Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 3, 2015

On June 3, 1941, Georgia voters ratified a Constitutional Amendment extending the term of office for Governor and the other Constitutional Officers from two years to four. Governor Eugene Talmadge campaigned for the Amendment, hoping to serve a four-year term after the two-year term he currently held, but was defeated in the 1942 Democratic Primary by Ellis Arnall. Remember this phrase: legislation almost always has unintended consequences.

On June 3, 1942, Curtis Mayfield was born in Chicago, Illinois and would later live in Atlanta, dying in Roswell in 1999.

On the morning of June 3, 1962, a plane carrying 106 Georgians crashed on take-off from Orly near Paris, the deadliest crash in aviation to that date.

On June 3, 1980, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter had amassed enough delegates to assure his nomination in the Democratic Primary for President.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Tiananman Square Massacre in Beijing, China. Pro-democracy protests had begun on April 15, 1989 and on May 20, martial law was declared. The People’s Liberation Army began taking the square back on the evening of June 3d.

https://youtu.be/hH8EYvnlDxQ

37 Weeks, a project by the Atlanta History Center and Georgia Public Broadcasting continues documenting Sherman’s campaign in Georgia with Week 8.

Georgia Politics

Erratum: The swearing-in of Mike Jacobs will be tomorrow, Thursday, June 4 at 9 AM in the House Chamber of the Georgia State Capitol.

Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis, who is running in the Special Election to succeed Jacobs, wrote a letter to Brookhaven voters residents, reviewing the City’s progress since incorporation.

When I think back to what we faced as a new city 2½ years ago and compare it to where we are today, I am extremely proud and filled with a sense of accomplishment. We started up a world-class police department in record time. My first meeting with our prospective Police Chief, Gary Yandura, showed me that this calm, competent and highly intelligent individual was up to this monumental task. At the time I knew what my full expectations were, but I can assure you they have been exceeded. We started up a police department in record time, 3½ months. Our officers are highly visible, professional and responsive. The Brookhaven Police Department has gained a stellar reputation in the Southeast.

We took over and purchased our parks from the county just 18 months ago. I know you will agree that the difference in that short time is stunning. From rotting pool pumps, run-down bathrooms, neglected landscaping and general disrepair we have transformed our parks. This ongoing evolution could only have happened with the help of a great staff and through no small effort of our park passionate citizenry. We have set the standard for what our parks will be and they will only become more beautiful and usable.

The condition of the roads and sidewalks our city inherited was literally jarring. We now have a regular maintenance and paving program. This has allowed us to pave more roads and build more sidewalks in two years than had been done in the prior decade under the county. We took over a neglected storm water system with a zero fund balance and have built a maintenance program that now has well over $1 million to cover present and future repair and construction of our critically important storm water system.

We have our own 911 system that has dramatically cut response times. We have our own Fire Marshal making sure our new businesses are safe and can rely upon consistent and efficient permitting. We have made traffic improvements, and more are in the pipeline. Permitting for home renovation and construction has dramatically improved. We have festivals and food trucks. Even Google chose Brookhaven for major investment.

Not bad for 3.5 years.

In the Special Election for House District 24, radio personality Erick Erickson has chosen sides.

On May 11, 2015, Mark Hamilton announced he was quitting the state legislature. Hamilton waited until after helping Georgia House Speaker get the Speaker’s yes man elected majority leader, then bolted.Precisely one day after Hamilton announced he was going to leave the legislature instead of face the voters for his billion dollar tax increase vote, Ethan Underwood declared his candidacy. He was already set up with a campaign, a logo, etc. Within twenty-four hours, Underwood was ready to launch a professional campaign. Oh, and Hamilton endorsed him out of the gate.

I am supporting David Van Sant. He’s his own man. He has the ability to mount the strongest opposition to Ethan Underwood in the next fifteen days. And we need to make sure Ethan Underwood, kept man that he is, is not sent to the State House to do his masters’ bidding.

Not so fast on that tax cut, Chief

Mark Niesse at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that DeKalb County property owners will receive a tax cut as iCEO Lee May’s proposed budget rolls back the millage rate in the face of rising assessments.

Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May presented his mid-year 2015 fiscal plan to commissioners Tuesday, saying the county is “turning the corner” and governing responsibly.

