About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2017)
PAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2017 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-410-1022 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com Op unon “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe. ” — Thomas Jefferson It's time to show some common sense on tax breaks Is Georgia dol ing out too many tax breaks? You could cer tainly make that argument. In this year’s General Assembly session, lawmak ers passed 10 bills granting various forms of tax breaks and exemptions that totaled nearly half a billion dol lars: $483 million over the next five years, by one estimate. Gov. Nathan Deal signed them all into law. The people receiving the tax breaks are pri marily Georgia’s wealthi est citizens. One of the bills passed this year, for example, grants a sales tax exemption for repairs or renovations of luxury yachts that cost at least $500,000. There’s also a tax break for the Woodruff Arts Cen ter in Atlanta, tax credits for financiers who invest in rural businesses, and a reduction in the corporate net worth tax. Who’s not getting these tax breaks? People like you and me. We’re the ones who will be expected to make up the $483 million in lost revenues that result from all the tax breaks the Legislature handed out. In the same session where they okayed a tax exemption for luxury yachts, legislators passed another bill that increased the fees you pay for boat reg istrations. In other words, a tax break for yacht owners, but a higher registration fee for people who take their outboards to Lake Lanier. Legislators declined to renew another tax break that for years provided benefits to millions of mid dle-income Georgians: the sales tax holiday during the summer for buying person al computers and back-to- school supplies. That tax break was taken away. That’s typically the phi losophy of the General Assembly: tax breaks for the favored few, but not for the many. There are some legisla tors from both sides of the partisan aisle who criticize these tax giveaways, but most are only too happy to keep granting them. “My experience has been that most folks are opposed to all of them, except for the one they’re for,” observed Sen. Jack Hill (R-Reidsville). But finally, there is at least one study committee that is taking a look at the matter. The Special Tax Exemp tion Senate Study Commit tee held the first of several hearings last week, and some of the committee members actually suggest ed that it may be time to start reining in these tax breaks. Sen. John Albers (R-Ros- well), who chairs the com mittee, said the panel might very well look at “those (tax breaks) that are actually not providing the value they were originally intend ed to. We want to look at those and see if it makes sense in the future to sunset those to make sure we’re spending each and every tax dol lar as wisely as we can.” “I am more interested in lowering everyone’s income taxes and not hav ing credits be so prevalent in Georgia,” said Sen. Hunt er Hill (R-Atlanta), who’s running for governor next year. Albers also wants the study committee to devel op a process for evaluating the potential payback of proposed tax breaks before lawmakers take the final vote on them, so that the unproductive ones aren’t passed in the first place. That would be a first for Georgia, where tax breaks have long been enacted with no followup evalua tion to determine whether they actually accomplish their purpose. Chaaron Pearson of Pew Charitable Trusts, which studies the impact of tax breaks nationwide, told the study committee that tax incentives for econom ic development purposes cost state and local govern ments $40 billion a year in foregone revenues. Georgia is one of 23 states “that lacks a well-de signed evaluation plan” for these tax breaks, Pearson said. In other words, legisla tors pass tax breaks but the revenue department doesn’t try to determine whether these exemptions are really creating jobs or generating economic development. Lawmakers are just flying blind. It could be that some of the tax breaks passed in recent years have real ly been productive. An oft-cited example is the tax legislation that is credited with luring TV and movie production companies to the state. Under the current sys tem, however, there’s little way of knowing whether tax breaks really work or not. I wish the study com mittee all the luck in the world as it undertakes this Herculean task. It would be great to see lawmakers demonstrate some com mon sense on the issue of tax breaks - but don’t hold your breath. Tom Crawford is editor of The Georgia Report, an internet news service at gareport.com that reports on state government and politics. He can be reached at tcrawford@gareport. com. 