The Sound Guy
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Posts posted by The Sound Guy
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I went to Steve Golden's event last night was came away very impressed. The one thing that bothers me about Stout, besides the whole mother in law thing, is that he only lives in Paulding. Does not work or attend church services here.
Something on the order of 80% of our population works outside of the county since there are few high tech/manufacturing jobs here. That's the primary problem. Before I was able to move to work at home, I was one of those driving out of county every day. Are you saying that the 80% of the county population have no right to try to fix the county they live and pay taxes in because they can't find jobs here?
Right... I don't live in the 19th, but I sure would not let that be a deciding factor!
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I find it mildly entertaining that candidates would waste so many signs on the courthouse, anyway. How often does the average citizen go there? I've been there three times since it opened - once last year and twice this year - and don't anticipate having to go back until 2014, when I'll renew my notary commission and my handicapped parking permit.
Early voting has started and I believe that is the county location for it. There were several of the signs that said "No campaigning within 150 ft of the voting location".
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In short, yes.
This was how Glenn Richardson became speaker. He created a PAC similar to that of Hal's, and did a great job of fundraising ... doled the money out to promising GOP candidates in race after race across the state and got them elected. Guess who they voted for as speaker?
pubby
Interesting. Note to self, be careful who I donate to.
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Went by tonight after Soccer tryouts.
From what I saw, looks like most of the candidates have cleaned up their supporters over enthusiasm. Only saw a few of each candidate at each entrance.
LOL, they did all try to get in the last sign!
However, Drew Lane is either very desperate for attention or rather ego centric, I can't tell which, he had sign after sign after sign...
He does work at the courthouse right? He would see these every day right?
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This one is strange -
Committee to Re-Elect Hal Echols
4645 Macland Road
Hiram, GA 30141
So if donate to any PAC, and they don't use my money for their cause, they are allowed to donate anywhere THEY want to?
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If you are in need of free fertilizer for your garden come to the meet and greet at the Stars and Strioes June 10th from 6:00 to 8:00 Their will be plenty of Bull S**T to go around, For all the gardens in the County
On a serious note this is a great opportunity to meet most of the candidates And to interact with them And ask the questions that you have about their platforms. Hope to see you there
Any Post 4 candidates going to be there? Who is sponsoring the event?
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I see the same thing at a lot of intersections too.
Dabbs Bridge and HGCR is loaded with multiple signs for candidates for the 19th and we're not even in the 19th!!
Signs in someones yard impress me more than signs on the road. Anyone can put on one road, to have in someone's yard at least means that person has found them worth supporting.
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Looks like Post 4 is a toss up.
I myself have no clue yet which way I'm going to go.
Looked at the web sites for all, but they are pretty vague.
Keep having conflicts with the meet and greets, hopefully I'll be able to make one. This election is too important to guess.
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I hope all recover OK.
HGCR is dangerous in so many ways. I especially get concerned when the bicycle groups are on it, there are few places you can safely pass even slow moving groups/people on that road. The curves invite people to cross the yellow line, especially if going faster than the speed limit.
I shudder to think about next fall when NPHS has it's first Senior Class and many of them start driving HGCR every day.
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And I hope the voters appreciate the fact we have a chairman, and at least one commissioner [Tommie Graham] who have obviously been working hard at cutting spending where ever possible and not rubber-stamping spending, spending, spending.
I know 'I' really appreciate it!!
I'm going to try to find them a like minded person for Post 4!
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It was named for the Watson Family that the land was purchased from. This was part of the deal for them to sell
the land to the county.
Ah, thank you. Interesting. I wonder if they gave the county a discount for naming rights.
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Wouldn't the mill-rate on the bond need to go up again if the tax digest decreased again?
It may, esp for all of the school bonds, but that's beyond the control of the Board and as long as it's revenue neutral, not really a tax increase. Now if the School system has sold the second half of the already approved $125 million in bonds, that *WILL* be an increase and a sizable one. The county bonds went up from 0.5 mil in 2008 to 1.6 mil in 2009, I think that was the Courthouse bonds and the Greenspace/wildlife bonds.
