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<\/a>\nDavid Rodock wrote in the VDT 13 July 2011,\n<\/a>\nDavid Rodock wrote in the VDT 13 July 2011,\n\nCitizens speak against Cat Creek crowding<\/a>:\n\nGretchen Quarterman also spoke against the proposition, citing that\nextending residential areas further out into undeveloped Lowndes County\nwould create greater strain on an already tight fiscal operating budget.\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<\/a>\nShe referred to a report County Planner Jason Davenport\ncommissioned from\nProf. Jeffrey H. Dorfman of UGA,\n\nLocal Government Fiscal Impacts of Land Use in Lowndes County<\/a>,\nDecember 2007,\nin which he recommended development close in to existing services\nfor the most benefit to all parties.\nAs\n\nProf. Dorfman has said,<\/a>\n
\n\n<\/a>\n“Local governments must ensure balanced growth, as\nsprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin<\/strong>*\n
\n* Or at least big tax increases.”\n<\/blockquote>\nHe noted\n\n“The same growth done more densely and contiguously saves both money, farmland, and provides environmental amenities.”\n<\/blockquote>\nProf. Dorfman has even quantified national averages for\n\n\ndollars of revenue for each $1 of municipal expenditures:\n\n
- \nResidential: $0.87\n
- \nCommercial\/Industrial: $3.45\n
- \nFarmland\/Forestland\/Open Space: $2.70\n<\/ul>\nFarms and forests are net financial benefits to the county.\nResidential, unless expensive or close in to existing services,\nis a net drain on the county coffers.\nProf. Dorfman quantified how expensive and how close in in\n\nhis report to Lowndes County.<\/a>\n
\nSound on the video of Gretchen speaking\nis bad due to the camera problems we’ve been having.\nThey turn out to be operator error (it was my fault),\nwhich we finally discovered after that meeting.\n
\nHere’s\n\nthe video:<\/a>\n
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