Author Archives: Shelly Berryhill
Hawkinsville…. By the Numbers….
Another question I get asked often about is the city’s budget. While we are almost a $9,000,000 annual budget, most of that is related to the incomes and expenses associated with our different “profit centers” or “Enterprise Funds” as they are called within the government functions. Basically, we attempt to make each enterprise fund pay for itself. In other words, we want the water fees to be enough to cover the costs in the water department.
But some expenses do not have income associated with them. For example, we pay the sheriff’s department almost $600,000 per year. But the fines collected go to the county, so we have no associated revenue’s with that expense. So what pays for items such as that? Well, those are paid out of the general fund. The general fund gets its revenues from any profits from the enterprise funds (over and above the costs), as well as property taxes and Local option sales taxes (and some other smaller taxes), and Franchise fees, and insurance premiums, and some other things.
SO…. Here is a breakdown…
REVENUE:
The city of Hawkinsville generates revenues multiple ways:
The Net profit from the services that we offer (ex, Water, Gas, Trash Pickup, etc) is slightly over $500,000 (most of this is generated from our ability to sell Natural gas. We receive almost another half million from Property taxes. Those two income sources combined amounts to almost half of the net revenue of the City. As the chart above indicates, we also get significant monies from LOST (Local Option Sales Taxes) 17%, Insurance Premium Taxes 13%, Franchise Fees 12%, and Vehicle Title Taxes 5%. We also get another $120,000 from fees such as Business licenses, Fines, Hotel/Motel Taxes and our animal control expenses, among others).
EXPENSES:
You can see elsewhere in this booklet the expenses associated with the enterprise funds, but there are lots of other expenses as well. Expenses associated with overall goals of the city such as public safety and streets and roads.
| Expenses | ||
| Police | $ 602,300.00 | |
| Fire | $ 159,390.00 | |
| EMA | $ 22,860.00 | |
| Road and Streets | $ 456,930.00 | |
| Animal Control | $ 70,300.00 | |
| $1,311,780.00 |
In order to control escalating costs as well as a better service delivery strategy for our citizens, we have consolidated many services with the County. While we no longer have a city police department, we still pay the county Sheriff’s office almost $600,000 a year to provide a level of service to our citizens. The city/county fire departments combined but we still pay almost $200K per year for fire/EMA (Emergency Management Agency) protection. We pay almost half a million a year on improving our city roads and of course, these roads produce no income. (The county does reimburse half of Animal Control Expense) . Of course there is overhead such as administration salaries, utilities, etc. that also have to be paid.
ENTERPRISE FUNDS:
The city has several accounts known as Enterprise funds. These are the incomes and expenses associated with the services that we offer. For example we have a water & sewage department, we have a sanitation department, a natural gas department, etc. The items (water, trash pickup, gas, etc) are services/products that we sell. As previously mentioned, the net profit from these services amounts to 23% ($532,195) of our net revenue that we use to pay for the non-revenue generating expenses such as police and fire protection. Here is the breakdown on our Enterprise Funds:
| ENTERPRISE FUNDS | INCOME | EXPENSES | NET PROFIT |
| Water/Sewage | $ 1,348,530 | $1,198,965 | $ 149,565 |
| Gas | $ 3,360,450 | $2,685,700 | $ 674,750 |
| Harness Track | $ 140,050 | $ 248,840 | $ (108,790) |
| Solid Waste | $ 365,375 | $ 397,710 | $ (32,335) |
| Inert Landfill | $ 137,400 | $ 123,485 | $ 13,915 |
| Econ Dev. | $ 56,100 | $ 248,950 | $ (192,850) |
| CBDG Grant | $ 465,000 | $ 475,000 | $ (10,000) |
| WorkforceCen. | $ 10 | $ 27,230 | $ (27,220) |
| Cemetery | $ 30 | $ 30 | $ – |
| ‘13 Chip Grant | $ 37,900 | $ 38,040 | $ (140) |
| ‘14 Chip Grant | $ 306,000 | $ 306,300 | $ (300) |
| Hotel/MotelTax | $ 41,600 | $ 26,000 | $ 15,600 |
| $ 6,258,445 | $5,776,250 | $ 482,195 |
There are many hard expenses that don’t bring in Revenue. And Even when we get some State Grants like the CBDG (Community Block Development Grant), there are often some expenses associated with it that go above what the grant gives us. Basically our goal each year is to set the fees associated with each service such that it pays all the expenses within that fund. Gas is the one profit center does help us offset property taxes.
