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Panel’s Recommended
Map Has Few Changes
The redistricting plan that Athens-Clarke
County commissioners will vote on Oct. 4
would maintain the commission's two "super-
districts" for now, while asking a committee
to consider how they affect African-American
voting strength. But it would modify the
existing superdistricts by changing which of
the eight geographical districts are included
within them.
While ACC's local elections are non-parti
san—candidates are not identified on the bal
lot by party—the once-a-decade redistricting
to adjust for population changes has produced
a small tug-of-war over the fairness of the
current districts. Most citizens who spoke
at hearings before a redistricting committee
appointed by Mayor Nancy Denson wanted
changes to be kept to a minimum. "Most of
them were 'if it ain't broke, why fix it?'" com
mittee chair (also Commissioner) Harry Sims
told Flagpole.
But some on that bipartisan committee-
including Commissioner Doug Lowry—pressed
for a second map that, Lowry believes, would
better represent "communities of interest"
and not split them into different districts. "I'd
like to see the gerrymandered maps that we're
operating under now done away with," Lowry
told Flagpole. The alternative map, which the
committee members voted down by a 5-3
margin, "doesn't allow Five Points to have
four voices on the commission, which it does
now," he said. It was not "a Republican map,"
he said. "We built a map that we thought was
fair."
Lowry is skeptical, too, that the state
Legislature will approve the map that the
committee did recommend, assuming com
missioners approve it next month. "There is
not a hope in hell of that getting through"
the Legislature, he said. State Representative
Doug McKillip and local attorney Ken Dious
submitted their own redistricting proposal to
the committee late in the process; it too was
rejected. "It added an additional majority-
minority district, which is very important
under the Voting Rights Act, and I think it
results in better representative government by
including a Republican district," McKillip told
Flagpole.
So, will McKillip support the map that ACC
commissioners approve? "I'm waiting to see
what is going on with the commission (vote],"
he said. "At this point, the commission hasn't
engaged the local delegation on any of
this." The two groups are scheduled to meet
together in November.
The districts haven't changed much since
city-county unification in 1991, but certainly
the 10 ACC commissioners tend to be more
homogeneous in their views than in years
past, when contentious meetings sometimes
ran past midnight. The recommended map—
besides tweaking district boundaries to equal
ize populations—would switch the makeup of
the two superdistricts, to "slightly enhance"
black voting strength in District 9 (along with
District 10, one of the two superdistricts].
It would move District 5 into District 9, and
District 4 into District 10. That would increase
minority representation in District 9 from 31
percent to 35 percent, but would also cre
ate a glitch in the terms of the superdistrict
commissioners. If the legislature accepts the
change, those commissioners will probably
serve two-year (rather than four-year) terms
next time, ACC Attorney Bill Berryman said at
last week's work session.
John Huie
Mayor Pitches Tax
Freeze for Seniors
As ACC's tax commissioner for 26 years,
Nancy Denson became well aware how the
death of a spouse—and the loss of his or her
Social Security check—can make it hard for
some older homeowners to pay their property
taxes. Over those years, Denson worked out
over 1,200 payment plans to allow hom
eowners to catch up on overdue taxes, and
most were successful. Now, as Mayor, Denson
proposes to freeze homeowners' property tax
assessments at age 65, giving them more
financial predictability. "This is something I'm
very passionate about," Denson told commis
sioners last week.
But inevitably, lowering taxes for some will
mean raising them for others—or else forfeit
ing tax revenues when the county is already in
an unaccustomed crunch. Several commission
ers appeared dubious of Denson's proposal.
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"We're in an environment where we're looking
at cutting all sorts of things out," Andy Herod
said. During boom times, according to cur
rent Tax Commissioner Mitch Schrader, ACC's
tax digest increased as much as 10 percent
in a single year; in recent years it has lev
eled off or even decreased. Current growth is
at about 1 percent. That means taxes aren't
going up much, and neither are the county's
tax revenues.
"This is the kind of program I've had
problems with—the fairness of it," said
Commissioner Alice Kinman. Not all senior cit
izens make less money than younger people,
she said—"some of them do, some of them
don't."
But adding a wealth or income test could
be complicated. "You almost have to have an
auditing arm of the tax office to make sure
that it is implemented properly," Denson said.
But the exemption could be applied to homes
only under a certain value, she told Flagpole.
Depending on how fast property values
increase—and how many years out you look—
revenues forfeited could reach the million-
dollar range, Schrader told commissioners.
About 30 percent of citizens who live in their
own homes are 65 or older, and that number
will increase because the average age of ACC
citizens is going up. "Athens-Clarke County is
aging, there's no question," Schrader said.
ACC already has one of Georgia's more gen
erous homestead exemptions—a tax credit for
a person's primary residence, which applies
regardless of age—and by state law, veterans
get an additional exemption. School taxes
(accounting for slightly over half of ACC tax
bills) are already frozen automatically at age
65.
Commissioners also briefly discussed the
new election dates that have been handed
down by the state legislature: local elections
will be held in July, instead of November.
"July's a terrible time in Athens," Kinman
said. It doesn't give commission candidates
time to campaign, added Commissioner Kathy
Hoard: "Somebody's going to have to use a lot
of shoe leather, fast." The date was changed
to coml ne runoff dates and thereby save
money; when they meet with local legislators
in November, the commissioners may ask them
to change it back.
John Huie
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