Six Firms Want the Work
The Georgia Department of Transportation today opened and read six bids ranging from $13.5 to $15.7 million for construction of the Oconee Connector Extension that will lead to the proposed Epps Bridge Centre shopping mall on Epps Bridge Parkway. The department said it will announce its decision on the bids in a week.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners in October set the issuing of bids for the roadway as a condition for beginning any construction on the $76 million shopping center.
GDOT also opened bids today for three projects in Douglas, Coweta and Spalding counties.
Oconee officials had said they expected the state to call for bids for the Oconee Connector Extension several times during the last year, but the state delayed doing so until Nov. 21, 2008. On Dec. 12, 2008, the department opened eight bids, and on Dec. 24 it rejected all eight for unspecified reasons.
The 1.5 mile Oconee Connector Extension will form a loop from SR 316 at its current intersection with the existing Oconee Connector back to Epps Bridge Parkway near Lowe’s. It will include a flyover of SR Loop 10.
Without this road, Epps Bridge Centre will have only one entrance and exit–on Epps Bridge Parkway opposite the Waffle House restaurant.
The low bid opened today was submitted by G.P.S. Enterprises Inc. for $13,465,759, and the high bad was offered by Pittman Construction Company for $15,652,040.
Both firms had submitted bids that were opened in December, though the estimate in each case was lower the second time around. The G.P.S bid in December had been $13,969,803, while the Pittman bid in December had been $16,724,618.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources on April 1, 2009, issued a variance to Atlanta developer Frank Bishop to allow him to violate the 25-foot buffer on a half mile of flowing streams and wetlands on the site.
In issuing the variance, the state informed Bishop that "the amount of land cleared during construction must be kept at a minimum." Bishop has indicated he plans to disturb 62 of the 63 acres that make up the site and to pipe and fill the flowing streams.
On Jan. 20, Bishop was given a permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers to pipe and fill the streams and wetlands on the site and to mitigate the damage by restoring wetlands and streams on a site he purchased in Greene County between the Oconee County line and Greensboro.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Oconee Water and Sewer Rate Increases Proposed
Paying More to Drink and Flush
Oconee County residential water users will be asked for the second time in a little more than a year to pay more for water if the Board of Commissioners approves a budget request made Wednesday night by Utility Department Director Chris Thomas.
Thomas presented a budget that calls for an increase of 31.8 percent in the base water rate, or the minimum amount paid by water customers. That rate will increase from its current $14.04 per month to $18.50, if the proposal is approved by the Board.
The rate increases are needed to compensate for a decrease in water sales and consequent decrease in revenues for the Utility Department, Thomas said.
For $18.50 customers would receive 2,000 gallons of water per month. Under both the current and the proposed scheme, water rates increase with use. Thomas proposed that at each step in the rate scheme water would cost 10 cents more per 1,000 gallons used.
For example, the rate for each additional 1,000 gallons of water used up to 5,000 gallons would increase from $3.80 per 1,000 gallons to $3.90 per $1,000 gallons. At the highest level of use–more than 20,000 gallons per month–the rate per 1,000 gallons would go from $6.72 to $6.82.
The Board of Commissioners increased water rates in the county on April 1, 2008, but only for those who used large amounts of water. For those using more than 12,000 gallons of water per month, the rate of increase was 30 percent or more.
Thomas said at the special meeting of the Board on Wednesday to review budgets requests for the 2010 fiscal year that the county has not increased the basic water rate since 1998.
The 2008 rate increase did not change the base rate and was presented as an attempt at conservation pricing. Thomas acknowledged at the Wednesday night meeting that he could not determine if the conservation pricing had decreased use, given restrictions on water use imposed by the state.
The 2008 increase did not affect commercial users, but the rate increase Thomas proposed on Wednesday night would increase the commercial base rate from $14.04 to $18.50, and the rate per 1,000 gallons of additional water used from $4.80 to $4.90.
Commercial users at present and with the new plan would pay the same per 1,000 gallons used above the base regardless of how much was used.
Sewer rates also would increase, if the Board accepts the proposal put forward by Thomas. The residential base would go from $12.48 to $15.48, or an increase of 24.0 percent. The commercial base rate would go from $21.51 to $25.51, or an increase of 18.6 percent. In both cases, the base rate would provide for 2,000 gallons of treatment.
Residential rates for sewage above the base rate would increase from $2.39 to $3.22 for each 1,000 gallons treated, while the commercial rate for each 1,000 gallons treated would go from $2.84 to $3.52.
The Utility Department had revenues of $3.3 million for the first eight months of the current fiscal year. That means the department has only four months to make up the $3.2 million needed to reach the projected budget of $6.5 million.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the Utility Department fell $1.2 million short of its projected budget of $7.1 million.
Thomas said he hopes the county implements more frequent rate increases in the future so customers are not confronted in the future with the kinds of dramatic increases in the base rate he is proposing this year.
Thomas said even with the increases he is proposing, Oconee County citizens would have a lower base rate for water than residents of Barrow County and Winder, though it would be higher than in Walton and Jackson counties.
At the April 7 BOC meeting, when Thomas first said that he expected to be proposing rate increases for water and sewage services, he also indicated that the Utility Department was slowing work on the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir in Walton County.
To same money and because of decreased need, the county plans to move forward with land acquisition but delay other parts of the project, Thomas said. Oconee is a junior partner with Walton County on the project.
At the end of 2008, the Utility Department was serving 8,497 water customers and 1,298 sewer customers, according to figures Thomas released on April 7. The number of water customers was 380 higher than a year earlier, while the number of sewer customers was 87 higher.
The BOC will hold a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2010 budget from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at the courthouse on May 26.
Oconee County residential water users will be asked for the second time in a little more than a year to pay more for water if the Board of Commissioners approves a budget request made Wednesday night by Utility Department Director Chris Thomas.
Thomas presented a budget that calls for an increase of 31.8 percent in the base water rate, or the minimum amount paid by water customers. That rate will increase from its current $14.04 per month to $18.50, if the proposal is approved by the Board.
The rate increases are needed to compensate for a decrease in water sales and consequent decrease in revenues for the Utility Department, Thomas said.
For $18.50 customers would receive 2,000 gallons of water per month. Under both the current and the proposed scheme, water rates increase with use. Thomas proposed that at each step in the rate scheme water would cost 10 cents more per 1,000 gallons used.