OTHER INFORMATION:
The city’s budget year runs from July 1 to June 30 each year. We begin planning the next fiscal year budget in January each year. Our total budget (Enterprise funds and general) is $8.9 million. The city budget is where we outline our priorities for the coming year. How much money should we put in street cleaning? How much in road maintenance? How much in grass cutting? How much on improving blight in our community? We would love to fund everything, but we also have an obligation to keep your taxes as low as possible. And actually, we have done a pretty good job at that. The city’s mileage rate of 5.6% has not changed since 1987. Sure, we’ve seen some years of increase revenue as the tax digest has increased, but we have not increased your mileage rate. We have also stressed consolidation of services with the county whenever we feel that the consolidation will bring about lower costs and/or increased services to our citizens. For example, we pay the county $18,000 a year to collect the city taxes on the same tax bills as the county taxes. This means that you only have to write one check each year. Mail it to the County and they cut us a check for our portion. We have combined our Animal Control, Recreation Departments, Police/Sheriff, Fire, EMA, 911, Codes Enforcement, Tax Collection.
The budget is the most important legislation that we pass. And each and every year we pass a BALANCED BUDGET. Something that the Federal government needs to learn to do. Even as we are implementing this year’s budget, we are planning next years and auditing last years.
Berryhill, Shelly
I completed this simple booklet as a means to increase the transparency of your elected officials. Everything that we do is open and available for you to peruse, but it is easy to get lost in the details. This is just a brief, simple overview that hopefully enlightens you about your tax dollars and the fees that you pay for services. These numbers are sometimes rounded and I make no guarantee that they are 100% accurate, but they are right to the best of my knowledge and ability. Should you have any questions, concerns, or input, please feel free to contact me by any of the methods below:
Contact Me
P O Box 442
Hawkinsville, Ga. 31036
(478) 230-3538
shelly@hawkinsvillega.net facebook: shellyberryhill
www.shellyberryhill.com twitter: @shellyb
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Downtown Beautification….
Following input from the downtown merchants that the appearance of downtown had to be improved before encouraging tours, events or economic Development, we have:
The Chamber, Pulaski Tomorrow and Youth Leadership did a downtown clean up in June.
The City, Archway and the Women’s Prison- developed a plan to get the existing prison detail more involved in the upkeep and maintenance of the Commerce Street area, including the eight irrigated flower beds and Cabero Park.
The City and Archway have engaged the Master Gardeners of Central Ga to help us by telling us how best to landscape downtown and develop a sustainability plan for the future. They will also be assisting us with a design to make Cabero Park more usable and attractive. This is a current ongoing project.
The Women’s Prison Detail has cleaned out the beds and with the help of the City of Hawkinsville public works department and removed everything that the Master Gardeners said we had managed to kill. This is also in accordance with gardening practices where fall would be a time to prepare for planting. Much of the soil had no nutrients and irrigation systems needed maintained. Dead plants and trees have been removed.
In June of this year, Pulaski Tomorrow Class of 2015 raised over $2,600 for waste receptacles for downtown (I think some of the money is going to signage though). About a month ago, they agreed to purchase 6 containers. Ginger Lancaster is coordinating to get a status update on the order.
The Hawkinsville Garden Club contributed $1,000 in September (to the Downtown Development Authority) for the purchase of supplies and materials for the Women’s Prison Detail to purchase gardening tools and plants, etc.
In February, the new Master Gardener classes begin in Central Georgia. A component of the program is dedicated community service to one’s home county. The City of Hawkinsville has agreed that the City could fund the tuition for 4 or 5 local people ($195 each) to go through the program. These individuals would then use their community service hours to train and assist the women’s prison detail on the Commerce street project. This will provide sustainability for the project and valuable job skills training for the women that will improve their outlook upon release.
Also, we applied for (City, Chamber) but did not receive a TPD grant to restore the Way and Way mural and create 2 more. We could reapply next year.
So, yes, as people have indicated, the downtown area needs improvement, but the improvements ARE UNDER WAY. The city has limited resources and often we have to neglect one area in order to work on other areas. Each year we change the areas that we are focusing on (again, due to limited resources). But we ARE focusing currently on improving the looks of our downtown area.
