{"id":1127,"date":"2012-02-06T07:45:19","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T12:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/georgia-legislature-giving-unelected-bodies-bond-issuing-privatizing-power.html"},"modified":"2012-02-06T07:45:19","modified_gmt":"2012-02-06T12:45:19","slug":"georgia-legislature-giving-unelected-bodies-bond-issuing-privatizing-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/georgia-legislature-giving-unelected-bodies-bond-issuing-privatizing-power.html","title":{"rendered":"Georgia legislature giving unelected bodies bond-issuing privatizing power"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Georgia House has just passed a bill authorizing local
\ndevelopment authorities to form public-private partnerships
\n
\n<\/a>
\nas they see fit and to issue bonds to pay for them, putting
\nwe the taxpayers on the hook.
\nIf this bill passes, VLCIA could issue bonds for a private prison,
\na biomass plant, a coal plant (apparently not a coincindence; see below),
\na toll road, a private railroad,
\nor whatever it felt like.
\nIt wouldn’t even need
\ncooperation by elected officials.<\/a>
\nIt wouldn’t have to go to the Lowndes County Commission for permission,
\nlike
\n
\nVLCIA did for $15 million in bonds to buy real estate.<\/a>
\nThe Industrial Authority could just issue the bonds itself!
\nAnd we the taxpayers who would have to pay for it?
\nWe’ll just get to pay, that’s all.
\nThere’s still time to stop it in the Georgia Senate.<\/p>\n

\nMaybe
\nHB 475<\/a> should be called the “Easy Jobs for Cronies Act”.
\nIt adds various definitions of public-private partnership,
\nand then throws in a wild card:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n“(b) An authority may determine if any project should be exclusively
\nclassified under one of the definitions of the term ‘project’ under
\nparagraph (6) of Code Section 36-62-2. An authority may also determine
\nthat a project which involves a public body is composed of both public
\nand private components which are integrated so as to produce the desired
\npurposes and will promote and develop some part or all of the public
\npurposes of trade, commerce, industry, and employment opportunities. The
\nauthority’s determination or determinations as to such matters shall be
\nfinal for all purposes of this chapter and not subject to review.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The public and elected officials, who needs them for approval?
\nJudges and courts, who needs them for review?<\/p>\n

\nApproval of spending your tax dollars:<\/p>\n

\n(c) An authority may issue bonds which shall qualify as paying the
\ncost of a project (1) to purchase or acquire a completed project and,
\nif necessary, to carry out any further construction or equipping that it
\nmay desire; or (2) to construct, purchase, acquire, or equip a project,
\nfor any purpose permitted by this chapter, including, without limitation,
\nfor the purpose of the authority’s leasing, selling, or placing under
\nmanagement any such project as provided in Code Section 36-62-7. The
\nprovisions of this subsection are a restatement of current law and shall
\nnot be construed to restrict the right of a person or entity to lease a
\nproject from an authority when such person or entity is the seller or
\nbuilder of such project or when such bonds are issued to such person
\nor entity.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s been very little about HB 475 in the press.<\/p>\n

\nThe
\n
\nGold Dome Report 2 February 2012<\/a> has this:<\/p>\n

\nHB 475 was brought forth by Rep. Jay Powell (R-Camilla) and would be known
\nas the “Development Authorities Law.” The Bill would amend the definition
\nof the term “project” to include facilities owned by a public or private
\nentity or a combination of the two integrated for purposes of trade,
\ncommerce, industry, or employment opportunities. Furthermore such
\nterm includes highway facilities, surface transportation projects,
\nand projects that are related to transportation. HB 475 received
\nmany questions from House members. Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville)
\nasked about how the Bill affected the sale of bonds. Rep. Carl Rogers
\n(R-Gainesville) asked a question about the definition of “unfettered
\nauthority” which can be found on line 6 of the Bill. After Rep. Powell
\nyielded the Well, Rep. Mark Hatfield (R-Waycross) spent a lengthy amount
\nof time attempting to discourage House members from voting for the Bill.
\nHe suggested that HB 475 would enable some businesses to circumvent the
\nreview process and avoid paying taxes. Reps. David Knight (R-Griffin)
\nand Larry O’Neal (R-Bonaire) voiced concerns that Rep. Hatfield was having
\ntrouble understanding the importance of the legislation. In the end,
\nHB 475 passed with a final vote of 132 to 28.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Enable some businesses to circumvent the review process and avoid paying taxes?
\nWhat sort of businesses?<\/p>\n