For example, the rate for each additional 1,000 gallons of water used up to 5,000 gallons would increase from $3.80 per 1,000 gallons to $3.90 per $1,000 gallons. At the highest level of use–more than 20,000 gallons per month–the rate per 1,000 gallons would go from $6.72 to $6.82.
The Board of Commissioners increased water rates in the county on April 1, 2008, but only for those who used large amounts of water. For those using more than 12,000 gallons of water per month, the rate of increase was 30 percent or more.
Thomas said at the special meeting of the Board on Wednesday to review budgets requests for the 2010 fiscal year that the county has not increased the basic water rate since 1998.
The 2008 rate increase did not change the base rate and was presented as an attempt at conservation pricing. Thomas acknowledged at the Wednesday night meeting that he could not determine if the conservation pricing had decreased use, given restrictions on water use imposed by the state.
The 2008 increase did not affect commercial users, but the rate increase Thomas proposed on Wednesday night would increase the commercial base rate from $14.04 to $18.50, and the rate per 1,000 gallons of additional water used from $4.80 to $4.90.
Commercial users at present and with the new plan would pay the same per 1,000 gallons used above the base regardless of how much was used.
Sewer rates also would increase, if the Board accepts the proposal put forward by Thomas. The residential base would go from $12.48 to $15.48, or an increase of 24.0 percent. The commercial base rate would go from $21.51 to $25.51, or an increase of 18.6 percent. In both cases, the base rate would provide for 2,000 gallons of treatment.
Residential rates for sewage above the base rate would increase from $2.39 to $3.22 for each 1,000 gallons treated, while the commercial rate for each 1,000 gallons treated would go from $2.84 to $3.52.
The Utility Department had revenues of $3.3 million for the first eight months of the current fiscal year. That means the department has only four months to make up the $3.2 million needed to reach the projected budget of $6.5 million.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the Utility Department fell $1.2 million short of its projected budget of $7.1 million.
Thomas said he hopes the county implements more frequent rate increases in the future so customers are not confronted in the future with the kinds of dramatic increases in the base rate he is proposing this year.
Thomas said even with the increases he is proposing, Oconee County citizens would have a lower base rate for water than residents of Barrow County and Winder, though it would be higher than in Walton and Jackson counties.
At the April 7 BOC meeting, when Thomas first said that he expected to be proposing rate increases for water and sewage services, he also indicated that the Utility Department was slowing work on the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir in Walton County.
To same money and because of decreased need, the county plans to move forward with land acquisition but delay other parts of the project, Thomas said. Oconee is a junior partner with Walton County on the project.
At the end of 2008, the Utility Department was serving 8,497 water customers and 1,298 sewer customers, according to figures Thomas released on April 7. The number of water customers was 380 higher than a year earlier, while the number of sewer customers was 87 higher.
The BOC will hold a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2010 budget from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at the courthouse on May 26.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tax Protestors Ignored Oconee SPLOST
Nice Park for a Protest
Less than a month after Oconee County citizens approved a 1 cent on the dollar sales tax for the next six years, tax opponents are being asked to show up at an anti-tax rally on April 15 at Oconee Veterans Park.
No opposition surfaced for the March 17 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax renewal, which was approved by 71.2 percent of the 1,457 voters who turned out to vote. Those who went to the polls made up only 6.6 percent of the registered voters in the county.
The Tax Protest is being organized by Bill Mayberry, who ran unsuccessfully for coroner in the July Republican primary. Those interested are being asked to "join in a public display of protest, outrage, disbelief, bewilderment and anger" at 11 a.m. at the new county park.
No mention is made in the email flier Mayberry is circulating indicating which taxes, if any, are preferred. April 15, of course, is the deadline for filing federal and state income tax returns.
A review of the record of Oconee County votes on local sales taxes going back nearly 30 years indicates a broad base of support for that tax–at least among those who turn out to vote. Mary Lane in the Oconee County Board of Elections office pulled those records for me.
On Nov. 4, 1980, Oconee County voters narrowly turned down a 1 percent Local Option Sales Tax. Of the 4,206 persons who voted in that election, 49.6 percent voted in favor of the tax.
That was the last time the county ever put a sales tax vote before the voters at a major election when turnout generally is high.
In an election on Dec. 7, 1982, only 1,448 turned out to vote, and 74.7 percent of them approved.
That vote in 1982 put in place a tax that does not require renewal by voters and that today makes up one of three cents on the dollar collected by Oconee County for local use. The state also collects 4 cents on each dollar spent. Groceries are exempted from the state sales tax, but not the local sales taxes.
Voters in June of 1985 approved the first SPLOST overwhelmingly, with 96.6 percent voting affirmatively. SPLOST was renewed in 1987, 1991,1995, 1999 and 2003. All of these were by big margins, with the exception of 1987. That 1987 vote was the closest for a local sales tax after the 1982 LOST approval until the vote on March 17.
In September of 1997, voters approved the first Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales tax, again for 1 cent on the dollar. Voters renewed that tax in 2002 and again in 2006.
The 1,037 voters who approved the March 17 tax was the smallest number of voters to support a local sales tax back to and including the unsuccessful LOST vote in 1980, with the exception of the SPLOST renewal in 1987.
The records for the elections for the taxes prior to 1995 do not include the number of registered voters at the time of the vote, so it is not possible to compare turnout rates back beyond that point.
The 6.6 percent turnout rate on March 17 is the lowest since the SPLOST vote of 1995 and considerably below the 24.1 percent vote in the most recent ESPLOST vote in July of 2006.
The number of registered voters has more than doubled in the county since 1995, yet the number of people who voted in the SPLOST election was 332 fewer in 2009 compared with 1995.
The most recent tally of tax intake for SPLOST–March returns for January collections–was up slightly from a year earlier. The county has eight more months to collect on the current tax, and it should reach the projected amount of $25 million by that point–the end of November for September receipts.
The county would continue to collect the current SPLOST through the November collection regardless, and the new tax would take effect the following month, which would be the beginning of the next fiscal quarter. It will run for six years from that point.
Veterans Park, where the tax protestors are planning to meet on April 15, would have been an appropriate place for an anti-SPLOST protest as well.
To build the very beautiful and very large park, the county went into debt. The current SPLOST is and the SPLOST approved on March 17 will pay down that debt.