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Let’s work together….
One of the main complaints of any government (local, state or federal) is that they are non-responsive. I have personally experienced that often. However, I want to try to help that on a local level. As you drive around our city and see things that you think the city should improve on…. Let me know. There are things that we can’t do, such as STATE ROADS, or things that we simply do not have the resources to do. But let me know about them and I’ll do my best!
Contact me via TWITTER (@shellyb), or facebook (shellyberryhill) or email (shelly@gawebservices.com). Or comment to this post. I will at worst, shoot straight with you and let you know the status! Pictures of the issues are always appreciated as well.
Thanks,
Shelly
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It Takes A Village…..
Over the last couple of years we have seen LOTS of improvements at the Lawrence Bennett Harness Training Facility. The City of Hawkinsville has hired a new track manager, Jim Valiente, and have strived to give him the people, tools, and resources that he needs to make this facility a success. Even on the years that it has not been a financial success, the facility still brings much recognition to Hawkinsville. We are known throughout the state for this unique asset. But for many years, we have seen declining revenue and an aging facility take its toll.
This year, again primarily to Jim’s recruiting efforts, we are expecting around 220 horses to be housed and trained at this facility. We are expecting more events that ever to take place at our Arena. Much good is happening.
And even better, we are really seeing support from our community in helping us with these efforts. Recently, Donna Rickerson, our Chamber of Commerce Executive Director painted a Surrey mural on the building in the center of the facility previously known as the track Kitchen. She has also had multiple tour groups from around the state out checking out this facility. Also our chamber, along with Lee Slade, our local economic development person, helped us secure a $12,500 matching grant in order to improve some of our bunk houses.
The latest group to join these efforts is “Lisa’s Chics”. Lisa Chics (Bobbie Clemons, Donna Clark, Wendy Gordon, Angela Mimbs, Deborah Reneau) is a helping hands organization formed in 2011 that assist those in need of helping hands with medical expenses and other hardships. We were formed to originally provide a fundraiser for their friend, Lisa Hatcher Neal, who was battling cancer. They held their first bake sale in her honor. She charged them to continue to help others as they did for her during her illness and for them to continue to do so even if she did not survive her cancer. They have honored her wishes and have held baked sales and other fundraisers to help others in and around our community that need a helping hand. They were given the opportunity in 2015 to take over the sponsorship of the Harness Festival Pageant for a fundraiser for their group which has enabled them to assist and reach more people in their efforts. They donate 10% of their proceeds to the Hawkinsville Chamber Harness Festival; provide a $250 scholarship for the Miss Harness Festival Queen; make a Relay for Life donation to Team Lisa Hatcher Neal and utilize the remainder of the proceeds for their helping hands outreach. Their latest effor has been to help restore/renovate the former “track kitchen.” The City agreed to supply the paint and supplies, but this group supplied the important part – the labor. (The were assisted by the 2015 Harness Festival Queens: Reese Folds, Summer Sinyard, Kinsley Smith, India Cheek, Addye Williams, Briana Conner, Ashley Gidney and Skylar Fisler.)
This group held a reception for the horsemen in April 2015 and immediately recognized that the area/facility needed some TLC if it was going to be a place the horsemen and community could utilize in a better fashion. Chelsea Tyner (a City of Hawkinsville employee and past Chair of the Chamber’s Harness Festival Committee) posed the idea to Jim Valiante that the group wanted to take on the task and Mr. Valiante was most receptive to the idea of the spruce up. So the project began….
The chics and harness queens have cleaned out and painted the kitchen and community room walls; pulled up the carpet and painted the community room floor and hall floor. They have cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms. They will be providing new curtains and decorative items for the community room and kitchen area. They will be also purchasing a new screen door for the kitchen. They will supply a minimal amount of landscaping in the front of the building once the area is cleaned out some. Donations of landscape product and labor are welcomed…
The City is also providing the prison detail to help with pressure washing and painting the outside of the building. The final piece of the puzzle will be to have a new fence and welcome sign and erected in front the building that will be a two fold fix. (1) to identify the area/building (2) and to also block the end of the building that is so unsightly (houses the A/C unit and electrical stuff and is not so nice to look at). Photographs of the actual harness racing will be supplied by Chelsea Tyner and those will be hung in the community room and changed seasonally. Chelsea is also framing two “colors” (I called them jockey jerseys..) to hang in the community room. A local citizen, Lance Woods, donated his time this past week for grading around the building to help with drainage and water standing issues in the front entrance.
