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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 19. 2009 — PAGE 5A
Opinions
Powell .cont’dfrom 4A
heads to the Senate for its
consideration, would give citi
zens greater transparency and
accountability when it comes
to determining their local prop
erty taxes.
Under HB 233, reassess
ments are authorized under
narrow guidelines, including
substantially improved prop
erty and rezoned property, pro
vided that the property owner
requested the rezoning. During
the moratorium, a sale or trans
fer of property would not result
in an increase in the assessed
value.
Existing or future homestead
exemptions to protect hom
eowners, including previously
enacted floating homestead
exemptions, are not affected
by this legislation. The mora
torium would end in 2011.
These proposals generated a
great deal of debate in opposi
tion because of fears about the
effect they would have on local
governments. But this legisla
tion would not stop local gov
ernments from raising the tax
revenue they need to provide
vital services in our commu
nities. Government entities
would not be prohibited from
raising millage rates if nec
essary, rather than depending
on higher reassessment valu
ation or the “back-door” tax
increases I have railed against
for years.
This legislation would estab
lish a level of transparency in
one part of the property tax
system. It would allow local
governments to point the fin
ger at the root cause of local
tax increases, whether it is
unfunded mandates from the
state or federal governments,
or local decisions. There is
nothing wrong with more
transparency in the process,
and the public deserves a sim
pler system to explain what
they already know when they
get a tax bill.
The only impact I foresee is
a fairer system where all prop
erty - residential, commercial,
agricultural and others - is held
to a cap for assessed valuation
and the value of which is reas
sessed when it changes hands.
The real problems our local
governments and school
boards face are the policies of
unfunded mandates and cuts
to local school funding by the
state, expecting property own
ers to pick up the tab. These are
the very reasons I have voted
against past budgets, which is
the correct action, rather than
taking the easy way out.
While freezing property value
reassessments is a responsible
move toward transparency and
hopefully tax relief for prop
erty owners, we still must be
vigilant to watch out for the
taxpayers the remainder of
this session. Still on the table
are further education funding
shifts, a new tax on hospitals
and insurers and their consum
ers, tobacco tax increases, a
new tax disguised as increased
fines for traffic violations, a
car tag increase and new sales
taxes, statewide and regional,
for transportation. Also, there
is the possibility the governor
will veto HB 143, which guar
antees this year's funding for
homeowner tax relief grants.
Such a veto would cost the
average taxpayer $200-$300.
As the session reaches its
halfway point this week, we
have yet to address the sys
temic problems in Georgia's
budget process that have us
facing a $3 billion deficit.
While some of our leaders are
simultaneously criticizing the
federal stimulus package and
going to the mailbox every day
in search of Georgia's share of
the pie, we are doing little to
nothing about the excessive
spending, borrowing and shift
ing that got us here in the first
place.
Still another concern I am
hearing involves legislation
passed from the Senate, SB 31,
which would allow Georgia
Power to raise customer rates
in order to finance the construc
tion of new nuclear reactors,
six years before they would
be in operation. Besides this
being more money coming out
of citizens' pockets, those of us
around Lake Hartwell have to
wonder how much more water
will need to be drawn out of
the lake to service these facili
ties. Please let me know your
thoughts on this issue.
Rep. Alan Powell
(D-Hartwell) represents
the 29"' District (Franklin,
Hart and Madison coun
ties) in the Georgia House
of Representatives. Contact
him at 507 Coverdell Office
Building, Atlanta, GA 30334;
by phone at 404-656-0202 or
by e-mail at alanpowell23@
hotmail.com. For more infor
mation, visitwww. alanpowell.
net.
McCall ..cont’dfrom 4A
vote of 110-63, puts in place a
two-year freeze on property tax
assessments. This important
measure will help homeown
ers struggling with a stagnant
housing market and rising prop
erty taxes. House Resolution 1
would give voters the final say
in adopting a permanent cap
on property tax assessments by
constitutional amendment.
Unfortunately, HR 1 did not
receive the required constitu
tional majority to pass but a
procedural rule in the House
will allow us to vote again
next week. I supported both
of these measures and before
we vote again next week I will
continue to talk with my col
leagues about the importance
of giving voters a voice on this
important issue.
