09.17 Ledger 01 - Index of - The Cherokee Ledger-News

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4 THE CHEROKEE LEDGER-NEWS NEWS SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 Kids Play Sports? We specialize in: shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle, feet. Students are always $20 A Healthy Body 770-720-0865 next to Johnny’s Pizza in Hickory Flat ■■■ Holly Springs lowers millage rate again BY ERIKA NELDNER erikaneldner@ledgernews.com Holly Springs lowered its millage rate for the second time in less than a month. The city council approved setting the 2009 millage rate at 4.629 mills at its special called meeting following the regular work session Sept. 4. Council members Dee Phillips and Tommy Sanders were absent. At its Aug. 18 meeting, officials approved the millage rate at 4.631, a rollback from the 2008 rate of 4.72 mills. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed property value. A rollback means that the rate takes into account increases in the tax digest, so that the same amount per mill is being collected as last year. The total millage rate, including the fire tax, is still 7.35 mills, City Manager Robbie Rokovitz said. The rollback was possible because of the growth in the tax digest, Rokovitz said. The millage had to be lowered yet again because the tax digest numbers Rokovitz had differed with the county tax assessor’s office. Tax bills were mailed out the last week of August with the correct millage rate calculations, officials say. “We’re still heading in the right direction,” Mayor Tim Downing said of the decrease. City officials also discussed rezoning three parcels of land on Hickory Road from R-20 single family to Neighborhood Com- Woodstock police to host bike rodeo Sept. 20 The Woodstock Police Department’s Annual Bike Rodeo will be held Sept. 20 at Walmart at 12182 Ga. 92. Registration is at 9 a.m., and bike inspections will begin at 9:30 a.m. All riders must have an approved helmet and permission from a parent or guardian to participate. The free event, which is in its 13th year, is for children ages 6 to 14 and includes events focusing on safe bicycle operations. Children also will have a chance to win a new bike. Children will receive goody bags and T-shirts. Discover Chiropractic and Rehabilitation of Woodstock will offer free massages for parents. For more information, call Ofc. Manny de la Torre at (770) 592- 6016 or e-mail jdelatorre@woodstockga.gov or call Ofc. Leigh Ellerbee at (770) 592-6015. North Georgia Fair is looking for diving dogs The National Diving Dog Tour presented by Oust and Purina is coming to the North Georgia State Fair. The event features everyday local dogs racing down a 40-foot platform and diving into a 20,000-gallon pool of water, each competing for the longest dive. The Georgia State Fair is the final mercial. Cherokee County and Holly Springs were in court Sept. 2 over the matter. In other business: ■ city officials discussed accepting the ownership of rights of ways, roadways and appurtenant drainage structures within Harmony on the Lakes, including Lakeview Terrace, Avery Cove and a section of Edgewater Trail from Harmony Lakes Drive to Downing the southeast cul-de- Rokovitz NEWS BRIEFS ■ sac of Edgewater Trail, said Chief Building Inspector Chris Keown; ■ Rokovitz presented a financial management program to be reviewed by council and voted on at a later date. Rokovitz said the program provides “a foundation for fiscal operations of the city.” During the audit of fiscal year 2007, the auditor said the city needed a whistleblower policy, a centralized cash receipt function and internal controls. Rokovitz said the financial program is going above and beyond what the auditor asked for, and, if it is adopted, it will set forth the rules to help protect the city, the governing body and staff when it comes to fiscal operations. stop on a six-city national tour of fairs around the country this summer. The contest will be held at 3 p.m. and at 5 p.m. on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21. On-site registration will be held Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. A practice round will be at 3 p.m. that day, with a first elimination round at 5 p.m. The second elimination round will be at 3 p.m. Sept. 21, with the finals at 5 p.m. The event will be held in the exhibits area beside Exhibit Hall A. Dogs of all breeds, mixed breeds, and sizes can complete. The field is limited to the first 50 canine competitors to register, either online before the event or on-site. The dog with the longest dive will be invited to the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Finals in Gray Summit, Mo., Oct. 3-4. The finals will be nationally televised. To preregister go to www.carsonevents.com/ or contact Anna Lingbloom, project manager, Carson International Inc. at (208) 721-7224 or alingbloom@carsonevents.com. Rope Mill interchange public hearing is Sept. 30 A public hearing on the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Interstate 575 Interchange at Rope Mill Road will be held Sept. 30 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Cherokee Recreation Center South Annex Gym, 7545 Main St. Building 200, Woodstock, GA.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 NEWS THE CHEROKEE LEDGER-NEWS 5 BOE discusses effect of state shortfall BY CAROLYN MATHEWS carolynmathews@ledgernews.com The Cherokee County School District is seriously eyeing ways in which the county may be losing state funding and is taking steps to ask legislators to prevent any more loss of revenue. Already, the district is in the first phase of cutbacks designed to address a $1.6 billion shortfall in the state budget. This year, Cherokee must cut its schools budget by 2 percent – $3.6 million, and next year, it must cut by 3 percent – $5.4 million. Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo is becoming increasingly worried that the state will not refund to the school system the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) credit that will be included in soon-to-be-mailed-out county tax bills. He said if the district does not receive that money, it will be short $5.4 million this year, on top of the state-required cuts. “Before we bring this draft legislative plan to a vote, we need to reflect on the nature of this fiscal crisis,’ Petruzielo said, noting Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, has said the state’s financial condition could get even worse. “The public needs to be aware. This is starting to look like the perfect storm.” According to a draft legislative goals plan being considered by the board, local public schools must find a way to establish a funding partnership between the state and the county that is annually adjusted for growth and inflation. At its Sept. 4 meeting, school board member Mike Chapman announced the board will soon be scheduling town hall meetings to discuss with citizens the impact of budget cuts. Petruzielo told the board that at each meeting, he will summarize financial cuts being made by the district since the last meeting in an effort to make up for state money it won’t be receiving. At its August work session, the Cherokee County Board of Education considered a draft legislative goals program prepared to present to local legislators and the public for the January 2009 General Assembly session. The proposed plan, prepared by district staff, denotes a state/local funding partnership as “priority one.” It points out the $9 million total the school district is having to cut out of this year’s and next year’s budgets, and warns that it may not get paid back for the HTRG credit. “I’m afraid the state might get amnesia when it comes time to mail us our check,” Petruzielo said. The draft plan says “We support reducing the property tax burden by limiting increases in property tax values if an analysis of the local impact of the proposed tax cut is clearly determined and well-publicized for voters.” School board members have publicly said that they were not informed during the last legislative session before decisions were made by Cherokee’s legislators on local bills to be introduced. The board claims it was not con- Brunch, Lunch & Dinner Olde Towne Café on Main sulted before the Legislature was presented with a possible plan by Rep. Sean Jerguson, R-Holly Springs, on whether to put a vote to freeze property tax assessments on residential property on the ballot with regard to school board taxes. The school board unanimously passed a resolution that the residential freeze legislation not be introduced, and when it was, the board wrote a letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue asking that it be vetoed if it passed. That proposal died after Rep. Charlice Byrd, R-Woodstock, took her name off of it, making it no longer supported by a majority of the local delegation. Rep. Calvin Hill, R-Canton, did not sponsor it. Identical legislation appeared on the July ballot in regard to Holly Springs, Woodstock and county property taxes and was passed. The Woodstock City Council, which raised its millage rate last week, protested the question being on the ballot. Board members say they want to be more vocal with local legislators. Four members, all elected Republicans, met with the county Republican Party to discuss issues. School Board Chairwoman Janet Read recently attended a state school board workshop where the effects of a 2 percent residential and 3 percent commercial tax assessment cap where examined. HB 1246, supported last year by Rogers, was analyzed in a policy study by the Andrew Young Policy Institute. The study showed Cherokee would lose $6 million per year if such a freeze were enacted. During the legislative session, local lawmakers repeatedly asked Petruzielo and the school board where they got the $6 million figure they said the bill would eliminate from the school revenues. Although the county’s figure was estimated by district financial staff, Read said she felt vindicated by the study. “On something like this, you don’t want to be right, but it’s kind of nice to be right,” she said. “We had our numbers right, and we knew what we were talking about.” The legislative draft plan asks that, in light of the state’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall, when cuts are being made, the Legislature remember that state funding of the district’s total operating general fund budget was reduced from 61 percent in 1997-1998 to 49 percent in 2008-2009, and that, over the past 21 years, 83 percent of Cherokee’s school construction projects have been funded with local revenue. “State policy shifts should not damage the ability of local school districts to renew or bond their Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), thereby creating an immediate funding crisis in fast-growing districts.” The report points out that the county’s transportation costs this year are $19.1 million; of that, the Reservations Recommended but not Required Read NEW HOURS Wed-Sat 11am-’til ? Sun 10am-’til ? Closed Mon & Tue 770.926.MAIN Full Bar Service 8496 Main St., Woodstock www.oldtownecafeonmain.com ■■■ state will pay only $2.7 million. It says Georgia pays less per pupil for transportation than Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee. It notes the state covers only $298 per student for maintenance and operation of schools and that the state funding formula for textbooks does not take into account huge increases in the cost of textbooks. Cherokee, documents show, pays $2.5 million annually more than the state allotment. There is no state funding, the report says, for safety and security. The plan underlines the board’s support for local control and local governance, including the ability of the local school boards to determine millage rates and school calendars; continuing to raise teacher salaries to enable the district to attract and retain the best teachers and support staff; increasing district policy flexibility and budgeting discretion regarding personnel and class size, while maintaining high accountability for student achievement; and maintaining the current level of state funding for school nurse services. 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Each Seminar Covers Such Topics As: Types of Weight Loss Surgery, Re-Do Of Prior Gastric Surgery, Post-Operative Care and Candidacy for Surgery Center for Videoscopic & Laser Surgery Dr. J. Barry McKernan 2001 Professional Pkwy, Suite 110 Woodstock, GA 30188 www.videoscopicsurgery.com We are located at I-575, exit 7 (Hwy 92) behind Ingles Shopping Center
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09.17 Ledger 01 - Index of - The Cherokee Ledger-News

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