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The University of Georgia
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VOTED ATHENS’
FAVORITE LOCAL PIZZA
ACC Budget Won’t Cut
Buses, Environmental
Coordinator Position
Athens-Clarke County commissioners appear
ready to approve most provisions of Mayor
Nancy Denson's proposed budget for Fiscal
Year 2013—which begins in July—but they
won't end night bus service or kill ACCs (pres
ently unfilled) environmental coordinator
position.
'There's a difference between people rid
ing the bus to support their livelihoods and
people riding home from the bar at night,"
Commissioner Kathy Hoard observed at a bud
get work session last week. Despite statisti
cally low ridership in the last hours before 10
p.m., "there are generally persons there in the
evenings in those bus shelters"—and Hoard
said she learned through
talking to them that they
are typically travelling to get
groceries or medicine.
Only a few routes run past
7 p.m.; after that demand
drops precipitously. Transit
Director Butch McDuffie said.
But "you're always going to
have a reduced use that last
hour," Commissioner Kelly
Girtz pointed out because people won't take
outbound trips they can't get home from later.
Commissioners proposed keeping the late-
night routes intact in part by raising fares
from $1.50 to $1.60 for alt rides, which Girtz
said would cover about two-thirds of the cost
The budget will be voted on June 5. Recent
budgets have been unusually tight for local
governments like ACCs; next year's will con
tinue that trend. With home values continuing
to decline, ACC now collects 9 percent less
property tax revenue than three years ago
(although some revenues, like sales taxes,
are up slightly). County departments long
accustomed to expansion and yearly employee
“You’re always going
-
to have a reduced
usejjiat last hour,”
Commissioner Kelly
Girtz pointed out.
raises have instead mostly seen cuts for sev
eral years; no raises have been given since
2008-09. But this year, Denson proposes a
$500 permanent annual raise for all county
employees at a total cost of $910,000, and
commissioners seem to agree one is due. Such
a flat across-the-board raise would propor
tionally benefit lower-paid employees more
than the percentage-based raises that the
county has given in the past
Again this year, departmental cuts outnum
ber the very few increases proposed in Mayor
Denson's budget. The increases include higher
costs for fuel and for computer software. "As
you know, Mr. Bill Gates continues to need to
make a little more money," ACC Manager Alan
Reddish told commissioners. "We are totally
dependent upon our computers."
Denson's proposals to eliminate seven
county positions included "suspending" the
presentty-unfilled environmental coordinator
position—a job originally created to be an
internal government watch
dog for the environment
advising commissioners and
attending public meetings.
But since Dick Reid, who
originally held the position,
retired, questions have been
raised about its effective
ness. Commissioners told
Reddish in November they
wanted to see the environ
mental coordinator be "more proactive*' and
involved in public meetings and discussions;
Reddish denied "hiding him somewhere." Last
week, commissioners said they want to keep
the position (although perhaps save money by
leaving it unriUed until January).
. The county has exhausted what savings it
can make by reducing contingency funds, and
must make more real and sustainable reduc
tions (and service cuts) to meet new financial
realities, Reddish said. The only increases that
should be allowed are operating funds required
by SPIOST projects, he said. The budget
doesn't propose a tax hike, but commissioner
Jared Bailey thought maybe it should—since
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county budget documents always point out
that ACCs effective tax rates are among the
state's lowest, he asked, wouldn't raising taxes
be better than cutting services?
John Hale
Lanone Won’t Remark
on UH Firing, Says
ACC Schools Improving
Clarke County School District
Superintendent Philip Lanoue repeatedly
refused last week to discuss assertions that
he had earlier tried to head off a possibly
unfavorable news story by going over the
heads of reporters and his own public relations
department and directly phoning Athens
Banner-Herald Publisher Scott Morrissey. Tm
not going to comment* he told Flagpole.
"Move on, next question."
On any other subject lanoue was glad to
talk: state budget cuts to schools are having
"pretty big" effects locally, he said, though
even so, performance has improved, especially
among economically disadvantaged students.
"We set the bar higher," he said. "Our kids
are meeting that bar." Lanoue has helmed the
school system since 2009, and "I spend a lot
of time in the classrooms," he said. "We have
conversations: teachers with teachers, teach
ers with principals... We've had tremendous
focus on instruction, on what we expect kids
to know. Our teachers have been relentless,
really finding out what keeps kids connected."
John Hole
6 FlAGPOLE.COM • MAY 16,2012