SPLOST cannot cover the operating costs for the park, however, which means the county has to cover those costs through other sources, such as from LOST and property taxes. A walk or drive around the park gives a sense of how extensive those maintenance costs are going to be as the park comes fully operational.
There also have been cost overruns with the project.
Whether the protestors will praise the county for raising taxes to build the park where the protest is being held or condemn the county for doing that remains to be seen.
Or perhaps the protestors will support SPLOST and other local taxes at the rally through their silence, as they did in the runup to the March 17 vote.
Less than a month after Oconee County citizens approved a 1 cent on the dollar sales tax for the next six years, tax opponents are being asked to show up at an anti-tax rally on April 15 at Oconee Veterans Park.
No opposition surfaced for the March 17 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax renewal, which was approved by 71.2 percent of the 1,457 voters who turned out to vote. Those who went to the polls made up only 6.6 percent of the registered voters in the county.
The Tax Protest is being organized by Bill Mayberry, who ran unsuccessfully for coroner in the July Republican primary. Those interested are being asked to "join in a public display of protest, outrage, disbelief, bewilderment and anger" at 11 a.m. at the new county park.
No mention is made in the email flier Mayberry is circulating indicating which taxes, if any, are preferred. April 15, of course, is the deadline for filing federal and state income tax returns.
A review of the record of Oconee County votes on local sales taxes going back nearly 30 years indicates a broad base of support for that tax–at least among those who turn out to vote. Mary Lane in the Oconee County Board of Elections office pulled those records for me.
On Nov. 4, 1980, Oconee County voters narrowly turned down a 1 percent Local Option Sales Tax. Of the 4,206 persons who voted in that election, 49.6 percent voted in favor of the tax.
That was the last time the county ever put a sales tax vote before the voters at a major election when turnout generally is high.
In an election on Dec. 7, 1982, only 1,448 turned out to vote, and 74.7 percent of them approved.
That vote in 1982 put in place a tax that does not require renewal by voters and that today makes up one of three cents on the dollar collected by Oconee County for local use. The state also collects 4 cents on each dollar spent. Groceries are exempted from the state sales tax, but not the local sales taxes.
Voters in June of 1985 approved the first SPLOST overwhelmingly, with 96.6 percent voting affirmatively. SPLOST was renewed in 1987, 1991,1995, 1999 and 2003. All of these were by big margins, with the exception of 1987. That 1987 vote was the closest for a local sales tax after the 1982 LOST approval until the vote on March 17.
In September of 1997, voters approved the first Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales tax, again for 1 cent on the dollar. Voters renewed that tax in 2002 and again in 2006.
The 1,037 voters who approved the March 17 tax was the smallest number of voters to support a local sales tax back to and including the unsuccessful LOST vote in 1980, with the exception of the SPLOST renewal in 1987.
The records for the elections for the taxes prior to 1995 do not include the number of registered voters at the time of the vote, so it is not possible to compare turnout rates back beyond that point.
The 6.6 percent turnout rate on March 17 is the lowest since the SPLOST vote of 1995 and considerably below the 24.1 percent vote in the most recent ESPLOST vote in July of 2006.
The number of registered voters has more than doubled in the county since 1995, yet the number of people who voted in the SPLOST election was 332 fewer in 2009 compared with 1995.
The most recent tally of tax intake for SPLOST–March returns for January collections–was up slightly from a year earlier. The county has eight more months to collect on the current tax, and it should reach the projected amount of $25 million by that point–the end of November for September receipts.
The county would continue to collect the current SPLOST through the November collection regardless, and the new tax would take effect the following month, which would be the beginning of the next fiscal quarter. It will run for six years from that point.
Veterans Park, where the tax protestors are planning to meet on April 15, would have been an appropriate place for an anti-SPLOST protest as well.
To build the very beautiful and very large park, the county went into debt. The current SPLOST is and the SPLOST approved on March 17 will pay down that debt.
SPLOST cannot cover the operating costs for the park, however, which means the county has to cover those costs through other sources, such as from LOST and property taxes. A walk or drive around the park gives a sense of how extensive those maintenance costs are going to be as the park comes fully operational.
There also have been cost overruns with the project.
Whether the protestors will praise the county for raising taxes to build the park where the protest is being held or condemn the county for doing that remains to be seen.
Or perhaps the protestors will support SPLOST and other local taxes at the rally through their silence, as they did in the runup to the March 17 vote.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Oconee Board of Education Learns Power of Bob Smith
Kings and Court Jesters
Underplayed and unexplained in last month’s controversy involving the self-proposed salary increase for the Oconee County Board of Education was the role of the state legislature generally and local Representative Bob Smith and Senator Bill Cowsert specifically in Oconee County governance.
The legislature has control not only over the salaries of the members of the Board of Education, but also over the salaries of the members of the Board of Commissioners. It also controls the structure of local government, even determining how the board members are elected.
The legislature will act, however, only if Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert–or whoever holds their seats in the legislature–agree that it should do so. The representative and senator representing the county are kings when it comes to what is called local legislation.
In the controversy regarding the Board of Education’s efforts to increase salaries, Bob Smith played the role to the hilt.
The basic facts in the controversy are not in dispute. The Oconee County Board of Education decided it wanted to increase the salaries of its members.
Board Chairman David Weeks’ salary was to go to $10,000. Vice Chairman Mack Guest’s salary was to go to $7,000. The other three board members would get $6,000 each. All five currently receive only $1,800.
Smith was quoted in the March 12 issue of The Oconee Enterprise as saying Weeks approached him about a month earlier asking him to introduce legislation to increase the salary of members of the Board of Education.
Weeks has said he did what Smith asked and put an advertisement in the Enterprise about the requested change and held a public vote. Only board member Kim Argo voted against the increase at that meeting.
Smith then decided he was not going to introduce the legislation. "I don’t think it is right," he is quoted in the Enterprise as saying.
Without the support of Smith and Cowsert, local legislation of this sort isn’t going to pass the state legislature.
In Georgia, unlike in many other states, the type of local government and school board is not fixed in the constitution, but rather is determined by local or enabling legislation.
As a result, county governmental structure varies considerably around the state. Oconee County has five commissioners, all of whom are elected at large. Athens, which is merged with Clarke County in a unified government, has a mayor and 10 commissioners. All of the Clarke commissioners are elected by districts.