\nKatherine Helms Cummings has an example in Rural and Progressive, 3 February 2012,
\n
\nHB 475 lets the fox run the hen house<\/a><\/p>\n

\nJust to give folks a quick perspective on some things that are
\n
\n<\/a>
\nconcerning to some taxpayers in Washington County, GA where I live:
\nmy General Assembly Representative in the House, Mack Jackson, who
\nwas clearly raised to be polite and considerate, ushered a bill
\nthrough the General Assembly after Plant Washington ( a proposed
\n$2.1B+ coal fired power plant which lacks a pro forma estimate) was
\nannounced. The bill allows for a public facilities authority to
\nissue bonds on projects without taxpayer input at the polls.<\/p>\n

\nThat means county bonds could be issued for Plant Washington, as
\nwell as other projects, putting all taxpayers on the hook should the
\nbond-funded project go belly up. At that time, and today as well,
\nthe Industrial Development Authority is chaired by Hugh Tarbutton,
\nand his nephew Ben Tarbutton III, serves as the Secretary. The
\nTarbuttons own considerable tracts of land near the Plant Washington
\nsite, with, unless things have changed recently, Hugh owning a large
\nchunk of land where the plant would be built.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And it gets even better:<\/p>\n

\nBut the 120 rail cars of coal required each day to fire the plant have to
\n
\n<\/a>
\nget there somehow. Fortunately Washington County has a shortline railroad
\nwhich is privately held. The President of Sandersville Railroad is Hugh
\nTarbutton. Ben Tarbutton III is an assistant Vice-President. Other
\nofficers include Ben Tarbutton, Jr. as Vice-President, and Charles
\nTarbutton, assistant Vice-President\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Coincidence, right? Maybe, maybe not:<\/p>\n

\nI wondered who in the transportation industry might have supported
\nMack’s campaigns. In 2008 Ben Tarbutton (no indication of Jr or III)
\ncontributed $500.00, Hugh was good for $300, Ben III weighed in at
\n$250.00 and Charles added $250.00 to Mack’s campaign funds. In 2010,
\nduring a three day period, Ben Jr, Ben III, and Hugh each
\ncontributed $250.00 to Jackson’s campaign coffers. During the
\nsession legislators can’t accept campaign donations (although they
\nare free to be entertained by lobbyists) so who knows what the 2012
\ncampaign reports will tell us.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, who knows?<\/p>\n

\nBut meanwhile there’s still time to stop HB 475 in the Senate.
\n


\n-jsq<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Georgia House has just passed a bill authorizing local development authorities to form public-private partnerships as they see fit and to issue bonds to pay for them, putting we the taxpayers on the hook. If this bill passes, VLCIA could issue bonds for a private prison, a biomass plant, a coal plant (apparently not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,120,1113,216,14,8,2,72,20,21,22,32,3,178],"tags":[8738,8817,8753,3101,1711,8701,3100,8730,7,2741,1297,6,180,8749],"class_list":["post-1127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-biomass","category-cca","category-coal","category-economy","category-georgia","category-government","category-incarceration","category-law","category-planning","category-politics","category-pollution","category-transparency","category-vlcia","tag-biomass","tag-cca","tag-coal","tag-cronyism","tag-economic-development","tag-georgia","tag-hb-475","tag-incarceration","tag-lowndes-county","tag-plant-washington","tag-private-prison","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-lowndes-county-industrial-authority","tag-vlcia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}