'Blessed assurance' stirs emotions “Blessed assur ance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a fore taste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spir it, washed in His blood.” I sat in a cafe in the North Caroli na mountains on a recent morning around 7 a.m. wait ing for my waffles. I had visited friends angela gary for the weekend and was getting breakfast before heading out on the four-hour drive home. There were only a few people in the cafe, which I had never been to before. I suddenly heard male voices in unison singing “Blessed Assurance,” a hymn that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. “This is my story this is my song, Praising my Sav ior all the day long. This is my story this is my song. Praising my Sav ior all the day long.” My eyes filled with tears as I thought about the meaning of this song. I have heard it so many times but the words really spoke to me that morning. No matter what trials and tribuations we are going through, we have that “Bless ed Assurance” that Jesus is with us. The hymn was written in 1873 by Fanny Crosby, Amer ica’s most prolific hymn writ er, who wrote 8,000 gospel songs and hymns during her lifetime. While the song was writ ten 144 years ago, the words still have an impact today and give peace and strength to so many people. What makes Crosby’s story even more amazing is that she was blind. She didn’t let this hold her back and was known for the thou sands of hymns that she wrote. A friend came over to play some music for Crosby. The lady had written the music but didn’t have words. She asked Crosby what the music made her feel and she said “Blessed Assurance.” She then wrote the other words for the song that has been a blessing for so many people over the years. I never saw the men who sang “Blessed Assurance” that early morning in North Carolina. I thought it was probably a men’s group having a prayer meeting in the back of the restaurant. I didn’t look in the back and never saw the men but they gave me a blessing on that early morning. I don’t know why they were gathering but I’m glad they sang this beautiful song before their meeting. They had no idea that it touched my heart as I quietly sang the words along with them. It warmed my heart that these men got up so early to gather together and pray and sing. It’s amazing how someone can be a blessing to you and never know it. These men were certainly a blessing to me. Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newspa pers Inc. She can be reached at Angie@mainstreetnews. com. CLAiT00t* z - c °M Every vote does count Dear Editor, Voting is something I hope we will always believe is a right and the founda tion of our democracy. For those who believe their vote does not matter, there are many cases of one vote making the difference in who was elected, especially in rural counties like ours. Just as important are the citizens willing to be can didates for public office. It takes a willingness to invest some money and time in becoming a public servant. However, there are always friends and relatives willing to help, and local parties committed to seeing repre sentative government. We’ve been hearing a lot about whether there is fraud in the voting systems, hacking, whether our elec tion process is fair, whether it can be trusted. I spent some time recently talking to our local Voter Election Supervisor, Andra Phagan (706-677-6260.) She was very reassuring about how our votes are counted local ly, that voting machines are not connected to the inter net, and some other things we need to know. For instance if we change our address we need to give that information to the new voter registration office or fill out a form online at the Secretary of State site. We can’t be transferred if there is an election in progress so now is a good time to update any chang es. You can also register to vote online and then take your picture ID to the polls to verify your identity and address. Your driver’s license bureau is another place where you can reg ister to vote, and get that license to agree with your voter registration address. Some of us have lived here several years (or gen erations) and may even live in the house we were born in. But did you know you can ask the registrar for an absentee ballot if you can’t get to the polling place or are a senior citizen? Let’s all make a decision to exer cise our right to vote in the next election. Meanwhile, we don’t need to worry here in Banks County about our votes being counted. Sincerely, Mary Ellen Myers Alto POLICY ON LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The policy for letters to the editor submitted to The Banks County News is as follows: • An original copy of all letters must be submitted for publication. Members of our staff will not type out or hand- write letters for people who stop by the office and ask them to do so. • Letters to the editor must be signed with the address and phone number of the per son who wrote them. The ad dress and phone number will be for our verification purposes only and will not be printed unless the writer requests it. • E-mailed letters will be accepted but we must have a phone number and address. • Letters that are libelous will also not be printed. Letters may also be edited to meet space requirements. Anyone with questions on the policy is asked to contact editor Angela Gary at Angie- Editor@aol.com or 706-410- 1022. The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. 142 Old Highway 441 North, Homer, GA 30547 Mike Buffington Scott Buffington Angela Gary Charles Phelps Sharon Hogan Anelia Chambers Co-Publisher Co-Publisher Editor Sports Editor Reporter Receptionist Phones fall 706 area code): Angela Gary Phone 706410-1022 Angela Gary Fax 706-6214112 Homer Office Phone 706-612-5327 Web www.BanksNewsTODAY.com (SCED 547160) Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc, P.O. Box908, Jeffason, Ga. 30549 Yearly subscription rate: $25 Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. 30547 (547-160) Postmaster: send address changes to: MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., PO Box 908, Jefferson, Georgia 30549-0908 Member. Georgia Press Association Georgia Sports Writers Association