When the Oconee County Board of Commissioners decided in 2007 to stagger their terms so all five of them could not be tossed out together, they had to get approval from the state legislature. That meant Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert had to agree to the change. The School Board made this same change a year earlier–again with local legislator approval.
Either the local representative or senator can introduce the legislation, but it is extremely unlikely to be passed if both do not agree on the changes.
There are no rules on how this is to be done, the conditions that the local legislators can set or the procedures to follow. If Bob Smith had told David Weeks he would introduce the legislation only if Weeks came to his office dressed as a court jester, Weeks would have had to find the costume.
And the local legislators can change their minds, leaving the jester with an unneeded clown suit. Weeks has had the experience.
"He always indicated his support to us, and then at the 11th hour that changed," Weeks is quoted as saying in the March 13 edition of the Athens Banner-Herald. "We never
would have gone through with it if we thought he wasn't going to support it."
Compensation for Board of Education members in the state of Georgia is set by state law at $50 per month plus expenses, but the law allows for an exception, if the legislature approves. And the legislature does that on a case-by-case basis.
In 1999, the legislature set salaries for all Oconee County school board members at $150 a month, or the current $1,800. A year earlier the legislature had set the salaries of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.
The chairman of the Board of Commissioners gets 113 percent of the highest base salary of the sheriff, probate judge, tax commissioner or clerk of superior court, whose salaries are set by the legislature. The other four members of the board get 27 percent of the highest base salary of these four office holders.
Each commissioner also gets an additional 5 percent of the respective salary for each four-year term completed and an annual cost of living adjustment. In the current fiscal year, Chairman Melvin Davis is earning $92,276, Commissioner Hale is receiving $23,098, Commissioner Chuck Horton and Commissioner Jim Luke each earns $22,048, and the newest commissioner, John Daniell, receives $20,998.
The Rules of the House of Representatives refer to legislation of this sort as local legislation. House Rule 18.1 state that the Committee on Intragovernmental Coordination "shall not favorably report any legislation affecting a political subdivision unless all of the Representatives whose districts are wholly or partially located within the political subdivision shall sign such legislation."
In the case of Oconee County, that one person is Republican Bob Smith, representing the 113 District, which includes all of Oconee County but only parts of Clarke, Morgan and Oglethorpe counties.
"When the Committee on Intragovernmental Coordination staff reports to the chairman that local legislation meets the technical requirements for which the staff inspects and has been signed by the requisite local delegation members under Rule 18.1, the legislation shall be favorably reported as a matter of course," according to House Rule 18.2.
That "requisite local delegation member" is Bob Smith.
Senate Rule 3-2.2 says that "In order for local legislation to be favorably reported by the State and Local Governmental Operations Committee, such legislation must be signed by a majority of the Senators representing the political subdivision affected by such legislation."
For Oconee County, that "majority" is Republican Bill Cowsert, representing the 46th District, made up of all of Oconee County but only parts of Clarke and Walton counties.
If Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert agree, the Oconee County Board of Education can increase its salary. If either of them doesn’t, it cannot. It doesn’t really matter what the members of the school board want.
The only way voters even have a say is when they vote for or against Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert–or whoever holds those offices.
Though no rule of the House or Senate specifies this, local bills supported by the local House or Senate member are passed by that chamber as a matter of what is termed "local courtesy." This works because each member defers to the others on these local laws.
The Georgia constitution does require an advertisement of the intent to introduce a local act be placed in the local organ. In this case, that is the Enterprise.
A one column wide by 2.5 inch deep legal notice appeared on page 5 of the second section of the Feb. 5 edition of the paper, under the category heading Public Notice. The headline to the advertisement read: NOTICE OF INTENTION TO INTRODUCE LOCAL LEGISLATION.
The advertisement was so well hidden in the paper, it seems, that even the Enterprise reporters and editors failed to notice. The paper didn’t print a story about the proposed salary increase for the School Board members until the March 12 edition.
Underplayed and unexplained in last month’s controversy involving the self-proposed salary increase for the Oconee County Board of Education was the role of the state legislature generally and local Representative Bob Smith and Senator Bill Cowsert specifically in Oconee County governance.
The legislature has control not only over the salaries of the members of the Board of Education, but also over the salaries of the members of the Board of Commissioners. It also controls the structure of local government, even determining how the board members are elected.
The legislature will act, however, only if Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert–or whoever holds their seats in the legislature–agree that it should do so. The representative and senator representing the county are kings when it comes to what is called local legislation.
In the controversy regarding the Board of Education’s efforts to increase salaries, Bob Smith played the role to the hilt.
The basic facts in the controversy are not in dispute. The Oconee County Board of Education decided it wanted to increase the salaries of its members.
Board Chairman David Weeks’ salary was to go to $10,000. Vice Chairman Mack Guest’s salary was to go to $7,000. The other three board members would get $6,000 each. All five currently receive only $1,800.
Smith was quoted in the March 12 issue of The Oconee Enterprise as saying Weeks approached him about a month earlier asking him to introduce legislation to increase the salary of members of the Board of Education.
Weeks has said he did what Smith asked and put an advertisement in the Enterprise about the requested change and held a public vote. Only board member Kim Argo voted against the increase at that meeting.
Smith then decided he was not going to introduce the legislation. "I don’t think it is right," he is quoted in the Enterprise as saying.
Without the support of Smith and Cowsert, local legislation of this sort isn’t going to pass the state legislature.
In Georgia, unlike in many other states, the type of local government and school board is not fixed in the constitution, but rather is determined by local or enabling legislation.
As a result, county governmental structure varies considerably around the state. Oconee County has five commissioners, all of whom are elected at large. Athens, which is merged with Clarke County in a unified government, has a mayor and 10 commissioners. All of the Clarke commissioners are elected by districts.
When the Oconee County Board of Commissioners decided in 2007 to stagger their terms so all five of them could not be tossed out together, they had to get approval from the state legislature. That meant Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert had to agree to the change. The School Board made this same change a year earlier–again with local legislator approval.
Either the local representative or senator can introduce the legislation, but it is extremely unlikely to be passed if both do not agree on the changes.
There are no rules on how this is to be done, the conditions that the local legislators can set or the procedures to follow. If Bob Smith had told David Weeks he would introduce the legislation only if Weeks came to his office dressed as a court jester, Weeks would have had to find the costume.
