Tag Archives: tax

Four SPLOST town hall meetings –Joyce Evans @ LCDP 2013-07-02

“Hopefully” there will be four town hall meetings before the final SPLOST lists are settled, said Lowndes County Commissioner Joyce Evans (District 1) at last night’s Lowndes County Democratic Party Annual 4th of July Barbecue.

We’re beginning to put things together for the SPLOST.

Joyce Evans, District 1, Lowndes County Commission Hopefully we’ll be able to do several…. I know the mayor has stated that they were going to do two town hall meetings and the county’s going to do a couple of town hall meetings and then we’re going to come together with the information that we’ve received from the community and go and put together an overall SPLOST for the city and the county.

So please, take time, think about it, and be involved.

We shall see. At least it’s a small change in the old boy backroom behavior so popular among elected officials around here that the famously reclusive commissioner said this in front of a video camera.

Here’s the video:


Four SPLOST town hall meetings –Joyce Evans
July 4th BBQ, Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
Gretchen Quarterman (Chair), Dennis Marks (Vice-Chair / Elections), Amanda Hall (Vice-Chair / Membership), Richard Saeger (Vice-Chair / Qualifying), Jerrell Anderson (Secretary), James J. Parker (Treasurer),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 July 2013.

-jsq

Video of oral arguments in LOST GA Supreme Court case

Here’s the Georgia Supreme Court’s own video of S13A0992 Turner County v. City of Ashburn et al. Walter Elliott Tuesday, June 4, 2013. It starts with the attorney for Turner County, Walter Elliott (who is also Lowndes County Attorney) apparently arguing that the courts shouldn’t intervene because only legislative bodies should decide on taxes. The judges didn’t seem to understand his argument.

One judge wondered how disputes would be settled then. Elliott said the local elected bodies would decide or the tax wouldn’t be levied. Another judge pointed out that legislative bodies could delegate administrative functions. Later the same judge asked how to distinguish this case from a child custody case as far as criteria and a court being able to decide. Elliott claimed that was a judicial function, but allocating tax dollars was not. The judges didn’t seem to be buying the city attorney’s argument later, either.

Funny how the Supreme Court of Georgia videos its sessions, but the Lowndes County Commission does not.

Here’s the subject of the case: Continue reading →

Budget meetings? LOST meeting? Nothing on Lowndes County Commission calendar

Update 7:45 PM 4 June 2013: 8:30 AM Wednesday 5 June 2013.
Rumor has it that the Lowndes County Commission has already had one budget meeting and is going to have a meeting tomorrow about the GA Supreme Court LOST decision. Yet there’s nothing on the Commission’s public calendar and under Special Events their website says

There are no events at this time
How is meeting where the people don’t know doing people’s business?

-jsq

LOST decision coming from GA Supreme Court

Local Lowndes County and city officials are awaiting breathlessly the news from Atlanta today about new rules on LOST negotiations. Currently, negotiators have to choose one of the positions submitted by the contending parties. The GA Supreme Court may decide to let negotiators pick some other division of LOST funds. Valdosta Mayor John Gayle cancelled a meeting here yesterday so he could be in Atlanta for this court decision. Lowndes County Commissioners are rumored to be planning a meeting tomorrow morning after the decision.

Fox 31 posted 30 May 3012, Supreme Court of Georgia to hear Turner County LOST case

On June 4th, the Georgia Supreme Court will hear the case between Turner County and three cities over the distribution of Local Option Sales Taxes. Below is the entirety of the facts in the case as released by the court:

In this dispute between the governments of Turner County and three cities over how Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) proceeds should be distributed, the county is appealing a superior court ruling which picked the cities’ plan for distribution over the county’s.

There’s much more detail in that article. Also, Tim Omarzu wrote for timesfreepress.com 9 May 2013, Georgia top court to consider LOST negotiations.

-jsq

VDT should dig deeper into county trash

The VDT should dig deeper into the finances of Lowndes County trash collection. Nobody has ever seen an accounting of where where the money went for the county’s former waste collection sites, so nobody knows whether the county was really losing money or how much, and the county’s version of how those sites had to be paid for doesn’t match state law.. Sure, Bill Slaughter defending a decision made when Ashley Paulk was chair is amusing, but instead of transcribing what county officials tell it, the VDT could find lots more under the county’s garbage with a little digging.

Jason Schaefer write for the VDT Thursday, Concerns continue over garbage agreement: Business owner argues case against County

The County is not required under Georgia law to issue RFPs to any company for waste disposal services, according to Slaughter. That decision was made in a good-faith effort to find the lowest possible rate for garbage service for the citizens of Lowndes County, he said Tuesday.

