So Where Is The CCSD Budget?

The Clarke County School District’s budget for FY 2009 (or 2008-09 as the District typically terms such things) goes into effect a mere eight weeks from today.

So why is this a problem? Because, as of this morning, there is absolutely nothing on the District’s web site about the budget, absolutely nothing about the public hearings on the budget mandated by state law, and absolutely nothing about the District’s proposed millage rate. Nor has there been anything in the Banner-Herald about these matters in its coverage of the Board of Education.

According to the HTML version of the agenda for last Thursday’s agenda setting session that was on the District’s web site, the Board was slated to discuss the budget and millage rate proposed for 2009, though the PDF version of the agenda and supporting materials made no mention of either. Now, however, even those no longer can be found. What gives?

If past practice is any indication, even when the budget is made “public,” it will be available only in a summarized and incomplete form. So just how is the public expected to make informed judgments on the budget when it has no meaningful access to it.

I give the Unified Government a hard time on a variety of issues, deservedly so in my opinion, but this is one area in which City Hall gets high marks. Though I think they spend far too much on questionable expenditures, the folks behind the rail have their full budget available for public inspection at a variety of places around the community, have the document on its web site, and have published the schedule for its public hearings.

Why can’t the District do the same? And no, the answer is not that it lacks the money to do so.

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Paul Broun Campaign Update

Some recent snippets from the Broun campaign:

Congressman Paul Broun, M.D. (R-GA), received a major boost in his bid for re-election with the endorsement of Paul Weyrich. Mr. Weyrich is known and respected as the patriarch of the American Conservative Movement. Therefore, he is a leading shaper of opinion, not only in the nation’s capital, but among conservative activists and donors across the nation. Weyrich is Chairman of the Free Congress Foundation. Since 1977, FCF has been the leading pioneering conservative publ policy organization in the nation. Mr. Weyrich is also well-known in Washington, D.C. for his role as host of a weekly gathering of conservative members of Congress, members of the Executive Branch, business leaders and representatives of think tanks and conservative advocacy groups. The gathering is called the Coalition for America.

U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) will serve as host of an upcoming fundraising event in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the re-election of Congressman Paul Broun, M.D. GOP Leader Boehner’s commitment adds momentum to Broun’s determined fight to win his battle for re-election.

Chief Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) Every Republican is Crucial (ERICPAC) has contributed $10,000 to the Broun campaign.

COLEPAC, the leadership PAC of Tom Cole (R-OK), has given Congressman Broun a $3,500 contribution for his campaign. Cole serves as Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The Conservative Victory Fund, the nation's oldest conservative campaign committee, endorses for reelection Congressman Paul Broun for the U.S. House of Representatives 10th District in Georgia. During his tenure as a Congressman, Paul Broun has proven his conservative credentials on issues ranging from border security to cutting spending and lowering taxes. Paul Broun is also fights for family values. He has introduced or cosponsored bills that support the right to life. Congressman Paul Broun represents the conservative values of Georgia. Conservative Victory Fund is proud to support him. The late conservative leader Congressman John Ashbrook founded CVF more than thirty-five years ago. CVF works to elect a conservative majority to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Congressman Paul C. Broun, M.D. achieved a perfect score on the Immigration Reduction Report Card issued by Americans for Better Immigration. ABI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization which lobbies Congress for reductions in immigration numbers. Broun’s 100% score is the highest in the entire United States Congress, and he is the only member of Congress to have achieved a perfect score for his legislative career. The “subjects” Broun was graded on include Chain Immigration, Visa Lottery, Anchor Baby Citizenship, Border Control, and Interior Enforcement.

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That Other Shoe Is About To Drop

At its agenda meeting tomorrow evening, the Clarke County Board of Education is slated to amend its 2007-08 budget yet again, this time to the tune of $426,013 (see pages 83-84 of the slow-loading PDF).

This is the third set of such amendments. By my calculations, the District’s budget for 2007-08 comes to $119,049,247; the original budget proposed last spring was $117,649,506, by the time it was adopted the budget rose to $118,290,754, plus amendments in October of $214,780, plus amendments in November of $117,700, plus amendments in May of $426,013. Thus, from the time the budget was originally proposed until it actually ends, it will have grown by $1.4 million. Remember that is not from one budget year to the next, but within the same budget.