And the local legislators can change their minds, leaving the jester with an unneeded clown suit. Weeks has had the experience.
"He always indicated his support to us, and then at the 11th hour that changed," Weeks is quoted as saying in the March 13 edition of the Athens Banner-Herald. "We never
would have gone through with it if we thought he wasn't going to support it."
Compensation for Board of Education members in the state of Georgia is set by state law at $50 per month plus expenses, but the law allows for an exception, if the legislature approves. And the legislature does that on a case-by-case basis.
In 1999, the legislature set salaries for all Oconee County school board members at $150 a month, or the current $1,800. A year earlier the legislature had set the salaries of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.
The chairman of the Board of Commissioners gets 113 percent of the highest base salary of the sheriff, probate judge, tax commissioner or clerk of superior court, whose salaries are set by the legislature. The other four members of the board get 27 percent of the highest base salary of these four office holders.
Each commissioner also gets an additional 5 percent of the respective salary for each four-year term completed and an annual cost of living adjustment. In the current fiscal year, Chairman Melvin Davis is earning $92,276, Commissioner Hale is receiving $23,098, Commissioner Chuck Horton and Commissioner Jim Luke each earns $22,048, and the newest commissioner, John Daniell, receives $20,998.
The Rules of the House of Representatives refer to legislation of this sort as local legislation. House Rule 18.1 state that the Committee on Intragovernmental Coordination "shall not favorably report any legislation affecting a political subdivision unless all of the Representatives whose districts are wholly or partially located within the political subdivision shall sign such legislation."
In the case of Oconee County, that one person is Republican Bob Smith, representing the 113 District, which includes all of Oconee County but only parts of Clarke, Morgan and Oglethorpe counties.
"When the Committee on Intragovernmental Coordination staff reports to the chairman that local legislation meets the technical requirements for which the staff inspects and has been signed by the requisite local delegation members under Rule 18.1, the legislation shall be favorably reported as a matter of course," according to House Rule 18.2.
That "requisite local delegation member" is Bob Smith.
Senate Rule 3-2.2 says that "In order for local legislation to be favorably reported by the State and Local Governmental Operations Committee, such legislation must be signed by a majority of the Senators representing the political subdivision affected by such legislation."
For Oconee County, that "majority" is Republican Bill Cowsert, representing the 46th District, made up of all of Oconee County but only parts of Clarke and Walton counties.
If Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert agree, the Oconee County Board of Education can increase its salary. If either of them doesn’t, it cannot. It doesn’t really matter what the members of the school board want.
The only way voters even have a say is when they vote for or against Bob Smith and Bill Cowsert–or whoever holds those offices.
Though no rule of the House or Senate specifies this, local bills supported by the local House or Senate member are passed by that chamber as a matter of what is termed "local courtesy." This works because each member defers to the others on these local laws.
The Georgia constitution does require an advertisement of the intent to introduce a local act be placed in the local organ. In this case, that is the Enterprise.
A one column wide by 2.5 inch deep legal notice appeared on page 5 of the second section of the Feb. 5 edition of the paper, under the category heading Public Notice. The headline to the advertisement read: NOTICE OF INTENTION TO INTRODUCE LOCAL LEGISLATION.
The advertisement was so well hidden in the paper, it seems, that even the Enterprise reporters and editors failed to notice. The paper didn’t print a story about the proposed salary increase for the School Board members until the March 12 edition.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Oconee BOC To Discuss Courthouse Tuesday
What To Do With $4.2 Million
With the successful Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax vote behind it, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled Tuesday night to turn its attention to spending about $4.2 million in unallocated funds from the current SPLOST.
The ninth item on the agenda for the meeting of the BOC on Tuesday night is discussion of a request for proposals for "architectural consulting services for county judicial and governmental administrative facilities."
That is code language for the courthouse.
Chairman Melvin Davis called a secret meeting of 16 elected and appointed officials in the county for Dec. 17 to discuss what is to be done about the courthouse. The meeting did not become public until Feb. 5, when a story on the meeting appeared in The Oconee Enterprise.
The courthouse has been the center of controversy for much of the last year and was an issue during the summer elections. Sheriff Scott Berry has said that the courthouse is difficult to secure given the current requirements for courtroom safety.
The county will have to decide to expand the courthouse at its current site, move the courthouse to another site, or divide courthouse functions and move some of those functions from the current site.
The current 2004 SPLOST contains $4.6 million for "county facilities." As of Dec. 31, 2008, $4.2 of that amount had not been allocated. The current SPLOST expires at the end of this year, making some decision on how to commit the unspent money necessary.
The unallocated funds and the courthouse were not discussed publicly by the county in the runup to the SPLOST vote on March 17, when voters overwhelmingly approved a new 1 cent on the dollar sales tax. No new money for a courthouse is included in the just-approved SPLOST.
A hint that the courthouse issue was about to appear again soon was in the Enterprise edition on Thursday. The paper contained a story about property on North Main Street in Watkinsville that, according to the report, has been identified as a site for a new county facility.
Enterprise Publisher Vinnie Williams then touted the site as a good one for a judicial center in her column on the editorial page of the paper.
The paper often serves as a sounding board of county proposals.
County Clerk Gina Davis released the agenda about 3:15 p.m. today. Lindsey reports to Davis, who controls the agenda of BOC meetings.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the courthouse. Other agenda items include discussion of Freeman Creek Bridge replacement options, a liquor license request for Cactus Café, an update on the Bear Creek recreational project, and an appointment to the Hard Labor Creek management board.
With the successful Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax vote behind it, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled Tuesday night to turn its attention to spending about $4.2 million in unallocated funds from the current SPLOST.
The ninth item on the agenda for the meeting of the BOC on Tuesday night is discussion of a request for proposals for "architectural consulting services for county judicial and governmental administrative facilities."
That is code language for the courthouse.
Chairman Melvin Davis called a secret meeting of 16 elected and appointed officials in the county for Dec. 17 to discuss what is to be done about the courthouse. The meeting did not become public until Feb. 5, when a story on the meeting appeared in The Oconee Enterprise.
The courthouse has been the center of controversy for much of the last year and was an issue during the summer elections. Sheriff Scott Berry has said that the courthouse is difficult to secure given the current requirements for courtroom safety.
