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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}’. • WHITE SAND • FILL DIRT • PEA GRAVEL WILLIAMS SAND 770-967-6501 OR 706-789-3779 Danielsville, GA • www.williamstransportco.com Highway 106 to Jot-em Down Rd. to Young Harris Road to Serenity Lane r t- SATURDAY MARCH 7TH AT 9AM ENTRANCE TEST FOR NEW STUDENTS CALL OR VISIT US ONLINE FOR MORE INFORMATION You Can Experience Affordable Excellence in Education. ' ATHENS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL PHONE 1706J 549-7586 WWW.ATHENSCHRIS TIA N.COM • SPECIAL FAMILY PRICING • SERVING 750 K-12 STUDENTS FROM 16 COUNTIES • BEAUTIFUL 50 ACRE CAMPUS ON HIGHWAY 29 NORTH • EDUCATING THE SPIRITUAL, ACADEMIC, ATHLETIC AND AESTHETIC IN EACH STUDENT 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. 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