Newspaper Page Text
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
JULY 16, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 28 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
EDUCATION
Ha Elem.
tops in
CRCT
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
ROADS
Hwy. 29 revisited
DOT to talk widening, bypass July 30
Ila Elementary School
Gators might be doing the
“Gator chomp” after this
year's CRCT results.
The school boasted the
best CRCT numbers of the
five Madison County ele
mentary schools with a 90
percent passage rate in 16
different categories. Ila also
tallied a 100 percent passage
rate in two areas — second
grade reading and first grade
math.
The state released school-
by-school CRCT results July
7.
“We're just excited,” prin
cipal Lynne Jeffers said.
Jeffers noted several fac
tors in Ila’s success: the
work of math, language arts
and reading coaches; a math
grant through RESA; and
EIP teachers' early-morning
work with “bubble area”
kids in Ila's “Gator-aid” pro
gram.
— See‘CRCT on 2A
TAXES
Tax assessor
chairman
hasn’t paid
‘08 taxes
— Records for all
Madison County prop
erties AVAILABLE AT
MADISON. PAYTAXES .NET
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
The man leading the local
tax assessment board hasn't
paid his taxes for 2008,
according to a county govern
ment website.
According to madison.
paytaxes.net, which includes
records for all Madison County
property owners, BOA chair
man David Ragland owes a
total of $1,706.82 in taxes for
four pieces of property. The
four Brickyard Road proper-
— See “Taxes’ on 2A
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Obituaries — 8-9A
Socials — 10-12A
Sports— 1-2B
Churches — 3B
Schools — 6B
Legate— 1-9C
Classifieds — 10-12C
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The long-discussed widening of
Hwy. 29 in Madison County will again
come before the public.
The DOT is taking input July 30 at
Madison County High School on its
proposal to widen 10.8 miles of Hwy.
29 — including a 6.5-mile bypass of
Danielsville on the western edge.
Including right-of-way purchases,
the project would cost $126 million.
“We’re talking over 10 miles of four-
lane divided highway here,” Georgia
DOT spokesperson Teri Pope said.
The open house is scheduled for 4
p.m. to 7 p.m. at the MCHS cafeteria.
Georgia DOT engineers will be avail
able to discuss the proposed project,
but no formal presentation is planned.
The project is divided into two phas
es, but Pope said that both are consid
ered “long-range.” Neither has funding
attached.
“Both projects don't have money or
years allocated to them,” Pope said.
The Hwy. 29 widening in Madison
County would start where the four-lane
section now ends — near the intersec
tion of Fortson Store Road — and
extend north of Danielsville to the
intersection of Wildcat Bridge Road.
— See “Hwy. 29’ on 2A
The state Department of Transportation’s proposed Hwy. 29
project includes a 6.5-mile bypass of Danielsville. Ben Munro/Staff
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Footing the bill for
Public Safety
Sheriff, BOC discuss $195,000 salary deficit;
$950,000 increase requested in 2010 budget
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
he blue lights can't glow without the green
— the money.
But how exactly will Madison County
fund its law enforcement needs over the next year as
revenues dwindle?
County commissioners have asked all constitu
tional officers and department heads to shave five
percent off of their 2010 budgets. But even that
probably won’t be enough, as revenues are projected
to drop eight to 10 percent next year.
Sheriff Kip Thomas has requested an increase of
$950,000 in his budget for next year. But the BOC
and sheriff have yet to tackle that issue.
Instead, they have a 2009 matter to iron out first.
According to county records, the sheriff’s depart
ment is $195,748 over budget in 2009 on salaries —
$137,945 for the sheriff's department and $57,803
for the jail.
While the sheriff’s department is over budget,
the county government as a whole is slightly under
budget — $13,439 — on salaries for 2009, with 16
out of 28 departments in the government currently
using less funds for personnel than anticipated. The
road department shows the biggest drop, coming
in $98,985 under budget, with EMS following at
$35,795.
Exactly why the sheriff's department is over bud
get for 2009 was the subject of considerable discus
sion last Thursday, but the BOC never came to any
firm resolution, ultimately agreeing that the matter
needed more research.
But Commissioner Mike Youngblood suggested
Thursday that the problems appear to stem from fail
ures by former BOC finance employees to account
for funding changes.
“Numbers were put in front of us and we had
enough confidence and trust in the people who
put them in front of us that they were right,” said
Youngblood. “Evidently they weren’t, cause those
people are gone. I think whatever we have to do
to straighten it out, the board will. Public safety is
number one.”
The group did not discuss the broader question —
what next? How will the county cover the shortfall?
That matter will be addressed at a later date, though
no meetings have been set.
Sheriff Thomas raised the funding issue with com
missioners Thursday, saying that the salary deficit
was an inherited budgeting problem, something car-
— See “Public safety’ on 2A
ASSESSMENTS
Appeal period
runs through
August 17
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison Countians
unsatisfied with how their
property is valued have
until Aug. 17 to appeal their
assessments.
Tax assessment notices
were mailed July 2 to all
property owners in Madison
County. They have 45 days
to appeal their values.
Chief appraiser Robin
Baker said Tuesday that he
doesn't have a tally on how
many appeals have been
filed so far.
“It's not looking too bad,”
said Baker. “But we usually
don’t tally them until we
get close to the end of the
45 days.”
Baker and other officials
hope that appeals will be
filed on fewer than three
percent of all county proper
ties. The state won’t accept
the county's digest — over
all property value — with
more than three percent of
properties under appeal.
The chief appraiser said
he expects tax 2009 bills
can be mailed this year if
the county doesn’t cross the
three percent threshold.
COUNTY GOV’T
Part-time help
considered for
gov’t complex
security
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County com
missioners will interview
people interested in work
ing the metal detectors at
the county government
complex.
Deputies have been sta
tioned at front and back
doors at the county gov
ernment complex, but the
sheriff’s department does
not have the funding to
— See ‘Security’ on 2A