harper added. They can’t build on the lot and they didn’t put up any silt fence, Harper said. Shawn Rhoades, Baldwin’s Code Enforcement Officer, has an address and phone number for the owners, Harper added. •the council held the second reading of the Police Powers II ordinance allowing the police department to exercise public powers for shoplifting and cri minal trespass offenses. •council member Ray Hol comb said the city has a pro blem with the way the current business license ordinance is written and the way the form is drawn up. Holcomb said the city has some people operating se veral different businesses under one business license in the city. Syfan said he would look at a way to clarify the ordinance. •council member Robert Bo hannon asked about the status of the annexation of Anderson Village. Syfan said, “We are in talks with Anderson Village and Mr. Anderson is indicating that he does intend to annex into the city at some point in time.” An derson has been asked to give the city a formal answer at the end of the month, Syfan added. •Bohannon asked about the status of the easement acquisi tions for the Park Avenue water line project. B. Harper said, “We still have a few more (easements) to obtain. It is going well for the most part.” •the council met in closed ses sion for approximately one hour to discuss personnel and real es tate. No action was taken. Identity theft topic for chamber of commerce meeting Baldwin chief warns of scam BY SHARON HOGAN Identity theft, America’s fastest growing white-col lar crime, was the topic at the monthly Banks County Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Thursday. Jerry Boling, Total Infor mation Protection Group, said identity theft is being referred to as the “common epidemic.” Boling said the five most common types of identity theft are: driver’s license, so cial security, medical, char acter/criminal and financial. There were over two mil lion cases of identity theft reported from Jan. 10, 2005, through 2007, Boling said. Boling said employers are being held liable for identity theft that occurs in the work place. Boling said every small business, including non profits, are affected by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). FACTA requires every DISCUSSES IDENTITY THEFT Jerry Boling, Total Information Protection Group, discussed identity theft with members of the Banks County Chamber of Commerce at Thursday’s break fast meeting. Boling said identity theft is being re ferred to as the “common epidemic.” Photo by Sharon Hogan small business to develop and implement a written plan for identity theft protection. New FACTA guidelines were implemented as of Jan. 1, 2008, and small business Food bank hours given The hours of operation of the Banks-Jackson Emergency Food Bank, located at 111 Atlanta Avenue, Commerce, are from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The food bank provides one-time emergency food supplies for individuals and families referred by churches or social ser vice groups. have until Nov. 1, 2008, to comply with these new guidelines, Boling said. One of the new guidelines says that credit card receipts that contain all 16 digits of a (F person’s credit card number and the expiration date must be stored off-site from the business. Boling urged the chamber members to check out the www.privacyrights.org web site for additional informa tion. Seth Hendricks, American One, said a large number of identity theft cases come from people illegally obtain ing credit card information in restaurants. Hendricks said if a con sumer gets a credit card re ceipt that shows all 16 digits of the credit card number, they should bring this to the attention of the business. Hendricks also brought up the new guidelines for stor age of credit card receipts. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at Thurs day’s meeting: •Tara Fulcher, chamber di rector, announced the ribbon cutting for Christian Book Store and Coffee House, Banks Crossing, set for Fri day, Oct. 17. •Greg Pitts, manager, and Susan Yearwood, market ing, Georgia Department of Tabor, Toccoa, presented in formation packets and said they are available to help all the businesses in Banks County who may need their services. •Fulcher announced the Christmas event being planned for downtown Hom er. Fulcher said plans are to have a Christmas bazaar, tree decorating contest, tree lighting at the courthouse and a Christmas parade. The next regularly sched uled chamber breakfast will be held at 8 a.m. on Thurs day, Nov. 13, in the meeting room at First Georgia Bank, Homer. BY SHARON HOGAN Baldwin Police Chief Dar en Osborn warns residents about a phone scam solicit ing money for the Baldwin Deputies Association. Osborn said calls are be ing made trying to solicit money for the BDA. “There is no BDA,” Os born said. No chief’s de partment or sheriff’s depart ment solicits money over the phone, Osborn added. Read,then recycle! www.braseitontile.com Quality Tile • Design • Installation “SAVINGS TO THE PUBLIC” 706-654-0819 W&W METAL ROOFING ITT*- 30 Year ^ Paint ^ “We Got You Covered” Residential • Commercial • Agricultural • Ship Anywhere In The USA • We Stock Your Metal Needs • Visit Our Showroom www.metalroofmg.com IU 706-654-5836 Hwy. 60 / Candler Hwy. • Pendergrass, Ga. Warranty Sales Service Installation Nations #1 Gold Party A host last week received $8,000. 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Section 48-5-32, does hereby publish the following presentation of the current year’s tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years. Current 2008 Year Tax Digest and 5-Year History of Levy 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Real & Personal 2,069,289 2.160,908 2.465,726 2.909,862 3,052,174 3.140,234 Motor Vehicles 208.830 220.540 257.650 226.940 191.360 177.060 Mobile Homes 162,796 159,344 158,288 149,357 159,564 159,564 Timber - 100% 0 0 0 0 0 0 Heavy Duty Equipment 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gross Digest 2,440,915 2.540,792 2.881,664 3.286,159 3,403,098 3.476,858 Less M & O Exempt 0 0 0 0 0 0 Net M & O Digest 2,440,915 2.540,792 2.881,664 3.286,159 3,403,098 3.476,858 Gross M & O Millage 5.900 5.900 5.900 5.900 5.900 6.200 Less Rollbacks 5.900 5.900 5.900 5.900 5.900 6.200 Net M & O Millage 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total City Taxes Levied 0 0 0 0 0 0 Net Taxes $ Increases $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Net Taxes % Increases 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%