"9-9-9 - The Movie"

Herman Cain's "9-9-9" tax plan:

Sphere: Related Content

Taxonomics - Episode 1

From our friends at the National Taxpayers Union, see Taxonomics, Episode 1, A Discriminatory Tax Targets Small Businesses & Jobs.

Sphere: Related Content

Review of Selig Tract Raises Questions

Read the column here (27 November 2011).

I always ask my wife to proofread my columns (so if an error slips through, I can blame her, right?). Upon reading this one, she said that I sounded angry.

And you know what, she is correct; quite apart from the self-righteous sanctimony of asking Selig to "negotiate," when its proposal is exactly the kind of mixed use development we say we want and the company is asking for no incentives whatsoever in connection with the project, this "hold" – kind of like moratorium lite – and "negotiation" strategy is a terrible one to pursue if we are serious about economic development. The community of folks who are involved in economic development around the state is a pretty small one and they all know what the others are doing, so don't think for a minute that they all do not know how things play out in Clarke County – i.e. a developer adhering to existing ordinances and design guidelines is not enough - as do the companies they are trying to recruit.

When we demand that the Commission adopt more stringent environmental regulations than what the state EPD and the federal EPA requires (not that the locals have the authority to do so, but that is another matter), like we did when Certainteed investigated asking for industrial development bond funding to expand its Athens location a few years back, every business or industry thinking about expanding in or relocating to Athens hears about it.

When we toy with the idea of making economic development bond issues a political football by having the full Commission vote on them, rather than simply having the mayor sign off on them as traditionally been the case (as was also mentioned in connection with the proposed Certainteed expansion), every business or industry thinking about expanding in or relocating to Athens hears about it.

When we demand that a developer (in this case Selig Enterprises) that is acting in full accord with our existing zoning ordinances and downtown design guidelines, “negotiate” to make its project smaller just to pacify local elected officials, every business or industry thinking about expanding in or relocating to Athens hears about it.

When we simply suspend entire sections of our existing zoning ordinances (we are up to how many development moratoria now?), typically with little to no public notice whatsoever, so as to prevent developers from doing precisely what those zoning ordinances say they should do, every business or industry thinking about expanding in or relocating to Athens hears about it.

When we mount a fullscale wand well-funded PR campaign (complete with billboards and a web site) to convince a high-end biotechnology facility (NBAF), precisely the kind of industry that we say that we want, not to come here, every business or industry thinking about expanding inn or relocating to Athens hears about it (of course, I think that there was qute a bit of Bush Derangement Syndrome evident in this episode, but the principle still applies).

I keep making the argument that what we do locally has repercussions beyond whatever issue with which we may be dealing at the moment, and those repercussions are stifling our meager attempts at meaningful economic development.

Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system, here is some source material.

Unified Government Code of Ordinances. See Section 9-4-15(c)(4):
http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=12400&stateId=10&stateNa...

Commission Minutes (March 2010). See pages 11-12:
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/archives/42/March%202,%202010%20minute...

Commission Minutes (September 2011). See pages 2-3:
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/archives/42/September%2022,%202011.min...

Finally, even on the company’s own web site both “Walmart” and Wal-Mart” are used, so take your pick.

Sphere: Related Content

SCHS Pigskin Recap

The season for my alma mater Indians (the second seed out of Region 8AAA) drew to a close last Friday night, as SCHS lost a 40-14 road decision to Cairo (the first seed out of Region 1AAA).  The trip down to Grady County was some 300+ miles - one way!

It was a disappointing end to a pretty good 9-3 season: all three teams to which the Indians lost are still alive in the state playoffs, Elbert County in Class AA and Gainesville and Cairo in Class AAA.

Wait till next year.

Sphere: Related Content

'Sausage' Is Part Of Recipe For Tax Reform Bill

Read the column here (03 April 2011).
Everyone and his brother has been/will be commenting on the specific policy proposals put forth by the Special Council and passed by the Special Joint Committee; I though it a good idea to get people up to speed on the mechanics of how we got to where we are with regard to that proposal - because most people have not a clue about it. Apparently, not everyone agrees.