The tax break is modest, but well-timed.

Property tax cuts in unincorporated areas would save residents about $50 a year on a $300,000 house and $35 a year on a $200,000 residence.

May said home values are increasing; more people are applying for business permits; and companies are looking to expand in DeKalb.

The taxable value of property rose 9.7 percent compared to last year, a sharp increase over a 3.6 percent countywide growth rate projected in December.

May’s proposed budget increases the county’s overall spending by about 5 percent to $1.33 billion compared to the last budget approved in February.

The commission could decide to reduce taxes even more than May suggested before voting on the budget July 14. May’s proposal calls for property tax rates in unincorporated areas to decrease from 21.21 mills to 20.81 mills.

“I would have preferred to see a larger drop in the millage rate,” said Commissioner Nancy Jester. “I certainly will advocate for a larger cut.”

Sounds great, but it’s not true. Under state law, the DeKalb Commission will actually be required to advertise this as a tax increase. Even after the millage rate rollback, the county will bring in more revenue from property taxes than last year because of higher assessments.

Bear with me while I indulge in some basic mathematics.

The millage rate reduction is roughly 2% while I’m seeing reports on Facebook of assessments going up in the 19-20% range in Decatur to as much as 30%. My own assessment more than tripled. So those of us with higher assessments will pay more in property taxes, and the county will collect $25 million more in property taxes. George Chidi, who serves on the Pine Lake City Council wrote that Brookhaven’s tax digest is up 18.2%. So here’s some simplified math.

Assessed Value 2014 $100,000 * 21.21 mills = $2121 in 2014 property taxes.

Assessed Value 2015 $118,000 * 20.81 mills = $2455.58 in 2015 property taxes.

Other factors like whether you live in unincorporated DeKalb or a city, which property tax exemptions you’re eligible for, and the level of HOST homestead exemption for which you’re eligbile will affect your property taxes. As I said, that’s a simplified example above, but I think a number of property owners will be seeing higher tax bills this year.

Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson wants to “thaw” the property tax freeze in her city, and she’s asking the voters to aid and abet her.

Under the city’s property tax assessment freeze, which was implemented in 1982, the property taxes of homes receiving a homestead exemption are based upon the value of the home at the time it is purchased. That value is then “frozen” or fixed until the property is substantially altered or sold, at which time the value of the home is reassessed and then frozen again at the new value.

Past efforts to lift the freeze at the ballot box and in the courts have failed, but Tomlinsonn said her plan is different because it does not involve removing the freeze. Under her plan, anyone currently under the freeze would be able to stay on it for as long as they desire. When their house changes hands through a sale or when they die, it would then come out from under the freeze.

“Our biggest challenge is the notion that we have voted on this before. Certainly, we have voted on lifting the property tax assessment freeze before, but we’ve never voted on this proposal,” Tomlinson said. “The property tax assessment freeze as it exists now is not benefitting the citizens we had in mind when we instituted it, specifically seniors and those with financial challenges.”

Tomlinson’s plan would also include a substantial increase in the city’s homestead exemption for properties coming out from under the frereze. The exemption is currently $13,500 per year and would increase to $20,000 a year if the plan is approved.

A follow-up in the Ledger-Enquirer has more details about how this would work.

The baseline selling point of Tomlinson’s approach, and she’s stressed this before, comes down to “If you have it, you keep it.” That means everybody whose property taxes are “frozen” would be grandfathered in under the existing law, with no change. The assessed value would remain fixed barring major expansion or improvement, and would not change in that owner’s lifetime unless he or she sells the property.

At that point, the freeze would cease to exist for that property. Other properties and property owners still under the freeze would not be affected.

As a sweetener for potential buyers of properties “unfrozen” by her proposed referendum (properties which, remember, would be reassessed for a new owner even if the freeze remains in effect), Tomlinson proposes a hefty increase in the city homestead exemption from $13,500 to $20,000 per year.