The only parts of the bill that can be controlled are:
State Tax - Obviously the state controls this and I doubt it will ever go down.
Fire Tax - Not sure who decides this, I would imagine the County Commissioners.
County M&O - The County Commissioners control this.
School M&O - The School board controls. However, as I recall from the days of the Bond arguments, there is a state limit on the millage rate (20 mils)and we're fairly close to it. I suspect they want to hold that last mil or so for a real emergency. (School flooding out like happened in Cobb in Austell.) I've read that they can go over 20 mils, but the county must vote and approve them going over it.
The Bonds (Courthouse, School, Wildlife) are all set in their payments, unless they are renegotiated, and the millage will have to be changed as needed to pay them.
There are also three sales taxes that affect property taxes:
LOST - Implemented in 1978. No vote since, so this seems to be a permanent tax. I have googled a lot this morning and can find very little information on what this goes for. Looking on my tax bill from last year, there is a note that the county reduced their millage rate by 3.080 mils due to income from a LOST, I assume this is that income. Anybody on here that was in Paulding in 1978 remember any details about this tax?
SPLOST - Started in 1987, re-approved for 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005 expires in 2011 and now up for vote in July 2010. Supports various capital projects that would otherwise have to have bonds issued or come out of M&O, so it reduces property tax rates. (assuming the projects would be done anyway)
ELOST - Started in 1997, re-approved for 2001 and 2006, expires in 2011 also. Supports capital improvements to the school system, allowing M&O budget to go to operations and reducing school bond requirements. Income from the last one was used to guarantee a bond payment that was taken out soon after approval and spent on BOE building, Gyms/Theaters at a couple of high schools and started the North Paulding complex. Complex was completed using some of the $125 million in Bond money voted on two years ago and I suspect the income from the SPLOST over the bond payments since then (if any) has been used to supplement the bond for the various new schools under construction. (I've never seen detailed finance information from the School board, so don't know for sure) I expect to see a vote to renew this tax on the next election, or more likely a special election on the order of the bond vote.
A lot of possibilities for the tax rates to change on our bills in Nov 2010 and Nov 2011.
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Actually, I think I remember Tabitha telling me about a timing issue when it comes to assessments and taxes. I think your assessment from last June 15th, 2009 may actually be the one that will be used for your tax bill this fall. Not sure, I'm waiting on phone call to confirm.
I just looked at my 2009 Tax Bill (Due Nov, 2009) and it used the new value that I got in June. If it's not changed this year, it will be used again for the 2010 taxes.
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"I note that last year, David cut the budget to fit the reduced income" - partially correct but they also raised the mill-rate from 6.5 to 6.65 ; also, I don't believe the majority of folks got new assessments done this year so the mill-rate staying the same will not result in a tax-cut for them. Am I wrong?
That's right. I forgot he did have a small rate increase in that budget. Still he cut the total budget by quite a bit as I recall, no small feat.
You are correct on the latter statement also. Anyone not getting a decrease in their assessment will not see a decrease in taxes. However, someone must be getting assessment decreases or there would not be a digest drop. I also have had my total property taxes increase in years past where there was a rate decrease because my value was raised more than the rate decrease. Individuals may have increases or decreases, but on a county wide level, the total taxes collected will drop if David's statements turn out to be correct.
As far as re-assessments, even if you didn't request one, they still do them. It's still a little early to get our assessment notices from the county for 2010. I dug out last years, it's dated June 15th, 2009, so I suspect we should start seeing them in the next few weeks and find out who got the values reduced. I didn't request a re-assessment last year, the county reduced it on their own.
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Sound Guy - I agree with GOP rules, I read this, side way reading on some, but where did the millage rate non increase show up? Thankful if it did, but did not see it there.
Explain the property tax cut you see in this budget?
I'm sure you are aware that property tax calculations use two factors, the tax base and the millage rate.