The short answer is yes. TSPLOST will be an additional 1% sales tax, on top of the 4% that goes to the State of Georgia, Clarke County's 1% LOST, the Unified Government's 1% SPLOST, and the Clarke County School District's 1% SPLOST.

For anyone interested, the Special Council's web site has scads of information: (http://fiscalresearch.gsu.edu/taxcouncil/index.htm).

Sphere: Related Content

Clarke School Budget Lacking Details

Read the column here (17 April 2011).

For those who may want to view source material for themselves, here are the links. Also, the percentage calculations noted are my own; if you want to double check them (which means that you are really, really hard up for something to do), by all means have at it.
FY 2010 per pupil expenditures for the 181 local school systems reporting and the State of Georgia average:
http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fin_pack_revenue.entry_form
That $11,900 current per pupil expenditure claimed by the CCSD:
http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/district.cfm?subpage=11
CCSD FY 2012 Budget Overview:
http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/files/14/ccsdbudgetoverviewfy2012.pdf
CCSD Proposed FY 2012 Tentative Budget:
http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/files/14/tentative%20budget%20to%20boe%2004-...
CCSD Budget Hearing Notes for FY 2012 Presentations:
http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/files/14/tentative%20budget%20presentation%2...
posted @

Sphere: Related Content

Local Programs Give Practical Emergency Preparedness

Read the column here (01 May 2011).

Here are some links that readers may find useful. Note that the contact information given in the column is current, but that given on some web pages that are floating around out there may not be.

Athens-Clarke County Citizen Police Academy (not much of a site, but it does have the full curriculum):
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/index.aspx?NID=906

Athens-Clarke County CERT:http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/showCert.do?cert&id=43955
http://eastgeorgia.redcross.org/CERT/about.html

The Unified Government’s CERT program has not offered classes for a while, as it has proven problematic getting the requisite number of folks together at the same time to make conducting one worthwhile. Even so, Mr. Gulley informs me that a retooling of the program is underway and he hopes to offer classes again in the not too distant future. The East Georgia chapter of the American Red Cross may (or may not) be involved going forward depending on circumstances.

University of Georgia CERT:http://www.osep.uga.edu/CERT

I would like to thank Lt. Soriano, Mr. Gulley, and Mr. Golden for their kind assistance in the preparation of this column.

Sphere: Related Content

Here's Primer For 'Beloved' Rite Of Spring

Read the column here (15 May 2011).

A chart detailing the various millage rates charged in each of Athens-Clarke County’s five tax districts used to be posted on the Tax Commissioner’s web site; I could not find the chart on City Hall’s new and improved (and expensive) web site. Upon speaking with the staff at the Tax Commissioner’s office so as to verify my information, I was told that they will try to get that chart reposted. In the interim, see page 7 of this from the Georgia Department of Revenue for the current breakdown of millage rates here in Athens-Clarke County (does not have the rates for Bogart and Winterville):https://etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/cds/csheets/LGS_Georgia_County_Ad_Valorem_Ta...

For a listing of exemptions, see these from the State of Georgia:https://etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/adm/taxguide/exempt/homestead.aspx
and these from Athens-Clarke County:http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/index.aspx?NID=1687https://etax.dor.ga...

For a discussion of assessments, see these from the State of Georgia:https://etax.dor.ga.gov/PTD/adm/taxguide/gen/assessment.aspx

and these from Athens-Clarke County:http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/index.aspx?NID=2315

While they do not apply to most cases, there are a couple of “preferential” assessment categories (rehabilitated historic property or landmark historic property) and several “special” assessment categories (preferential agricultural property, conservation use property, environmentally sensitive property, farm land property, brownfield property, residential transitional property), a category for timberland (standing), and one for equipment, machinery, and fixtures.

