AVOC
November 24, 2005
Four County Development Authority (I-20) Has Challenges
By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc.
The Four County Development Authority seems to have similar issues to those raised about the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Project in Walton County. It involves some of the same consultants, Hightower Engineering and Attorney-Consultant Tommy Craig.
Land issues, (who owns the area properties & price) payments to consultants are all familiar issues to those who have followed the Walton Reservoir project and other projects involving Tommy Craig.
Many folks want regionalism to work. Many folks want to see economic development succeed in this area. However, legitimate questions and issues need more public discussion. See Article of November 18, 2005, by Mary Patrick, Jasper Citizen, in the Loganville Tribune below.
SEE:
8-5-04 Time to Get Input on $42 Million Walton Water Project
10-4-05 Issues for Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton
11-14-05 Jasper County – Four County Development Issues & New Manager
12-17-04 “Progress” on the Four County Industrial Park
12-17-04 'Progress' on Four County Industrial Park Continued...
9-24-04 Oconee Citizen Questions from 8-24-04 Public Meeting Still Unanswered
9-15-04 Oconee Not Committed To Hard Labor Creek Reservoir
8-26-04 More News from Walton County on Reservoir
11-23-05 Questions and Issues about the Four County Development Authority on I – 20
(See Newton Citizen Article Below)
The Loganville Tribune
http://loganvilletribune.com/
November 18, 2005 Guest View
Answer FCDA questions please
EDITOR’S NOTE: Walton County is a member of the Four County Development Authority.
By Mary Patrick
Mary Patrick is Chairman
Taxpayer’s Watchdog Group, Inc.
Monticello, GA
As a Jasper County citizen, I am writing about Jasper County and its continued participation in the Four County Development Authority (FCDA).
Jasper County is a rather “poor” county, but only as far as our tax base is concerned.
We are blessed to have 236,000 areas of mostly farmland and timber. Around 36,000 acres of our county consists of National Forest and Wildlife Refuge areas. People in our county enjoy the rural atmosphere with less traffic, friendly people you really know, and a peaceful way of life.
Our revenues are severely limited because most of our tax base is in “conservation”, timber, and other types of property that are taxed at a minimal amount. This helped motivate our Commissioners to join in on the Four County Development Authority plan, which was to bring our county additional revenues; however, it hasn’t worked out that way.
The people of Jasper County didn’t really get to know much about the FCDA. A few people did raise concerns at the time. Now that the issue of the FCDA has surfaced again, it would be informative for everyone involved, including the people of Newton, Walton, and Morgan counties to have some questions answered. There was a lot of hype when the originators (consultants, lawyers, etc.) of this project were soliciting participants, now it’s time to give us some answers.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reported on February 8, 1999, that the FCDA was formed to attract high-tech firms with higher-waged jobs. A site of around 1500 acres on I-20 was chosen for the development.
The site is now known as Stanton Springs. The AJC article reported, “An appraisal commissioned by the four-county committee valued the land at about $500 an acre.
A second appraisal commissioned by Walton County’s Chairman John Krieger, valued the land at $900 an acre.”
According to the article, Newton’s Chairman Davis Morgan asked real estate attorney James Alexander to value the land. “I would not recommend such a purchase in the $500 per acre range,” Alexander wrote to Morgan, and suggested a price around $300 per acre.
Based on personal research I discovered that the land (1530 acres) had been offered for around $.7 million or $400 per acre.
It was purchased by the Walton County Development Authority for the FCDA in 1998 for $.5 million or $900 an acre. QUESTION: Who made the extra $ million on this land deal?
The FCDA then issued bonds in the amount of $ million to pay the Walton County Development Authority for the land and to have money (another $.5 million) to pay consultants and attorneys.
That’s almost two and ½ times what the property was originally offered for. The TAXPAYERS of the four counties involved are now paying the $ million debt as part of their property tax bill.
The bonds were issued as “revenue bonds”, which is supposed to mean that the revenue from the project would pay for the bond payments. Since there is no revenue the taxpayers continue to pick up the tab.
In addition to wanting to know who made the $ million over and above the fair market value of the land, we should all know who are the bondholders of this project? As of June 30, 2005 those bondholders have received over $00,000 in interest payments based on the FCDA’s own financial statements.
Who sits on the board of the FCDA?
Are the meetings publicized?
The people in Jasper County have never had a report from the FCDA published. Are they published in the other counties? Does anyone know where the project stands? It looks as if nothing has happened at Stanton Springs.
As of today, after 7 years, there has been no return on the taxpayer’s money and there is still no prospective industry coming.