Is that the point of county government, to act like Wal-Mart? Is money the only value the county government can name? Everyone I talked to about the trash issue in 2012 who already had a waste collection card said they’d be willing to pay more to keep the sites open. Maybe if the county had held public hearings they would have learned that.

And does anyone believe ADS’s rates are going to stay that low? Look at Wakulla, Florida, where it’s $196/year. But the bigger question is why did the county privatize trash collection anyway?

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Valdosta Utilities Department 5-Year Action Plan

Received 26 April 2013. Basically Valdosta is accelerating its plans to do something about wastewater, including adding pumpstations and force mains, as well as relocating the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant uphill. Here are the summary pages; there’s much more detail in the plan. -jsq

Utilities Department 5-Year Action Plan:

Since 1992, the City has received $179 million in SPLOST funding and over the same time period has invested nearly $168 million in capital projects for the Water and Wastewater system. This includes SPLOST funding, system revenues, bonds, and GEFA loans.

Since 2009, the Utilities Department has expended over $49 million on sewer system improvement with approximately $5.6 million spent on the Withlacoochee Treatment Plant. When the projects listed below are completed by December 2018, the City will have invested approximately $230 million in capital projects for its Utilities system from 1992 to 2018, a 26-year period.

PUMP STATION, FORCE MAIN, HEADWORKS AND EQUALIZATION BASIN PROJECT

Continue reading →

Sinkhole costs, and prevention vs. reaction

The day after the VDT ran Lowndes County’s admission that the sewer line break was theirs, not Valdosta’s, did the VDT start a series of financial investigation like they did about Valdosta’s water issues? Nope, they ran a piece about how much weather costs the county, with no recognition of watershed-wide issues, nor of any need for the county to participate in proactively dealing with them, to reduce costs, for better quality of life, to attract the kinds of businesses we claim we want. Nope, none of that.

Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT 27 April 2013, What natural events cost Lowndes taxpayers,

In the Deep South, near a river plain where floodwaters rise and ebb from season to season and wetlands that distinguish the region from anywhere else in the nation, flooding makes a significant portion of the concern for Lowndes County emergency management.

OK, that’s close to getting at some of the basic issues. We’re all in the same watershed, and we need to act like it instead of every developer and every local government clearcutting and paving as if water didn’t run downhill. Does the story talk about that? After all, the county chairman attended the 11 April 2013 watershed-wide flooding meeting that led to the city of Valdosta’s likely participation in flodoplain planning. Nope; according to the VDT, everybody around here seems to be hapless victims of weather:

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Valdosta PR about wastewater issues

The city of Valdosta responds. I have decorated this PR with a few images with links, and a few comments after it. -jsq

Mayor and Council Address Recent Wastewater Issues,

The Valdosta Mayor and City Council are committed to providing quality municipal services that meet the expectations of our citizens. In addition to providing fire and police protection and other beneficial quality of life services, the city leadership is equally committed to providing adequate water and wastewater treatment services to its citizens, maintaining a functioning sewer collection system and discharging treated water in an environmentally responsible manner.

Recently, citizens have been inundated with information about the current state of the city’s wastewater treatment plant and sewer collection system, as well as the decisions made during the recent flood event. The following information is provided to explain the recent event and to help citizens better understand these important issues and the dedicated work of their elected officials and municipal staff.

THE SITUATION

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Spilling Sewage Pictures by Gabe Fisher 3:30 PM 24 March 2013

Received yesterday. -jsq

Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:43:47 -0400

Manhole

All, just so everyone is on the same page- the sewer line is currently spilling sewage. It just started at mu house but has been going strong at sugar creek for awhile by the looks of it. Here are some current pictures as of 3:30 today. It will get worse until the river crests..

Gabe

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More Valdosta wastewater correspondence

Some interesting questions have come up in Gabe Fisher's continuing correspondence with the City of Valdosta about sewage in his back yard and under his house, while City Council Tim Carroll continues to respond, both copying a long list of people.

From: Gabe Fisher
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2013 14:23:12 -0500

All, I appreciate the update on where the city stands on moving the sewer all together—I just wish we had been kept informed of the plans over the last 4 years. Living with the *real* threat of flooding is stressful enough, add in the guaranteed associated sewage spill is more than I can handle.

I also appreciate the city workers spreading lime and working on the sewer line behind my house today. But I have questions—What about the sewage in my yard and under my house? Is this my responsibility?

Thanks, Gabe

Tim Carroll responded with a couple of suggestions:

Continue reading →