Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Vol. 24 No. 27 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements ECONOMY Sign of the times County foreclosure notices reach record high Madison County's foreclo sure rate is as high as it's been this decade — at least according to notices advertised in the legals section of this newspaper. There are 50 foreclosures advertised for the August sale date in Madison County, the most ever advertised in The Madison County Journal The August figure is up from 31 foreclosures reported for the July sale date. There were 24 advertised for June and 35 in May. In the first eight months of 2009, there were 224 fore closures advertised in The Journal In 2008, there were 260 foreclosures advertised, up from 150 in both 2006 and 2007. At the current pace, Madison County will end 2009 with 336 foreclosures advertised. While the foreclosure sales are advertised in the newspa per, not all homes will neces sarily be sold through the fore closure process. Some mortage holders could still settle with lenders before the property is sold at the courthouse steps. CRIME Dills pleads guilty Former D’ville clerk stole over $196,000 By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com Danielsville officials heard Monday night that former city clerk Michelle Dills has pled guilty to a single count of felony theft by taking. City attorney Victor Johnson informed the council of the plea, which occurred Monday, June 29. The guilty plea does not contain a plea deal, Johnson said. A pre-sentencing inves tigation is being conducted by the district attorney’s office with sentencing for Dills expected in the next couple of months. A GBI investigation found that Dills took $196,000 from city accounts over a five-year period while she worked as city clerk. Dills was fired from her long-time position as city clerk last September after the missing funds were discovered by city auditors. In a related matter, coun- cilwoman Junne Temple said she was pleased to note that the Internal Revenue Service will refund $11,235 — See ‘D’ville’ on 2A From Independence Hall to Colbert A runaway “founding father” takes the Colbert Fourth of July parade by storm on a Segway Saturday. For more photos from the annual parade, see Page 7A. Ben Munro/Staff LEGAL BATTLE Madison County Board of Assessor member Larry Stewart testified on behalf of the entire BOA Wednesday. BOA firing goes before judge Wed. Arguments last nearly five hours, but no ridings or recommendations issued yet By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com Madison County commis sioners and assessors agree on one thing — the county tax assessment process has been plagued with problems for years. So, who's at fault? Well, Madison County commissioners contend that the current assessor board has exhibited a dysfunction al nature, an inability to get beyond personal differences to pay attention to bigger issues, like getting a digest out on time or hiring a chief appraiser. They must go, commission ers say, before things can ran smoothly. Meanwhile, the four mem bers of the county board of assessors bite back with their own accusations against the BOC. The commissioners, they say are calling the shots on assessments, something truly frowned upon by the state government, which encour ages an appraisal process free from political influence. Assessors say they can’t really do their job since the BOC has ultimate control of hiring and firing of the appraisal staff. Want a smooth assessment process? Get the BOC out of the mix, assessors say. Enter Superior Court Judge John Bailey. The judge heard four hours and 45 minutes of arguments Wednesday in the county government complex meet ing room. Bailey did not issue any rulings or recommenda tions, but asked that within 10 days, both sides present a list of things they’d like to see in his recommendation. He also asked for a copy of the county’s personnel policy. However, the judge did not give a timeline on when he will present his recommenda tions in the case. Bailey joked that he had looked forward to the hearing as "something different,” but that, after all, it was like "every other divorce - there’s always fault on both sides.” THE BOC’S CASE County attorney Mike Pruett, who represents the commis sioners, opened Wednesday’s hearing with a 50-minute sum mary of tire board of commis sioners' reasons for removing the assessor board. But first he asserted that Wednesday's hearing was ulti mately a procedural courtesy to tlie board of assessors, an — See BOA’ on 5A INSIDE Index: News — 1-3A Opinions — 4-5A Crime — 6A Obituaries — 10-11A Churches — 3B Socials — 7-8A Sports— 1-2B Schools — 9A Legals— 4-12B Classifieds — 14-16A Contact: Phone: 706-795-2567 Fax: 706-795-2765 Mail: PO. Box 658, Danielsville, GA, 30633 Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY. com Madison Co. All- Stars dominate foes Madison County’s Little League softball all stars outscored their oppo nents 63-1 in four games last week in their march to the District 7 title. They’ll open the state tournament July 19 in Warner Robbins. — Page1B COUNTY GOV’T County revenues BOC, SHERIFF DISCUSS COURTHOUSE SECURITY — Page 2A By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Madison County's govern ment wallet will be lighter in 2010 as county leaders are projecting a significant dip in revenues next year. County commission chair man Anthony Dove told expected commissioners Monday that county finance director Kathy Clark projects an 8-to-10 percent drop in revenues in 2010. “I wanted the board to be ready for that when we start budget hearings,” said Dove. to drop Dove recently asked depart ment heads and constitutional officers to reduce their bud gets by five percent, but more reductions will apparently be necessary. — See “Revenues’ on 2A SPECIAL STOP Gov. makes surprise visit to rec dept. ... requests photo with dominant Madison Co. softball team By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Jay Pridgen did a double- take. Because he didn't think he’d just seen Gov. Sonny Perdue step out of a car at the Madison County Recreation Department Thursday. But he did. “You didn't expect that, so you didn’t recognize who he was from the get-go,” said Pridgen, who coaches Madison County’s Little League softball all-stars. Turns out, the state's high est executive dropped by the recreation department unan nounced to watch his grand daughter play in the District 7 all-star tournament for Habersham’s 9-and-10-year- — See ‘Governor’ on 2A