For the provisions of SB 346 that mandate annual assessment and estimated tax notices, see O.C.G.A. §48-5-306:http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp

Then there is this from a blog posting over at TOA from June 2008 (http://theotherathens.blogspot.com/2008/06/questions-about-those-splost-...): Back in 2007, the Clarke County School District’s SPLOST 3 bond resolution included a provision that, should the limited duration sales tax be insufficient to repay said bonds, any shortfall would be added to the CCSD’s portion of the local property tax millage rate. Longtime readers may remember that I had two specific concerns with regard to any such transfer of bonded indebtedness to property taxes.
My first concern dealt with the 20 mills limit imposed by the state Constitution. The CCSD’s portion of the local property tax millage rate has been at the 20 mills limit for years; to exceed that limit would normally require the voters’ approval to do so via a referendum. So how could that line be administratively traversed so as to make up a SPLOST revenue shortfall without a referendum?
After a (very) long and circuitous journey through a variety of local and state government bureaucracies, the Attorney General’s office provided me with the relevant Georgia Supreme Court case law, Seaboard Air-Line Railway Company v. Wright, comptroller-general, et al., from way back in 1927, that exempted bond debt service from any constitutional limit. I do not agree with the reasoning embodied in that decision, as it would seem to render the rationale for the 20 mills limit moot, but the case law is what it is.

Satisfying my second concern has proven somewhat more vexing. The CCSD’s bond resolution cited a provision contained in the Constitution as expressly permitting the transfer of bonded indebtedness from SPLOST sales taxes to property taxes. That resolution read in part (see the second paragraph on page 5 of the PDF):

"WHEREAS, Article IX, Section V, Paragraph VI of the Constitution of the State of Georgia requires that prior to the issuance of general obligation bonds, a tax must be levied in amounts sufficient to pay the principal of and the interest on the Bonds as the same become due and payable, to the extent that the revenues from the Sales Tax are not sufficient thereof;"

The resolution was littered throughout with similar language. Being a nerdy type reasonably familiar with the verbiage in the Constitution, this immediately struck me as odd. Sure enough, when I went to the document itself, no such provision was anywhere to be found. The actual text of Article IX, Section V, Paragraph VI of the Constitution reads (see page 81, http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/constitution_2007.pdf):
"Levy of taxes to pay bonds; sinking fund required. Any county, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state shall at or before the time of incurring bonded indebtedness provide for the assessment and collection of an annual tax sufficient in amount to pay the principal and interest of said debt within 30 years from the incurring of such bonded indebtedness. The proceeds of this tax, together with any other moneys collected for this purpose, shall be placed in a sinking fund to be used exclusively for paying the principal and interest on such bonded debt. Such moneys shall be held and kept separate and apart from all other revenues collected and may be invested and reinvested as provided by law."

There is no mention whatsoever of transferring bonded indebtedness from a sales tax to property tax, just a general provision that a sinking fund to repay bonds be in place before such bonds are issued. Explicitly contrary to my reading of the CCSD’s resolution, the Constitution is mute on the subject of transferring any shortfall in sales tax collections to property tax “to the extent that revenues from the Sales Tax are not sufficient therefore.”

After an even longer and more circuitous journey through a variety of local and state government bureaucracies – the Attorney General’s office clammed up on me this time – I eventually discovered, after speaking with a bond attorney over in Atlanta, that the answer can be found in O.C.G.A. §48-1-121(c):

"No general obligation debt shall be issued in conjunction with the imposition of the tax unless the governing authority of the county or qualified municipalities within special district issuing the debt determines that, and if the debt is to be validated it is demonstrated in the validation proceedings that, during each year in which any payment of principal or interest on the debt comes due the county or qualified municipalities within special district issuing such debt will receive from the tax authorized by this part net proceeds sufficient to fully satisfy such liability. General obligation debt issued under this part shall be payable first from the separate account in which are placed the proceeds received by the county or qualified municipalities within the special district issuing such debt from the tax authorized by this part. Such debt, however, shall constitute a pledge of the full faith, credit, and taxing power of the county or qualified municipalities within the special district issuing such debt; and any liability on said debt which is not satisfied from the proceeds of the tax authorized by this part shall be satisfied from the general funds of the county or qualified municipalities within the special district issuing such debt."

Okay, that answers the question as to on what legal basis a shortfall in SPLOST sales taxes may be transferred to property taxes, though it is not explicitly stated in that manner.

But the question remains: why did not the CCSD’s bond resolution cite this section of state law? Why make language up out of whole cloth and claim that it is in the Constitution, when a few seconds on the Internet reveals that claim to be patently false?

