Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 24 No. 38 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
TAXES
New Madison County Board of Assessor members
(L-R) chairman Ralph McCay, Janis Ellis and Lynn
Hix talk business at their first monthly meeting
Thursday.
Digest should be
‘about the same 9
Specific figures expected this week
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County Chief
Appraiser Robin Baker said
the county digest — or over
all property value — should
remain pretty steady this
year.
Baker is working to final
ize the digest figures this
week to present them to the
county’s tax levying authori
ties, who will soon set the
local tax rates.
Officials hope to have tax
bills out to property owners
by early November.
“We’re looking about the
same (as 2008),’’ said Baker,
when asked about the 2009
digest. “But we don’t have
the final numbers yet.”
If bills are mailed in
November, that’s still one
month behind schedule.
However, bills in recent
— See “Digest” on 2A‘
9/11 ceremony
Woodmen of the World Lodge #1415 conducted a special
community ceremony and flag dedication at the Hull
Volunteer Fire Department last week to remember the
victims and heroes of Sept. 11. The ceremony, called “In
Honor and Remembrance - Woodmen of the World Salutes
America’s Heroes,” also included a salute to hometown
heroes such as police officers, firefighters and members of
the armed forces whose bravery and dedication help safe
guard the community every day, officials said.
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Socials — 7-8A
Schools — 9-11A
Churches — 12A
Obituaries — 13A
Classifieds — 14-16A
Sports— 1-3B
Legate— 6-12B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
Madison Co.
to host Cedar
Madison County tallied
526 yards of offense in
a 45-15 win at Monroe
Friday. Now, the Raiders
will return home for a
much tougher challenge
as Cedar Shoals visits
Friday at 7:30 p.m.
— Page 1B
COUNTY BUDGET
The bottom line?
BOC still faces budget questions, but no tax rate increase expected
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County commis
sioners are wrapping up their
budget meetings with depart
ment heads. Soon, they’ll
have to get down to the real
bottom line. How much of a
budget shortfall is there and
what are they going to do
about it?
Madison County’s BOC
opened its budget talks with
requested expenses totaling
$14.9 million. Commissioners
have pored over each line of
the county budget. And weeks
into the budget discussions,
that figure has been trimmed
down to roughly $13.8 mil
lion.
Meanwhile, the BOC began
its talks with projected rev
enues of $13 million for 2010.
However, that number was
based on a conservative guess
regarding tax collections,
due to the down economy.
Normally, the government
anticipates a 97 percent prop
erty tax collection rate, but the
$13 million was based on a
projected 90-percent rate.
Madison County
Commission chairman
Anthony Dove said the board
has been waiting for tax digest
numbers from chief apprais
er Robin Baker, with final
figures expected this week.
He said once the board gets
those figures the group plans
to meet with Baker and tax
commissioner Louise Watson,
who he said could provide
the board with a better idea
of what tax collections might
look line in 2010.
— See “Budget” on 2A‘
READING
Barbara Booth (L) and Debbie Lester (R) organize books for the annual Madison
County Library fall book sale. Zach Mitcham/staff
Get your bargain books!
Madison County library opens fall book sale this week
What: Library’s fall book
sale
Dates: Sept. 18-26
Times: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
on Monday, Wednesday,
Friday and Saturday, 10
a.m.-8 p.m. on Tuesday
and Thursday, and 2-6
p.m. on Sunday.
Prices: Hardbacks, $1;
paperbacks, 50 cents
Special: A preview sale
for Friends of the Library
members will be held
Thursday, Sept. 17, from
5-8 p.m.
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Barbara Booth was busy
organizing the tables for
last year’s Madison County
Library book sale when
she saw the Colbert Baptist
Church history book. She
thought she’d come back
and buy it later after the
sale opened, since she had
an uncle who preached at
the church in the 1950s.
“I came back to get it and
it was gone,” said Booth.
But she recalls the dis
appointment to illustrate a
point.
“There are treasures
here,” said Booth of the
library’s annual fall sale,
Friday, Sept. 18, through
Saturday, Sept. 26, during
library hours.
The sale offers a wide
variety of fiction, non fic
tion and children’s books.
Many of the books are new
releases. And the prices are
a steal. Paperbacks are sold
— See “Library” on 2A‘
EDUCATION
MCHS
joins
Facebook
School page has
over 500 fans’
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County High
School is utilizing the lat
est technology to get cam
pus information out to the
public.
The school now has its
own page on the popu
lar social networking site,
Facebook.
“We have one now for
the high school, so that
we can get information
out to our kids,” Madison
County High School prin
cipal Chad Stone told the
school board last Tuesday
at its monthly meeting.
Part of Stone’s plans for
school improvement is
increased community rela
tions. In fact, the school is
putting out its own news
letter with the aid of a
grant.
“The more involved we
have parents, the more
chance we have for suc
cessful kids,” Stone said
last week.
And school leaders felt
that creating their own
Facebook account would
be another effective way
to reach students.
“Our kids are really huge
— See “Facebook” on 2A‘
COUNTY SEAT
D’ville to provide sewer connection to library
Danielsville City Hall
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
The city of Danielsville has
agreed to provide a sewer
connection to the Madison
County Library.
The decision came after a
set of conditions was removed
from medical buildings the
city owns on Hwy. 98 East.
The buildings, which were
deeded to the city by the
Graham family, had condi
tions placed on them that
stated that they would only be
leased for medical uses. The
Grahams agreed to remove
those conditions if the city
council agreed to make sewer
service available to the library,
which plans to expand in the
next few years.
The council agreed to bore
a line under Hwy. 98 West to
establish the connection in
exchange for the removal of
the conditions. This will, in
turn, allow the city to lease
the buildings for other uses.
In another matter, the coun
cil agreed to pay $547 in
damages for a sewer leak in
the Twin Pines car lot build
ing at the red light to cover
— See “DVitle” on 2A‘