Other volunteers have been: Matt Sinyard (helped with painting one evening with his daughter who is one of ther harness queens; Michelle Fowler, who is one of the Lisa’s Chics’ sisters she helped paint the kitchen; David White helped haul the pulled out carpet to the dumpster and Jonathan (who lives at the track) – he actually helped cut and remove the carpet from the community room. Johnny Gordon, our public works director, has also been instrumental in these efforts.
Once everything is finished, the community room will be an ideal gathering place to anyone/group to utilize for outreach and contact with the horsemen. That will be highly encouraged I hope.
Thank you to all who have been involved in this project, and forgive me for leaving anyone out. It does take a village to accomplish all of our goals. If you would like to help with this effort or other efforts going on within our community, please feel free to leave a comment here or contact me personally at shelly@hawkinsvillega.net.
Shelly
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Consolidation of Services Continues……..
The voters of Hawkinsville / Pulaski County voted down a proposal to consolidate the governments. One of the primary “selling points” to a consolidated government is lowering costs. These same lower costs can be obtained through consolidating SERVICES even though the governments themselves remain separate. The City and the County have done a great job at consolidating services throughout the years. E911, EMA, Recreation, Tax Collection, Fire, Police, Animal Control, Building and Code Enforcement and Economic Development are already consolidated.
Beginning July 1, 2015 we are adding ANOTHER to the list. The City is doing away with our Municipal court and turning over traffic fine collections to the county. With the retirement of City Clerk Evelyn Herrington as well as the retirement Lodie Johnson (who managed our municipal court), the time is right. By closing down our municipal court, the city will not have to fill Ms. Johnson’s position, thus saving the costs of that position. We will also not have to retain a municipal Judge. AND hours of work allocated to the City Clerk will not have to be performed. The county Probate Judge, Judge Jeff Jones, will begin hearing all traffic violations. Violations that are CITY ONLY, (such as dilapidated housing ordinance violations), will be heard by a Code Enforcement Board. We are recommissioning our current Zoning and Codes Board as a Code Enforcement board to hear the few CITY ONLY ordinance violations that are heard each year.
So…..
Consolidation as it relates to cost savings, continues. As it relates to SERVICES, continues to be an area that we (City and County) continue to explore. We don’t need a replication of efforts. We need to continue to find ways to work together to benefit ALL of our citizens. The taxpayers we all serve are the real winners when our governments work together.
Shelly
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Finally, a Meeting Worth Attending….
I have to attend many meetings. Most of them are a waste of time. I just attended a meeting of a group trying to form a DMA (Downtown Merchants Association). THIS meeting was great! The energy and the momentum were obvious.
The meeting was lead by our Archway Professional, Michelle Elliott . The group is trying to do whatever it can to rejuvenate our downtown area. They are looking at Window decorations in the abandoned buildings, cleaning up the streets, repainting and adding new murals to the downtown area, adding trash receptacles and also exploring options to help beef up the Hawkinsville River Market. Donna Rickerson, our new Hawkinsville Chamber executive Director was introduced and she had lots of great ideas.
While it is still early in the process, I am excited that 20+ people care enough to meet and discuss. The City of Hawkinsville was well represented by our city manager, Tim Young . ComSouth was there, local merchants were there, the Garden Club was there, the new owners of the Butterfly Mansion B&B were there, representatives from our DDA, and Rivers Alive were there as well as simply concerned citizens.
We have lots of work to do, but it is so encouraging when a group like this gets together, not to bash what is not happening, not to wish would should be happening, but to PLAN what CAN Happen.
Let’s all support those that are trying.
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Proud to Serve…….
I am very excited. I have been asked to serve on the GMA (Georgia Municipal Association) Board of Directors AND serve as Chairman of the Public Safety Policy Committee. One of the reasons that I ran for the City of Hawkinsville Commission was to be able to promote Hawkinsville. Promote its strong points to our own citizens AND promote it state wide. This position gives me another outlet to do just that!