Between now and the end of July, the mayor will hold four public forums to detail her proposal and hear public reaction and suggestions. That’s not just the best approach for what she’s trying to do — it’s the only approach. Any challenge to The Freeze, which has proven to be the proverbial third rail of local politics, has to involve taking the case directly to the people before the people take theirs directly to the polls.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2015/06/02/3749748_will-grandfather-provision-thaw.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

More from the Scott Walker Interview

Local Government

News that Cobb County will spend $388k on an employee gym started pundits questioning the expenditure. Dick Yarbrough writing for the Marietta Daily Journal,

“Hold it! This isn’t a gym. I know gyms. This is definitely not a gym.”

“And you are …?”

“David Hankerson. I’m the county manager. And this is not a gym.”

“Why is it not a gym, sir?”

“As I explained to the Marietta Daily Journal, a gym offers swimming, basketball, handball and other sports. This is like a fitness center in a hotel. This is definitely not a gym.”

“And how would you like me to refer to the facility, Mr. Hankerson?”

“I don’t give a rip. Call it a Jiffy Lube for all I care. Just don’t call it a gym.”

Commissioner Bob Weatherford defended the expenditure in a public meeting,

Weatherford was asked about the gym, approved 4-1 by commissioners May 26, and about his vision for the development of west Cobb at an event hosted by the Cobb GOP at The Varsity near Town Center Mall.

“I’m just curious why the county wants to compete with private enterprises and build things like gyms in their own garages instead of going out in the public sector,” said Boyd Parks of Acworth, a programmer and analyst for McKeeson.

Responded Weatherford: “Did you read up on that or did you just read what the paper said? I mean, that’s a simple question. You’re asking me a question.”

Parks said he hadn’t, so Weatherford said he would explain how the decision was made.

Before he became a commissioner in January, Weatherford said, county employees opted to put money into a wellness fund to “increase the wellness of all the employees.”

The money in the fund is restricted, Weatherford said, and could only be used for programs related to employee wellness.

The MDJ has previously reported that funds used for the gym are refund payments sent to the county from Aflac in exchange for the county deducting money from employees’ paychecks instead of the insurance company having to do it.

Weatherford said he supported the county building the gym because the funds were restricted to wellness initiatives, the county employees wanted it and there are more than 1,000 county employees who live in the area who might use the gym.

The gym will be the second fitness center for county employees.

A real Humvee, not just the civilian Hummer, will join Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway’s motorpool, alongside a tank armored personnel carrier.

County commissioners voted on Tuesday to accept the military’s donation of a used Humvee to the sheriff’s office. Militarization of law enforcement departments has been a hot-button topic in recent months, but Chief Deputy Mike Boyd said residents should not be alarmed by the donation.

“It is important to note this is not an armored vehicle, this is not a track vehicle (and) there are no guns attached to this vehicle,” Boyd said. “It is one of the smaller utility cargo-class of Humvees that we intend to use when we need off-road capabilities or instances like we had in the last couple of ice storms.”

County documents show the vehicle’s full, intended uses include transportation to training, search and rescue missions and part of the Beat the Heat youth drug and alcohol education program. The sheriff’s office intends to use money already allocated in its budget for repairs, maintenance and fuel to pay operating costs for the vehicle.

The City of Waycross is threatening to cut off water service in Pierce County unless a judge stops deannexation of city property in the neighborhing county after a bill passed the Georgia General Assembly.

The city of Waycross warned Tuesday than on June 22 it will begin shutting down its water and sewer services in Pierce County unless a judge enjoins implementation of a law compelling the city to pull back its limits to the Ware County border.

The letter says that the action is a result of House Bill 523 that requires Waycross not have any territory in Pierce County inside its limits as of July 1 as it has since the early 1980s.

City Commissioners have said they were not notified the bill was pending in the legislature and vowed to shut off services in Pierce County should the city have to pull its limits back to the Satilla River, which forms the border between Ware and Pierce counties.

State Rep. Chad Nimmer, R-Blackshear, introduced the bill as local legislation with no co-signers among Waycross’ House or Senate delegates. It passed the House unanimously and had only a handful of no votes in the Senate.

The city said the law is unconstitutional because it contradicts other laws including one that says cities can operate water and sewer treatment facilities only inside their corporate limits. The city has bought property inside Pierce County and built critical components of its sewage treatment plant and expanded its water system to serve businesses and a 700-member church that lie inside Waycross city limits on the Pierce County side of the county line.