Even though Jasper County was asked to participate because it was a Tier III county (allowing special tax breaks in setting up the multi-county development authority), Jasper County is not even mentioned in the “slicks” put out to advertise Stanton Springs.
It is disturbing to Jasper citizens that the maps and the literature mention Covington, Monroe, Madison, and even Athens and Greensboro, but fail to show Monticello and/or Jasper County. On October 6, 2005 the other three counties (Newton, Walton, and Morgan) met to discuss such things as “development options.” Apparently they didn’t need Jasper County for anything this time. The taxpayers of Jasper County have helped to pay for $62,000 of legal and consulting fees (to whom?), $83,000 of bond issue costs, $37,400 of financing fees, $5,000 of engineering fees (to whom?), and $83,000 of interest costs, along with other costs. Jasper County’s contribution is only 10%; Newton and Walton each contribute 37.5% and Morgan contributes 15% of all costs.
Two final questions: “How much longer will it be before the taxpayers receive any benefit from their investment? Will the benefit be more than the consultants and attorneys receive?
The Citizens of Jasper County (as well as Walton, Morgan and Newton) deserve answers to these questions before any more public funds are contributed to this project.
11-11-05 Jasper BOC Asks to Be Released from Four County Development Authority
The Monticello News
http://www.themonticellonews.com/
November 10, 2005
Four County Authority
Commissioners voted to send a letter to the Four county Development Authority asking the authority to allow Jasper County to withdraw from the authority. If that is not possible, the county has two other options. One would be for the authority to allow Jasper County to defer its payments for 10 years, at which time what Jasper is obligated for would become due, or to sell property to pay off the debt.
Greg Williams, Jasper's new county manager, asked would selling the property release Jasper from obligation?
County Commission Chairman Jack Bernard acknowledged it would not, but said that it would relieve the debt.
Attorney John Nix said he doubted the debt could be paid off as it is part of a bond issue, and prepayment is likely not an option.
Commissioners Bernard, Bob Yarbrough and Greg Johnson voted for the action. Commissioner Charles Hill was opposed, and Commissioner Carl Pennamon was late to the meeting so did not vote on that item.
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11-8-05 Jasper Asking Four County Development Authority to Defer Costs
The Newton Citizen
http://www.newtoncitizen.com/
November 8, 2005
Jasper asks to defer project payments
By Crystal Tatum
COVINGTON — Financial troubles have prompted Jasper County commissioners to ask the Joint Development Authority to allow them to defer payments on the debt service for Stanton Springs, the planned 1,500-acre technology park Jasper is jointly funding with Newton, Morgan and Walton counties.
Jasper County pays 10 percent of debt service for the undeveloped park off Interstate 20 exit 101; Newton and Walton counties are each responsible for 37.5 percent, and Morgan County pays 15 percent.
Jasper County makes annual payments to the authority and has contributed $50,000 so far, Jasper County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jack Bernard said. The total county contribution would be $.16 million over the next 15 years, he said.
But because of what he described as a “financial crunch,” Jasper commissioners are seeking permission from the authority to defer costs on their payments for 10 years.
“Frankly, this is a poor county, and we just don’t have that much money to invest in this project over the next 15 years,” Bernard said.
Commissioners met Monday morning and agreed to present the authority with that proposal, as well as two alternatives. The first would be to pull out of the authority altogether. The second would be to sell part of the technology park property, which Bernard said is worth $0,000 an acre, and use the funds to pay off Jasper’s portion of the debt service.
Bernard said commissioners are examining all aspects of the county budget and making cuts across the board. Commissioners who took office in January inherited substantial debts, Bernard said.
Commissioners had to take out a $00,000 loan to cap and close the county landfill, Bernard said.
Additionally, $50,000 had to be cut from the budget because of misbudgeting, he said.
Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenues allotted to renovate the county courthouse will run $00,000 short as well, he said.
Given the financial trouble, it’s not feasible to continue payments on Stanton Springs, Bernard said.
“We’ve already spent $50,000 on this project, and according to the debt schedule that we received, they project $.162 million for us to put into this over the next 15 years. Frankly, that’s more money than we’re putting into economic development within this county itself. Our budget for the four-county authority exceeds the budget that we’ve got internally for economic development within county borders,” he said.
Bernard said the county manager is preparing the letter to be sent to the authority. He said he believed some representatives from Newton County had been notified.
Local authority members could not be reached for comment Monday.
“We’re trying to do this in a very voluntary manner. We’re trying to be a cooperative player in this, because we are a partner with Morgan, Newton and Walton counties, so we want to get along with our sister counties,” he said.
“We fully support the authority,” he said. “It’s just a financial issue for us.”
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