David states in the summary:
Our revenues are decreasing for the 2nd year in a row due to a continued decrease in property values. <snip> This budget does not propose an increase to the millage rate...If the sum total of the property values within the county goes down, but the millage rate stays the same, then the total taxes paid by the owners of the county goes down, thus, a tax reduction. My house was devalued last year and since the millage was the same, my county taxes went down. (The increase in STATE taxes through the removal of the state property tax credit pretty much canceled out the reduction, but that's another subject.)
It's the inverse of the effect that we've already seen in the 'good times' where as the tax base in the county goes up, mainly the property value increases, and if the millage rate stayed the same, the total taxes paid would go up. For years in the past, this would be a "hidden" tax increase that produced a great bounty for the county government.
However, as I recall, the state passed a law that said that if the property tax digest change would cause an increase in the taxes collected, the counties either had to reduce their millage rate to keep it revenue neutral, or have announcements and public meetings to discuss the increases. Those meetings are unpopular, so usually, the millage rate would be cut, while the county was actually still collecting the same amount of tax money.
While I've been a homeowner in Paulding, when this happened, our commissioners would be out and about crowing about their "tax rate reductions" and cheered by people who don't understand how it the system works, all the while my total $$$$ paid for property went up by $1000 a year or so over six years. Some reduction. (We won't even discuss sneaky tactics like getting a 2 mil fire tax passed and then dumping the fire department budget from the general fund the next year, but keeping the same millage rate, giving the county budget a 2 mil increase without a public meeting.)
Anyway, an interesting side affect of this process in the good times was reducing the taxes for any major landowner with property (10+ acres) in a tax covenant. These covenants fix the value of the property for a fixed time, 10 - 20 years as long as they don't develop it, so as the millage rate goes down, they pay lower taxes, while the homeowners and businesses that have their values increase actually pay more taxes to make up for the revenue the other landowners are not paying. Remember, it's *total* revenue neutral. Individuals can still get increases.
I note that last year, David cut the budget to fit the reduced income. This year, he notes they are using some of the reserve to make up the difference. Either he is hoping that the economy will recover some this year and his projections will be low or he'd rather increase the millage rate on a non-election year. Not sure which.
In either case, I don't see a lot in the budget that can be cut. DOT needs all the cash they can get, the harsh winter and now heavy rains have most of the roads I drive on in the county in bad shape. The other county departments also seem pretty trim. If the economy does not recover, then I figure we'll have to have a rate increase next year to at least keep the taxes revenue neutral.
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I am more concerned with the relationship between the county (BOE and BOC) and The Facilities Group. I feel that a lot was swept under the rug. I want to ask Roy Barnes if part of his "scrubbing corruptness out of the gold dome" includes investigating the state representative from Powder Springs and his business deals with Georgia counties when he was also employeed by The Facilities Group. There sure appears to be a conflict of interest. But then I am just a dumb ol' country boy.
I agree 100% with you there. I remember reading in the BOE minutes about them approving another couple of hundred thousand $$$ to TFG on South Paulding High when the contract they signed was a "Absolute Maximum Cost" or something like that. Even a BOE member was complaining of why they were paying more with a signed contract. But they did it anyway. Lack of competitive bidding always worries me.
Of course, even *with* a bidding process, the bid can be rigged big time, my old company did bids all the the time where the specs were written where only one company's equipment would meet it.
I doubt we'll ever get any answers now, the documents are buried in the BOE archives and if Whitey's experience was any guide, they'd ask a king's ransom to get to them.
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Well, Dang.
Not much to complain about is there?
Mr. Austin is acting like a real conservative.
I couldn't have blamed him for raising the millage rate this year enough to at least keep the budget revenue neutral. It really wouldn't have been a tax increase since we wouldn't be paying any more in $$$ than we are now.
Instead, he gives us another property tax cut. Yikes! Am I dreaming?
I can only hope that he will continue in this way as long as possible, and that the voters that are electing new commissioners will give him someone he can work with.