Also, items 1 and 2 under New Business concern the adoption of a tentative budget and millage rate for the District’s FY 2008-09 budget. Even though those items appear on the HTML version of the meeting’s agenda, the PDF contains no information on either the budget or the millage rate (though the latter is already at the constitutional limit of 20 mills and is in all likelihood going to stay there).

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Athens-Clarke Proposed Budget Up By 84%

The proposed FY 2009 budget for the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County is out – and is it a doozey. The “General Fund” operating budget jumps from $99,394,287 to $104,930,930 (a 5.57% increase), its operating budget for “All Funds” goes from $151,359,253 to $162,275,600 (a 7.21% increase), and the “Capital” portion of the budget skyrockets from $61,648,200 to $229,566,100 (a 272.38% increase).

Altogether, the proposed budget represents an increase of $178,834,247 (83.96%) over that of the current fiscal year. See pages A-5 and A-6 of the FY 2008 budget and pages A-3, A-4, and B-1 of the proposed FY 2009 budget (they are large PDFs, so expect a delay).

Also in the budget mix are 19 new personnel positions (see page B-1 of the proposed FY 2009 budget). This is important because, back during the campaign to get Clarke County voters to approve city-county unification, the sales pitch was that the overall personnel level would decrease over time through attrition. Needless to say, that has not happened – instead, the Unified Government relies on maintaining an arbitrary ratio of personnel to 1000 of population, which naturally allows the size of government to continually grow.

And . . . again in FY 2009, even if one factors out the capital budget, the Unified Government is going to be spending about a million dollars per month more just on operations.

And . . . the property tax millage rate is going up, just as I predicted last June (see page A-1 of the proposed FY 2009 budget).

And . . . property tax assessments continue to go up, even though the real estate market remains flat or even declines (see here and here).

Now I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop when the Clarke County School District makes its proposed budget public (insofar that it does, that is).

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Local Government Budgets For FY 2009

As time is getting short in the annual budget adoption process mandated for local governments, I’ve been keeping my eyes open for any information concerning the FY 2009 budgets for either the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County or the Clarke County School District

This public notice appeared in today’s Banner-Herald, noting that the Mayor's recommended budget should be available tomorrow. The powers that be down at City Hall claim that they have already cut $1.8 million from the FY 2009 budget. I’d bet you dollars to donuts, though, that the supposed “cut” is, in reality, merely a reduction in a requested increase and not an actual reduction in spending - but we shall see.

To date, I have been able to find absolutely nothing in the Banner-Herald or on the Clarke County School District’s web site about its upcoming budget – and time is getting perilously short for the public hearings process prescribed by state law – not that the CCSD can be counted on to observe the legalities.

For what it is worth, the TOA family received a property tax reassessment notice over the weekend. While it was not the double (or triple – and yes, that has happened twice) digit increases the Unified Government has tried to foist off on us in the past, given the reality of the real estate market these days, I don’t see how any increase is justified. Other than the ever-increasing spending by the local bureaucracies, that is.

In other Unified Government news, the folks down at City Hall are seeking applicants for a variety of authorities, boards and commissions. The deadline for applications is Friday, 16 May. See here for details.

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10th District GOP Debate Details

Okay gang, here is definitive information for the upcoming debate between Paul Broun and Barry Fleming, straight from the UGA College Republicans.

The debate will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, 03 May, at the Dean Rusk Center on UGA's North Campus (in the Larry Walker Room on the 4th Floor). A reception will follow

Panelists for the debate are Mary Kay Mitchell of WUGA radio and Walter C. Jones of Morris News Service.

Sayeth the UGACRs:

Please join the University of Georgia Chapter of the College Republicans for the first debate between Congressman Paul Broun and Representative Barry Fleming. It will be an exciting event designed to help voters get to know the candidates better. The 90 Minute debate will include questions from the panelists, from members of the College Republican, and from the audience. The University of Georgia College Republicans will host a reception at the conclusion of the event. Seating is first come first served. The doors will open at 1:45. Please plan to park in the North Campus Parking Deck.

If you have any questions, contact Josh Findlay at jfindlay@uga.edu.

For more details, visit the UGACR web site at www.ugarepublicans.com.

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Cowsert Reelection Campaign Kickoff Bar-B-Que

State Senator Bill Cowsert of the 46th District will hold a reelection campaign kickoff bar-b-que at the Oconee County Civic Center, located at 2661 Hog Mountain Road in Watkinsville, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April.