Finally, consider the games that can be played with millage rates when they are considered irrespective of the “rollback rate“. This from another TOA post from May of 2009 (http://theotherathens.blogspot.com/2009/05/concerning-property-tax-milla...): The 0.3 mills reduction in 2004 was due solely to the work of members of the Clarke County Republican Party, who analyzed the budget and presented a list of potential reductions to the folks down at City Hall. To their credit, the Mayor and Commission did adopt many of our recommendations, thereby “freeing up” funds for a millage rate reduction. It should never be forgotten, though, that the original plan was simply to spend the new revenue generated by growth in the tax digest (this last part always seems to get left out of the discussion).

The 0.6 mills reduction in 2005 was a sham, pure and simple. The millage rate reduction was offset by the institution of the stormwater utility fee (even the Unified Government’s budget documents acknowledged this) which, by design, also hit those property owners such as churches and schools who are exempt from property tax. Now, we will have the situation where the millage rate is back to within 0.2 mills of where it was prior to the imposition of the fee – a fee that will be with us forever regardless of future millage rate hikes. Because of increases in assessments the “rollback” rate in any given year may well be lower that the millage rate - so property taxes can actually go up if the millage rate stays constant or, in some cases, even goes down.

For what it is worth, my assessment and estimated tax notice arrived in the mail on Friday; after increasing in 2008 and remaining the same in 2009 and 2010, this years fair market value dropped (finally) by 11.61% - as well it should have.

Sphere: Related Content

Father's War Stories Were Told Sparingly

Read the column here (30 May 2011),

I have striven for accuracy in reconstructing my father’s military service, but readers are advised that records are not always available and that sources do not always agree. Also, based on my further research, it appears that my dad received his training as a cook at Camp Butner, after returning from Europe, not at Fort McClellan as part of his basic training as I had originally supposed in my initial column back in January.

I would like to thank Rodney Davis for responding to that column about my father’s decorations with some helpful links to information on the Internet concerning the 4th ID.

Some of the resources I used in addition to my father’s papers were:

National Personnel Records Center - Family members of a deceased veteran can order copies of services records, which I did. In the event, the NPRC was not able to provide me with anything useful that I did not already have. Said its response to my request, “The [July 12, 1973] fire destroyed the major portion of records of Army military personnel who separated from the service between 1912 through 1959 . . . Fortunately, there were alternate records sources that contained information which was used to reconstruct some service record data lost in the fire. However, complete records could not be reconstructed.”

To order such records, see:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/

for replacing lost or damaged decorations, see:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals.html

U.S. Army Center of Military History - For organizational information concerning the 4th ID’s participation in the European Theater of Operations, consisting of wartime command and staff officers, statistics (chronology, casualties, individual awards), composition (constituent units), attachments, detachments, and command posts, see:
http://www.history.army.mil/documents/eto-ob/4id-eto.htm.

For the Combat Chronicle of the 4th ID, see:
http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cc/004id.htm.

For the 4th ID’s designation as a “liberating unit” by the U.S. Army’s Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, see:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006134.

For the use of the Cunard Line’s Queen Mary as a troop transport, see:
http://ww2troopships.com/ships/q/queenmary/default.htm

Sphere: Related Content

Democrat Will Face Tough Odds In House Race

Read the column here (12 June 2011),

For the inquiring minds out there, here is my documentation. As always, the percentage calculations are my own.

Maps of House District 113

Georgia:
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/pdf/2006house.pdf

Athens-Clarke County:
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1330

2004 election returns

Georgia:
http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2004_1102/house.htm

Athens-Clarke County:
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/archives/36/2004-11-02%20General.pdf

2006 election returns

Georgia:
http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2006_1107/swgahouse.htm

Athens-Clarke County:
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/archives/36/2006-11-07%20General.pdf

2008 election returns:

Georgia:
http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2008_1104/swgahouse.htm

Athens-Clarke County:
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/archives/36/2008-11-05%20General.pdf

2010 election returns

Georgia:
http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2008_1104/swgahouse.htm

Athens-Clarke County:
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/archives/36/2010-11-02%20General%20Sum...

Sphere: Related Content