WTG David!
PS: "Watson Government Complex"? I assume that is the official name of the County Government Center on 278. Who was it named after? I can't find that on line.
PPS: FreeBird - I'm with you. If that pile of dirt is a Library that is "Nearing Completion" I'm worried they may have cut that contract just a little too far.
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I believe Whitey is referring to the Taj Mahal I, aka BOE Building on Business 6/Merchants Drive.
Taj Mahal II, and III would be the Administration Complex/Courthouse on 278.
At the time the BOE building was completed, the BOE was out of money. They stonewalled the open records requests with absurd amounts demanded to provide a paper trail for invoices from The Facility Group less than 6 months prior on the BOE building work. It "appeared" the last invoices were paid with funds from the newer SPLOST, which did not include any funding for the BOE building.
I would add that they ran out of money without building a SINGLE school classroom that had been promised in the campaign during the original SPLOST vote.
While a new BOE building was needed (the old one was a dump), my complaint was that they seemed to have put a high priority on the BOE building and the showplace completion gyms and theaters ("like Cobb County has") rather than on the new schools and classrooms they promised during the SPLOST campaign. The classrooms would have been qualified for matching funds from the state, which then could have been used for the gyms and theaters. But instead, they blew all the SPLOST Bond money in one wad and that was it.
The North Paulding Complex (Elem,Middle and High) funding was to be included in the last SPLOST vote. However, construction wasn't even STARTED when the BOE came hat in hand to the property tax payers of the county saying they had no money and the schools were overcrowded and they would be forced to double sessions if we didn't give them the the $125,000,000 Bond.
The BOE of that time showed a definite lack of a sense of priority and financial sense to me.
Anybody on the BOE at that time would be highly suspect. I don't think I'd want them handling any more of my money.
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Do you believe all this that is being written on here? I sure don't.
Oh, HECK no!!
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You know I bet I could call any one of these candidates, and they would come to my house and sit down with me and talk.
But you know what, they are not in my district, so I think I will bother them. I bet they would sit down and talk to
anybody in their district.
They might at that. But if you believe anything that comes out of a candidate's mouth during campaign season, then the joke is on you.
My dad was lied to in his own home by a candidate for Commission chairman for Cobb county years ago at a gathering my dad put on to promote his campaign. I haven't believed a campaign promise since.
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Thanks SG.
When we got the newly formatted tax bill last fall that really brought it home. We are, and have been paying taxes on what is now the road, and 2-1/2 feet of the front yards across the street. Good old Paulding County!
I just love how I got a negative vote for asking a question of him/her. Guess I hit a nerve for somebody.
<Sigh>
I just have this feeling that none of these people have ever had to try to fight a company or government with deep pockets to right a perceived wrong.
I of course have not seen all the evidence for both sides since the county will not go to court, but it seems I'm the only one here that can imagine your frustration with not even being able to get into the courtroom to present your case! This is supposed to be a country of equality under the law, not equality to the deep pocket developer and governments. It saddens me and scares me at the same time. Next time it may be me getting the shaft.
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Of course they turned you down. Look how you act.
So if I buy next to you and use 20' of your property for my driveway, you're not going to be concerned? If you ask the county to investigate for two years and they ignore you, you wouldn't be PO'd with them?
Gimmie a break.
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Maybe SurePip should hire Bev to represent him? She's obviously a better negotiator. I think someone is jealous.
Maybe it's not so much 'Bev' and her negotiation as it was she had three commissioners fighting for her whereas Surepip has had three commissioners fighting against even giving him his day in court.
Once again I have to say that all Surepip has been asking for is his day in court and to let the judge decide. To me, the party that drags a case out is the one that doesn't have much of a case to begin with.
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Dang. That sounds like the sharp curve there where people always seem to swing wide into the other lane.
Lets see how the election is looking
in Paulding County NEWS
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I was only able to stay for the speeches, but I agree that he came off the strongest to me.