The county will have to decide to expand the courthouse at its current site, move the courthouse to another site, or divide courthouse functions and move some of those functions from the current site.
The current 2004 SPLOST contains $4.6 million for "county facilities." As of Dec. 31, 2008, $4.2 of that amount had not been allocated. The current SPLOST expires at the end of this year, making some decision on how to commit the unspent money necessary.
The unallocated funds and the courthouse were not discussed publicly by the county in the runup to the SPLOST vote on March 17, when voters overwhelmingly approved a new 1 cent on the dollar sales tax. No new money for a courthouse is included in the just-approved SPLOST.
A hint that the courthouse issue was about to appear again soon was in the Enterprise edition on Thursday. The paper contained a story about property on North Main Street in Watkinsville that, according to the report, has been identified as a site for a new county facility.
Enterprise Publisher Vinnie Williams then touted the site as a good one for a judicial center in her column on the editorial page of the paper.
The paper often serves as a sounding board of county proposals.
County Clerk Gina Davis released the agenda about 3:15 p.m. today. Lindsey reports to Davis, who controls the agenda of BOC meetings.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the courthouse. Other agenda items include discussion of Freeman Creek Bridge replacement options, a liquor license request for Cactus Café, an update on the Bear Creek recreational project, and an appointment to the Hard Labor Creek management board.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Oconee's Epps Bridge Centre Poised to Get Bids, Variance
And Oconee Gets a Goat Farm Too
The Watershed Protection Branch of the state Environmental Protection Division has sent forward for approval a request from Atlanta developer Frank Bishop that he be allowed to pipe and fill the half mile of flowing streams on the site of his proposed 63-acre Epps Bridge Centre shopping Centre on Epps Bridge Parkway.
On Friday, the Georgia Department of Transportation readvertised for bids for the 1.5 mile Oconee Connector Extension, also called the Jennings Mill Parkway project, that will serve as the main entranceway to the proposed shopping center.
The granting of the variance to the state-mandated 25-foot buffer for the streams and the awarding of bids for the Oconee Connector are the two final administrative hurdles that Bishop must clear before he can begin construction of the shopping center, which is to include major retail outlets, restaurants and a 16-screen theater.
When the Oconee County Board of Commissioners approved the rezone for the site on Oct. 7, it stipulated that no permits for construction would be issued unless the bids were let by the state for the Oconee Connector.
Those bids are due on April 17 and are to be opened and made public on that date.
Peggy Chambers, environmental specialist in the Watershed Protection Branch of the EPD, told me today that the variance has not yet been issued but, "to the best of my knowledge," has been sent forward to EPD Director Dr. Carol Couch for approval. She had checked with the office clerk who handles the paperwork before giving me that answer.
Fellow Environmental Specialist Michael Berry actually is in charge of the case, but he was sick and out of the office today, according to Chambers.
Chambers said once Couch approves the permit, individuals will have 30 days to file a legal challenge before the permit goes into effect.
Twenty-one individuals–including me–wrote letters in opposition to the granting of the variance. Seventeen of those asked for a public hearing before a decision was made. Berry told me on Feb. 24 he did not think a public hearing would be held.
Bishop already has a permit from the United State Army Corps of Engineers to pipe and fill the streams on the site as well as pave over parts of the wetlands. To mitigate that damage to the Oconee County streams and wetlands, which feed to McNutt Creek, Bishop agreed to repair streams and wetlands at a site he bought in Greene County.
Epps Bridge Centre will be built between SR Loop 10 and Epps Bridge Parkway just west of Lowe’s. Only one access point now exists for the shopping center–on Epps Bridge Parkway opposite the entrance to Waffle House and Kroger’s.
It is for that reason that Bishop needs the state to build the entranceway to his property. Bishop bought the right of way for the roadway and sold it to Oconee County, which turned it over to the state. The state reimbursed the county for the purchase.
The state first advertised for bids for the project on Dec. 12, 2008, but rejected all eight bids received 12 days later for unspecified reasons. The bids ranged in price from $14 million to $21 million.
County Administrative Officer Alan Theriault told me at the time that he expected that the project would be readvertised for March.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis had said in an interview with Anna Dolianitis of The Oconee Leader on March 5 that he considered the Oconee Connector project to be the county’s top candidate to receive federal stimulus program funding for transportation. He confirmed that comment in an e-mail message to me on Monday.
Oconee County did not land any projects on the state’s list of transportation projects eligible for funding by the federal stimulus package.
According to the contract description in the advertisement for bids for the project, it will include widening and reconstruction of Jennings Mill Parkway (now called Oconee Connector) beginning at Epps Bridge Road and looping back to State Route 316.
The project also includes construction of a bridge over State Route Loop 10, the Paul Brown Parkway.
Although the granting of the rezone by the Oconee County BOC and the issuance of the federal permit and the state variance are supposed to be independent, neither the federal government nor the state acted until after the county approved the rezone on Oct. 7. Bishop had told the Corps of Engineers in August 2007 that "Oconee County is willing to rezone the site."
Bishop told the Oconee County Planning Commission he rejected land in Oconee County that could have been purchased and used for mitigation because it was too expensive.
On March 19, the Watershed Protection Division of the EPD issued a public advisory that it was taking comments on an application for buffer variance for the Goat Farm Mitigation Bank, an 180-acre commercial stream mitigation bank in Oconee County along the Apalachee River.
Once approved, the Goat Farm bank will be competing with Bishop's Greene County site for sale of mitigation credits.
Others who develop projects in Oconee County and need mitigation credits will be just as free as Bishop was to go outside of the county to purchase the credits.
The Watershed Protection Branch of the state Environmental Protection Division has sent forward for approval a request from Atlanta developer Frank Bishop that he be allowed to pipe and fill the half mile of flowing streams on the site of his proposed 63-acre Epps Bridge Centre shopping Centre on Epps Bridge Parkway.
On Friday, the Georgia Department of Transportation readvertised for bids for the 1.5 mile Oconee Connector Extension, also called the Jennings Mill Parkway project, that will serve as the main entranceway to the proposed shopping center.
The granting of the variance to the state-mandated 25-foot buffer for the streams and the awarding of bids for the Oconee Connector are the two final administrative hurdles that Bishop must clear before he can begin construction of the shopping center, which is to include major retail outlets, restaurants and a 16-screen theater.