The host committee consists of Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, Secretary of State Karen Handel, and State Senate officers Eric Johnson (president pro tem), Tommie Williams (majority leader), Mitch Seabaugh (majority whip), and Dan Moody (Republican Caucus chair).

RSVP to Melissa Crowe by phone at (706) 543-2710 or by email at melissacrow@cowsertavery.com.

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Broun-Fleming Debate Update

The UGA College Republicans' debate between 10th District incumbent Congressman Paul Broun and his GOP primary challenger, State Representative Barry Fleming, is slated for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, 03 May in the Dean Rusk Center on UGA’s North Campus.

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10th District GOP Convention Recap

The 2008 convention was held on Saturday, 19 April. In addition to the usual politicking, the agenda included three guests of honor: Secretary of State Karen Handel, Congressman Paul Broun, and State Representative Barry Fleming. As one would expect, all three delivered what in effect were campaign speeches.

Secretary Handel led off by detailing the turnaround and increased efficiency in her office since she took charge of the department’s bureaucracy. She should cruise to reelection without much difficulty.

Paul Broun gave a synopsis of his brief time in Washington, including the bills he has introduced, explanations of the votes he has cast, and his ratings by various conservative interest groups. He noted that he was an “originalist” insofar as constitutional matters are concerned and that he subjected every bill on which he voted to his “four way” test. All in all, just what one would expect from a newbie congressman.

Barry Fleming’s performance is harder to categorize. I think that he may well be a more polished speaker than Broun, but then Fleming has been in office longer and has been part of the state GOP establishment for years. And therein lies the problem. Many of the Party rank and file are not enamored of the hierarchy these days, at either the national or state levels.

In other circumstances, Fleming may be an attractive Republican candidate for congress. In these circumstances, however, he is the challenger – and his strategy appears to be to tear down the incumbent. He is trying to do so by outflanking Broun to the right. Fleming’s attempt to tar Broun as soft on abortion and illegal drugs is laughably disingenuous. When he made such charges, as when he said that Broun voted “to make marijuana more available,” audible muttering rippled through the room. This does not bode well for Mr. Fleming. (Yes, I am supporting Broun, but my observation is valid nonetheless.)

10th District GOP Chairman Dave Barbee also spoke, giving a heartfelt eulogy for his good friend, the late Charlie Norwood. He also, and in unequivocal terms, urged the Republicans under the Gold Dome next session to “cut taxes and go home.” I heartily agree.

Of course, the business of the convention concerned the election of three delegates to the Republican National Convention, to be held this coming September. One of our own, local attorney Regina Quick (who also serves as Clarke County Republican Committee treasurer), was selected to represent the 10th District in St. Paul.

This year’s convention was held in Mahler Auditorium at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education on the UGA campus in Athens. It is a nice facility and we experienced no problems with the registration process, the computer/projection system, or the food service. However, the venue itself prompts a couple of observations. Directly across from the doors of Mahler Auditorium, on the exterior wall of Masters Hall, currently hangs political artwork consisting of a Mexican flag superimposed on a United States flag, along with stylized portraits of such illustrious figures as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. I did not take the time to identify the several others on display, but assume they were a collection of similar leftwing Latin thugs. I was not particularly concerned about the art but, on the other hand, it does speak volumes about the academy these days. The other thing is purely prosaic. After the convention, those assembled had box lunches, I assume catered by the Georgia Center. There were no receptacles for recycling the aluminum cans, plastic bottles, or boxes used for the lunches in evidence (at least none that I saw). Given the emphasis on recycling these days, that struck me as extremely odd - especially for a public university campus.

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Paul Broun Campaign News

Volunteers for Paul Broun’s reelection campaign will be going door-to-door every Saturday from now until the Republican primary in mid July. Those interested in lending a hand are welcome to meet at Broun's Athens campaign headquarters, located at 2425 West Broad Street, at 9:00 a.m. For details or to volunteer, call Jordan Chinouth at (706) 369-9039 or (706) 410-4913.

Also, Dr. Broun will hold a “Town Hall” legislative update in conjunction with the UGA College Republicans at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, 21 April. The meeting will take place in Room 247 of the Student Learning Center.

Finally, don’t forget that the UGACR’s are sponsoring a debate between Broun and GOP primary challenger Barry Fleming on Saturday 03 May. Details will be forthcoming as they become available.

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