GMA does an excellent job of lobbying the state lawmakers on behalf of ALL cities in Georgia. As Public Safety Committee Chair, I will be intimately involved in helping GMA dissect proposed legislation and how it effects Hawkinsville and other cities across Georgia. Too often, a law is passed without the full ramifications being understood. By diving into the details of a proposed law BEFORE it becomes law, we can hopefully get the author of the legislation to change its wording (or drop the bill entirely) if a negative effect on our cities would be the result. GMA has a great track record in their lobbying efforts. I am very excited about being able to help.
Thank you GMA for this honor!
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HB 170 as of 2/24/15
Well, it is changing again (and this is still in the House Version, we don’t have a clue what the Senate might do). BUT! I must say, the current version in the House is good for Hawkinsville. The School’s ESPLOST will now be unaffected! No losses for the school system in the current version. The only stipulation is that taxes that are received from Motor Fuels, MUST be spent in the area of Transportation, but the definition is pretty broad. The City and County’s SPLOST (and Future SPLOSTS) are unaffected, with only the same stipulation – Motor Fuel taxes must be spent on Transportation. The City and County’s LOST taxes will see an INCREASE in revenue. Although Motor Fuels are being removed, the rest of the sales tax base will be taxed at 1.25% rather than 1%, so it will be a NET gain to the combined CITY/COUNTY of almost $80,000.
Hotel/Motel Taxes are also being slightly adjusted upward in the current version. I don’t really understand why.
And as mentioned in an earlier post, the current version of this bill will also FORCE a larger state allocation of LMIG (road resurfacing money). Although we have to match (30%) of the LMIG allocation, this WILL allow us to resurface additional miles in the years to come.
So…. Although the fat lady has not even gotten up to sing yet, the current version IS good for Hawkinsville.
(I am NOT making any such overall statements about whether this bill is good for GEORGIANS or not. Any way you slice it, it IS a tax increase on gasoline purchases in Georgia).
Shelly
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HB 170 – Current Version is MUCH better for our community….
“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change ” – Heraclitus
― That quote fits really well into the legislative process. HB 170 – the House version of the transportation bill, as introduced was very UNFRIENDLY to local governments. (Read my earlier post for full details). But city’s around the state complained to their respective representatives. Many cities and counties were passing resolutions asking their representatives to vote NO to House Bill 170. People were screaming, cussing, and complaining. But our representatives LISTENED to us, and the current version of this bill shows that.
As it stands now….
The House has made significant efforts to address the concerns expressed by local elected officials about the original bill’s impact on local revenues. HB 170 no longer includes language that would give a county governing sole authority to impose, or not impose, a 6¢ per gallon local excise tax. With the local excise tax option removed, so too is the local distribution formula based on DOT’s Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) program.
HB 170 as it passed the House Transportation Committee would do the following:
- beginning July 1, 2015, LOST, HOST and Atlanta’s MOST would no longer be collected on the sale of motor fuel;
- beginning July 1, 2015, the tax rate for LOST, HOST and MOST would be adjusted to 1.25% from the current 1% rate;
- current and future SPLOSTs and ESPLOSTs would continue to be imposed at a rate of 1%;
- current and future SPLOSTs and ESPLOSTs would continue to be collected on motor fuel except that diesel would no longer be taxed beginningJuly 1, 2015;
- for future SPLOSTs and EPLOSTS, any revenue collected from the sale of motor fuel would be required to be spent on transportation needs, which for cities and counties is defined broadly to include transit, rail and airports, and for schools includes the purchase of fuel and buses.
The House Transportation Committee version of HB 170 is a good faith attempt to make cities, counties and schools whole and to use current sales tax agreements for the distribution of revenue. While House leaders are looking for ways to reach the goal of making local governments whole in the aggregate, as with any significant change in what can be taxed as well as tax rates, some jurisdictions would see increases in tax revenue while others would experience a decrease.
In our community, the breakdown is as follows. (assuming future sales of motor fuels and other taxable products in our community remain somewhat stable with what 2014 saw).