When the Oconee County Board of Commissioners approved the rezone for the site on Oct. 7, it stipulated that no permits for construction would be issued unless the bids were let by the state for the Oconee Connector.
Those bids are due on April 17 and are to be opened and made public on that date.
Peggy Chambers, environmental specialist in the Watershed Protection Branch of the EPD, told me today that the variance has not yet been issued but, "to the best of my knowledge," has been sent forward to EPD Director Dr. Carol Couch for approval. She had checked with the office clerk who handles the paperwork before giving me that answer.
Fellow Environmental Specialist Michael Berry actually is in charge of the case, but he was sick and out of the office today, according to Chambers.
Chambers said once Couch approves the permit, individuals will have 30 days to file a legal challenge before the permit goes into effect.
Twenty-one individuals–including me–wrote letters in opposition to the granting of the variance. Seventeen of those asked for a public hearing before a decision was made. Berry told me on Feb. 24 he did not think a public hearing would be held.
Bishop already has a permit from the United State Army Corps of Engineers to pipe and fill the streams on the site as well as pave over parts of the wetlands. To mitigate that damage to the Oconee County streams and wetlands, which feed to McNutt Creek, Bishop agreed to repair streams and wetlands at a site he bought in Greene County.
Epps Bridge Centre will be built between SR Loop 10 and Epps Bridge Parkway just west of Lowe’s. Only one access point now exists for the shopping center–on Epps Bridge Parkway opposite the entrance to Waffle House and Kroger’s.
It is for that reason that Bishop needs the state to build the entranceway to his property. Bishop bought the right of way for the roadway and sold it to Oconee County, which turned it over to the state. The state reimbursed the county for the purchase.
The state first advertised for bids for the project on Dec. 12, 2008, but rejected all eight bids received 12 days later for unspecified reasons. The bids ranged in price from $14 million to $21 million.
County Administrative Officer Alan Theriault told me at the time that he expected that the project would be readvertised for March.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis had said in an interview with Anna Dolianitis of The Oconee Leader on March 5 that he considered the Oconee Connector project to be the county’s top candidate to receive federal stimulus program funding for transportation. He confirmed that comment in an e-mail message to me on Monday.Oconee County did not land any projects on the state’s list of transportation projects eligible for funding by the federal stimulus package.
According to the contract description in the advertisement for bids for the project, it will include widening and reconstruction of Jennings Mill Parkway (now called Oconee Connector) beginning at Epps Bridge Road and looping back to State Route 316.
The project also includes construction of a bridge over State Route Loop 10, the Paul Brown Parkway.
Although the granting of the rezone by the Oconee County BOC and the issuance of the federal permit and the state variance are supposed to be independent, neither the federal government nor the state acted until after the county approved the rezone on Oct. 7. Bishop had told the Corps of Engineers in August 2007 that "Oconee County is willing to rezone the site."
Bishop told the Oconee County Planning Commission he rejected land in Oconee County that could have been purchased and used for mitigation because it was too expensive.
On March 19, the Watershed Protection Division of the EPD issued a public advisory that it was taking comments on an application for buffer variance for the Goat Farm Mitigation Bank, an 180-acre commercial stream mitigation bank in Oconee County along the Apalachee River.
Once approved, the Goat Farm bank will be competing with Bishop's Greene County site for sale of mitigation credits.
Others who develop projects in Oconee County and need mitigation credits will be just as free as Bishop was to go outside of the county to purchase the credits.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Turnout Rates Vary for Oconee SPLOST Vote
Urbanized Complacency, Indifference and Apathy
The only surprise in last week’s vote for the 1 cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax in Oconee County–if there was any surprise at all–was in the low level of turnout.
The county has a strong record of supporting the special sales tax, and it did so again on Tuesday by an unofficial vote of 1,037 votes for the tax to 419 against.
That 71.2 percent approval was lower than the 81.8 percent approval figure at the last SPLOST vote in 2003 and the 74.8 percent approval in 1999, but the vote clearly was in favor of the tax.
The problem is that only 1,456 voters went to the polls on March 17, causing Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis to comment, as quoted both in the Athens Banner-Herald and The Oconee Enterprise post-election stories, on his disappointment in the turnout.
In both stories, Davis is quoted as saying the low turnout means either the voters are "pleased" with the past SPLOSTs or they are "complacent."
It seems reasonable to expect pleased voters to turn out to support a continuation of the SPLOST. Complacency means the voters were self-satisfied or contented to a fault. Indifferent or apathetic would seem to be other possible descriptions.
Just how indifferent or apathetic Oconee County voters were this past week, in comparison with SPLOSTs-past, depends on the comparison.
In 1999, 14.3 percent of the registered voters turned out to vote on the SPLOST renewal, according to certified tallies from the Oconee County Board of Elections. In 2003, 10.2 percent turned out to vote, again, according to certified results.
In certifying results, the Board lists the total number of registered voters, including those who are labeled as inactive but are still eligible to vote if they show up at the polls. The 14.3 percent figure for 1999 and the 10.2 percent figure for 2003 were based on the number of active and inactive voters those years.
The Georgia Secretary of State listed 20,831 active voters in Oconee County as of March 1, 2009, or 12 days after the Feb. 17 voter registration deadline.
I purchased an electronic copy of the full voting registration list for Oconee County–a public record--from the Secretary of State on Feb. 2, and it contained 22,090 names, 20,801 of which were designated as active. The suggestion is that the certified results are going to show the county picked up 30 voters after I purchased the file, making the total 22,120.
Based on either the 22,090 or 22,120 figures, the 1,456 voters who went to the polls on March 17 represented 6.6 percent of the registered voters, a figure considerably below the 10.2 percent figure of 2003.
Both newspapers used the active voter list as a base, increasing the turnout rate only to 7.0 percent–or considerably lower than in 2003.
Regardless of the base for the calculation, it is clear the rate of participation in the SPLOST votes is declining across time.
(I purchased the Oconee County voter list for a project I’m working on with two of my graduate students at the University of Georgia. We are comparing different ways of accessing voters in surveys.)
As I reported in my posting of March 17, the approval rate for the SPLOST vote varied significantly across each of the county’s 13 precincts, from a low of 52.6 percent in Antioch Precinct to a high of 81.0 percent in Bishop Precinct.