In our continued fight to pre
vent identity theft, the House
overwhelmingly supported
House Bill 71. This legislation
will close a loophole in current
law that allows the production,
possession and distribution
of false identifications if the
word ‘novelty' is printed on
the front.
Unfortunately, concerns over
peanut safety and disturbing
new details in the salmonella
outbreak continue to emerge.
Over 2,000 consumer prod
ucts have now been recalled
from both the plant in Blakely,
Georgia, and another plant in
Texas that is owned by the
same company.
I want to again reiterate
that this is a manufacturing
and processing problem and
not a farm product problem.
To address the problem in
Georgia, as the Chairman of
the Agriculture and Consumer
Affairs Committee, I created
the new Consumer Protection
Investigation and Oversight
Subcommittee, which will
evaluate all aspects of the pro
duction, distribution, delivery
and safety of consumer agricul
tural products both produced
and brought into the state of
Georgia.
Again, please remember that
most peanut products are safe
RIVER SAND
TOP SOIL
RIVER ROCK
but to be sure you don’t have
recalled items, check either
foodsafety.gov or the Georgia
Association of Convenience
Stores web page at www.gacs.
com. At this site, even specific
UPC numbers can be checked.
I will continue to keep you
up to date on our actions as the
legislative session progresses.
As always, if you have any
questions or concerns, please
do not hesitate to contact
me at your Capitol office at
404-656-5115.
Rep. Tom McCall (R),
Elberton, is the District 30
member of the Georgia House
of Representatives, which
includes the southern half of
Madison County, all of Elbert
County and the eastern portion
of Jackson Count}’.
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IDA ..cont’dfrom 1A
expansion in the county,
but IDA executive director
Marvin White said Monday
that the United States
Department of Agriculture
(USDA) funding “didn’t
come through” so the IDA
will now turn its hopes for
funding back to the Georgia
Environmental Facilities
Authority (GEFA).
The board agreed last
October to pay engineering
firm Peoples and Quigley
$37,750 for preliminary
engineering and environmen
tal reports summarizing pro
posed water system improve
ments on a broad scale so
they could apply for money
for the project through the
federal agency, after state
monies became unavailable.
But utility director Steve
Shaw said the USDA had
“changed the rules” on the
funding, which had been
offered under a 45/55 grant/
low-interest loan basis,
including upping the inter
est rate from 2.75 percent
to four or five percent, mak
ing the approximately $8.5
million project unfeasible.
The authority voted
Monday to use the remain
der of the engineering funds
($24,351) allocated to the
USDA project to do the
engineering prep work for
possible GEFA funding that
may come through to the
state from the federal gov
ernment’s economic stimu
lus package. White said the
IDA has already submitted
plans for $15 million worth
of projects to GEFA.
In a separate matter,
the IDA voted to accept
a deed for 2.897 acres on
the dam of Seagraves Mill
Lake from the Seagraves
family. The deed to the
IDA is necessary. White
explained, in order for
Congress to accept the dam
as a watershed project. The
IDA plans to use the lake as
a future water source.
Once a bill accepting
the project is passed, the
IDA plans to apply for a
65/35 matching grant from
the Natural Resources
Conservation Service
(NRCS). The county should
be able to use SPLOST
funds for the 35-percent
match. White said.
The project is expected
to cost around $700,000
and will include raising
the lake’s dam three feet,
installing a concrete drain
and enlarging the lake’s
spillway, according to
White.
Also Monday, the board
accepted the low bid of
North Carolina-based
Southern Corrosion for
$76,327 to refurbish and
paint the newly installed
Hwy. 98 water tank.
The IDA also agreed to
provide a water tap and
connection to neighboring
Hwy. 98 property owner
Nicole Ernest in exchange
for an easement for the
water line at the new tank.
The board also voted to
accept a deed and easement
from Madison County for
the water tank site.
In other business, Shaw
said the water authority
billed 597 customers in
January, who used a total
of 3.22 million gallons of
water. He said the Hwy. 29
South water line project is
finishing up and scheduled
to be in service by Feb. 19.
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