LOST IMPACT:
City of Hawkinsville – Current = $421,455 Under HB170 = $444,800 (Net increase of $23,345)
County – Current =$421,455 Under HB170 = $444,800 (Net Increase of $23,345)
SPLOST IMPACT:
City of Hawkinsville – Current = $421,455 Under HB170 = $411,200 (Net decrease of $23,345)
County – Current =$421,455 Under HB170 = $411,200 (Net decrease of $23,345)
ESPLOST IMPACT
Pulaski County School System – Current = $842,911 Under HB170 = $822,400 (Net decrease of $20,510)
Total Community Impact is a net increase of revenue of a little over $5,600
Another benefit to us locally is that the GDOT is legally mandated to re-distribute at least 10% of its budget allocation for LOCAL improvements (know as LMIG – Local Maintenance and Improvement Grants. Last year the county received some $200,000 while the city received some $45,000 (to be matched 30%). Since the GDOT budget will rise SIGNIFICANTLY due to this HB170, our city and county should be receiving somewhere between a 50% and 100% increase in our LMIG allocations. This should result in many more miles of roads within our city that will be repaved during the 2016 fiscal year!
So, originally, the bill was BAD….. We complained as did others….. Our representatives listened and the current version of the bill is palatable.
Now lets wait and see what the Senate version of the bill looks like.
Shelly Berryhill
Hawkinsville City Commission
shelly@hawkinsvillega.net
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HB170 – Proposed Transportation Bill in the House
As of today (Valentine’s Day), HB170, the Transportation Bill is in the full transportation committee of the House. Basically, this bill is changing the current SALES tax on motor fuel (Gas & Diesel) to an excise tax. The advantage is that this will level out the fluctuating taxes raised by a sales tax which is dependent upon the price of gas which changes daily. By changing to an excise tax, which is charged PER GALLON rather than PER DOLLAR, it should level out the income received by the state. The trucking industry also receives larger tax benefits on an excise tax over a sales tax, so the trucking industry will see a huge benefit of this change. And we all want to help out industries in Georgia.
The State of Georgia is attempting to raise an additional $750 million + (annually) for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). However, THEY (our state elected officials) don’t want to “raise taxes.” So they are promoting this bill as a “revenue neutral” bill. Yeah, right! If they are bringing in an additional almost 1 BILLION dollars, it’s got to come from SOMEWHERE!
That somewhere apparently is going to be from your LOCAL governments (County, City, and School System). You see, our local governments currently receive 3 cents of every SALES TAX dollar raised. 1 cent goes to LOST (Local Option Sales Tax). 1 cent goes to SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax). And 1 cent goes to ESPLOST (Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax).
When you remove MOTOR FUELS from these sales taxes, this 3 cents will disappear from the local coffers of your local governments. We will still receive LOST, SPLOST, and ESPLOST taxes, but not on Motor Fuel Sales. In Pulaski County, Motor Fuel sales account for almost 16% of the total sales taxes collected in Pulaski County. Therefore, your school system’s next ESPLOST will be reduced by almost 16% which will amount to a LOSS of income to the Pulaski County School system of approximately $131,410 per year. Constitutionally, the school system CAN receive sales taxes, but CANNOT receive excise taxes. And there are no plans by the state to supplement this loss. There are no plans by the state to help reduce expenses or other requirements. No, this will be a LOSS each and every year. ESPLOST is used for capital purchases (Buses, buildings, technology, etc.). Apparently, the state thinks the school can simply “absorb” this loss of income. No big deal. (yeah, right!).
The loss of the 1 cent on SPLOST will effect both the city and the county. Currently we have a negotiated agreement that we split SPLOST revenues 50/50. So this loss will effect each of us the same amount. SPLOST income currently amounts to about $842,911 per year. By removing Motor Fuels from the calculation, this number will reduce each year to $711,501. A loss of about $131,410 per year. This money is going away. So the county and the city will each face lower SPLOST revenue on the next SPLOST of almost $65,705 EACH! Like the school’s ESPLOST, SPLOST is used for capital expenditures like Road Equipment, Tractors, Recreation Department improvements, Sheriff Department Vehicles, etc. This loss of $131,409 per year amounts to a loss to the city and county of $788,460 on the next 6 year SPLOST! The tractors are STILL going to wear out. The deputies are STILL going to need vehicles. Water Meters are STILL going to go bad. Our option? We can only raise property taxes or fees to take care of the shortfall.
The loss of the 1 cents on LOST will also effect both the city and the county. Currently we have a negotiated agreement that we split LOST revenues 50/50. So this loss will effect each of us the same amount. LOST income ON MOTOR FUELS current amounts to about $393,690 per year. So this is ANOTHER $400K that the state is pulling away from local coffers.