Voter turnout rates also varied considerably across the 13 precincts, from a low of 2.6 percent in Dark Corner to a high of 7.0 percent in Antioch. I used the Feb. 2 voter list for the calculation, which should be compared with the turnout rate of 4.7 percent for the county, which is calculated minus the 426 votes cast either during the month of early voting or via absentee ballot.
I did make a mistake in my last pre-election posting about the number of votes cast in early voting. I misunderstood a note sent to me by Mary Lane in the Board of Elections and included the 28 absentee votes in the 398 total figure she gave me for early voting.
If voter complacency or indifference or apathy explains the low voter turnout, it is clear that these feelings are stronger in some of the precincts than in others.
The three precincts with the lowest turnout rates were Dark Corner, Malcolm Bridge and Athens Academy, which are in the most urbanized areas of the county. Of the five precincts with the highest turnout rates, four (High Shoals, Colham Ferry, Farmington and Antioch) are located in the more rural southern part of the county.
Bogart Precinct, in the extreme northern part of the county and urbanized, is the exception, with a high turnout rate. The city of Bogart, which makes up much of the precinct, will get extra funding as a result of the SPLOST since part of it is incorporated, while no parts of Dark Corner, Malcolm Bridge or Athens Academy are incorporated.
Athens Academy and Malcolm Bridge rank in the second and third spots if precincts are ranked by size.
It is possible the 426 provisional and absentee ballots came disproportionately from some of the precincts, distorting these calculations. Once the Secretary of State releases the voting history data for the election–probably within a month or two--it will be possible to reallocate the provisional and absentee votes by precinct to answer that question.
It is unlikely, however, that this allocation will change the conclusion that complacency, indifference or apathy is higher in the very large, urbanized, northern parts of the county than in the rural, less populated south.
Regardless of precinct, and of level of complacency, indifference or apathy, everyone will pay the tax.
The only surprise in last week’s vote for the 1 cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax in Oconee County–if there was any surprise at all–was in the low level of turnout.
The county has a strong record of supporting the special sales tax, and it did so again on Tuesday by an unofficial vote of 1,037 votes for the tax to 419 against.
That 71.2 percent approval was lower than the 81.8 percent approval figure at the last SPLOST vote in 2003 and the 74.8 percent approval in 1999, but the vote clearly was in favor of the tax.
The problem is that only 1,456 voters went to the polls on March 17, causing Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis to comment, as quoted both in the Athens Banner-Herald and The Oconee Enterprise post-election stories, on his disappointment in the turnout.
In both stories, Davis is quoted as saying the low turnout means either the voters are "pleased" with the past SPLOSTs or they are "complacent."
It seems reasonable to expect pleased voters to turn out to support a continuation of the SPLOST. Complacency means the voters were self-satisfied or contented to a fault. Indifferent or apathetic would seem to be other possible descriptions.
Just how indifferent or apathetic Oconee County voters were this past week, in comparison with SPLOSTs-past, depends on the comparison.
In 1999, 14.3 percent of the registered voters turned out to vote on the SPLOST renewal, according to certified tallies from the Oconee County Board of Elections. In 2003, 10.2 percent turned out to vote, again, according to certified results.
In certifying results, the Board lists the total number of registered voters, including those who are labeled as inactive but are still eligible to vote if they show up at the polls. The 14.3 percent figure for 1999 and the 10.2 percent figure for 2003 were based on the number of active and inactive voters those years.
The Georgia Secretary of State listed 20,831 active voters in Oconee County as of March 1, 2009, or 12 days after the Feb. 17 voter registration deadline.
I purchased an electronic copy of the full voting registration list for Oconee County–a public record--from the Secretary of State on Feb. 2, and it contained 22,090 names, 20,801 of which were designated as active. The suggestion is that the certified results are going to show the county picked up 30 voters after I purchased the file, making the total 22,120.
Based on either the 22,090 or 22,120 figures, the 1,456 voters who went to the polls on March 17 represented 6.6 percent of the registered voters, a figure considerably below the 10.2 percent figure of 2003.
Both newspapers used the active voter list as a base, increasing the turnout rate only to 7.0 percent–or considerably lower than in 2003.
Regardless of the base for the calculation, it is clear the rate of participation in the SPLOST votes is declining across time.
(I purchased the Oconee County voter list for a project I’m working on with two of my graduate students at the University of Georgia. We are comparing different ways of accessing voters in surveys.)
As I reported in my posting of March 17, the approval rate for the SPLOST vote varied significantly across each of the county’s 13 precincts, from a low of 52.6 percent in Antioch Precinct to a high of 81.0 percent in Bishop Precinct.
Voter turnout rates also varied considerably across the 13 precincts, from a low of 2.6 percent in Dark Corner to a high of 7.0 percent in Antioch. I used the Feb. 2 voter list for the calculation, which should be compared with the turnout rate of 4.7 percent for the county, which is calculated minus the 426 votes cast either during the month of early voting or via absentee ballot.
I did make a mistake in my last pre-election posting about the number of votes cast in early voting. I misunderstood a note sent to me by Mary Lane in the Board of Elections and included the 28 absentee votes in the 398 total figure she gave me for early voting.
If voter complacency or indifference or apathy explains the low voter turnout, it is clear that these feelings are stronger in some of the precincts than in others.
The three precincts with the lowest turnout rates were Dark Corner, Malcolm Bridge and Athens Academy, which are in the most urbanized areas of the county. Of the five precincts with the highest turnout rates, four (High Shoals, Colham Ferry, Farmington and Antioch) are located in the more rural southern part of the county.
Bogart Precinct, in the extreme northern part of the county and urbanized, is the exception, with a high turnout rate. The city of Bogart, which makes up much of the precinct, will get extra funding as a result of the SPLOST since part of it is incorporated, while no parts of Dark Corner, Malcolm Bridge or Athens Academy are incorporated.
Athens Academy and Malcolm Bridge rank in the second and third spots if precincts are ranked by size.
It is possible the 426 provisional and absentee ballots came disproportionately from some of the precincts, distorting these calculations. Once the Secretary of State releases the voting history data for the election–probably within a month or two--it will be possible to reallocate the provisional and absentee votes by precinct to answer that question.
It is unlikely, however, that this allocation will change the conclusion that complacency, indifference or apathy is higher in the very large, urbanized, northern parts of the county than in the rural, less populated south.
Regardless of precinct, and of level of complacency, indifference or apathy, everyone will pay the tax.
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