BUT WAIT! NO WORRIES! The state is going to “come to our rescue.” They are going to “allow” the county to vote an additional 6 cents excise tax to be added to motor fuel in addition the the excise tax that the state is accessing. And to hear them talk, “that solves the problem.” But does it?
In Pulaski County, we sold 4,224,231 gallons of gas in fiscal year 2014. So the 6 cents would increase the COUNTY coffers by $253,454 each year. Now last time I used my calculator, $253,454 does not bring back the lose of $140K (in LOST dollars) and $131K (in SPLOST dollars) and $131K (in ESPLOST dollars). Nope, by my calculations when you combine the decreases in LOST, SPLOST, and ESPLOST, our citizens are being short changed by about $403,000 PER YEAR! And that is AFTER our sole commissioner implements the 6 cents excise tax. If he should choose NOT to implement this tax, then the citizens will lose some $650K per year. Thanks Legislators!
But wait! There’s more!
Even if our sole commissioner DOES implement the 6 cents of excise tax (taking the heat of a “tax increase” rather than the state taking that heat!), the STATE is telling us HOW he has to split it with the city. Previously, our LOST and SPLOST splits were NEGOTIATED LOCALLY. Now, they are giving us a formula based on road miles in the city/county and population in each. The result will be on both LOST AND SPLOST rather than splitting 50/50 as we have for years, the STATE is telling us the motor fuel excise tax will be split 73/27. The county will get 73% and the city will be reduced to 27%. OUCH!
SO…. Not only are they reducing our monies, but they are TELLING US how to split the reduced amount they plan on giving us!
Based on 2014 figures, and assuming the county DOES implement the 6 cents, then the COUNTY will still lose $78,000, the school system will lose $131,000, and the city will lose $194,000 PER YEAR! And this is AFTER the 6 cents excise tax which the county may or may not implement. “Revenue Neutral huh?”. The city will bear 48% of the reduction. The school system will bear 33% and the county 19%. To replace this money, the county could be forced to raise their millage by almost a half mill. The school system could be forced to raise their millage by almost half a mill. And the city (who is hit the hardest) could be faced with over a 2 mill increase. (and we haven’t raised the millage since 1987).
THERE’S EVEN MORE! With LOST, the revenues go into the general fund. Your elected leaders can spend this money how they see fit (and answer to their local constituents). With SPLOST and ESPLOST, while the money has to go to capital projects, your local officials decide (by voter referendum) the projects that our citizens need. But with the coming changes, all the money from the motor fuel EXCISE tax MUST be spend on Transportation. We will have no choice. The State again TELLING us how to spend our money!
Hope is not yet lost. The bill is still in committee. The final has not been seen. And then regardless of what the house comes up with, the State Senate will still have their input and revisions. So ultimately it might be better. It might be worse. No one knows at this point.
My fear is that the final version won’t be significantly different that I have presented. I encourage you to contact our local state representatives and tell them NOT to pass this bill in its current state. Do we need more transportation dollars in Georgia? Yes! Do we need to collect those dollars by pulling them from the local economy? No!
The alternatives are many. They can leave our local 3 cents sales tax on gas and go on about their merry way. Or they can convert the 3 cents to an excise tax but LET LOCAL ENTITIES decide how to spend and how to divide the money. They can simply ADD to the state’s portion of the excise tax and fund the transportation needs. But no, that would mean THEY would be seen as raising taxes rather than forcing us LOCALLY to raise taxes.
Representative Buddy Harden is Pulaski County’s legislature in the State House. Senator Ross Tolleson is our Senator. Please contact these gentlemen and tell them to fund the state needs from state coffers. Not by pulling money away from our local governments. Their contact information is below:
Buddy Harden
R-District 148
504-G Coverdell Legislative Office
Atlanta, Ga. 30334
404-656-0188
buddy.harden@house.ga.gov
Ross Tolleson
R-District 20
121-F State Capital
Atlanta, Ga. 30334
404-656-0081
ross.tolleson@senate.ga.gov
Please let me know your thoughts. Reply to this post or email me at shelly@hawkinsvillega.net
I look forward to hearing from you!
Shelly Berryhill
Hawkinsville City Commission
Shelly Berryhill 