Oconee County’s top taxpayer, Mike Power at 10-28-08 BOC Meeting, ‘’….. questioned “the overhead in county business,” that although the BOC claimed it had cut taxes, “over a six year period my taxes have increased 149 percent.”

AVOC

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November 11, 2008

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Oconee needs to rein in spending – revenue is declining Part 1

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By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc

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Having ‘survived’ a national election, all of us now know that our economy has severely declined this year.   Some estimates indicate a 20% decline in home values, at least in parts of the nation.   Stores are cutting back or closing.   Circuit City is a recent bankruptcy casualty.Sales taxes are negatively impacted.

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At the same time, Oconee County Courthouse officials act like we are still in ‘boom times”!!   Our tax digest  still increases even though houses (and stores) are sitting empty- unsold and unrented.Large developments are barricaded and taxes are unpaid for last year.   That may be a worse problem this year.

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6-27-08 “The Melvin Davis Record” - Taxing and Spending – Part 5

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5-2-08 Time to Tell Tax Assessors & Officials that the “Party is Over”!!

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3-28-08 SPLOST Sales Tax Projects – Good and Bad

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11-9-07 Housing slump impacts taxes and water revenue in GA & Oconee County

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7-17-07 GA and NEGA Counties reaping windfalls with tax re-assessments

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11-16-07 Increasing Revenues and Growing Tax Digest Do Not translate to Lower Taxes

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The Oconee Enterprise

http://www.oconeeenterprise.com/articles/2008/10/30/news/doc4908a4e36f68f998932809.txt

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October 29, 2008

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Power: Cut county fat

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Earlier Oconee County’s top taxpayer questioned the paying of $ 85,000 for consultants. Mike Power, a member of the Impact Fee Committee, said, “Residential construction is on life support.”
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“Many businesses that depended on construction have gone out of business,” he said. He questioned “the overhead in county business,” that although the BOC claimed it had cut taxes, “over a six year period my taxes have increased 149 percent.”
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Davis asked that he confine his remarks to the end of the meeting.

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Power returned to the front and said, “The health department should reduce its overhead, not increase its fees. This request should have been made during the budget sessions...We need to cut the fat out of the county overhead. I volunteer my time to help. I’m a positive person, but I’m realistic. Government needs to cut its costs.”……………….

8.10.08 The Foreclosure Effect

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Newton Chief Appraiser- "I honestly believe that at this point, our overall digest will probably go down into 2009 versus what it is in 2008," Knight said. "I do see a downward trend in the real estate market pretty much countywide. I think it's going to vary area to area."……………………………..

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The Covington News

http://www.covnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=3553

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August 10, 2008

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The Foreclosure Effect
Property values decrease, crime rates rise as foreclosures increase
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Rachel Oswald
Staff Writer

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As foreclosures in Newton County continue to climb to all-time highs, the affects of them - disappointed dreams of homeownership, declining property values and hundreds of vacant homes - are spreading around the county.

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As of the end of June, there have been 606 foreclosures in the county this year, according to the Newton County Superior Court Clerk's Office, a figure that with six months left to go in the year is well on track to overtake 2007's foreclosure record of 758.

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Foreclosures in the county, as in Georgia and across the nation, have been steadily rising as the result of a surge in subprime mortgages, homeowners taking out loans they can't afford and careless lending practices.

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In the second quarter of 2008, Georgia had the eighth highest rate of foreclosures in the country, one for every 140 households, according to RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures………………..

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Tommy Knight, chief appraiser for the Newton County Tax Commissioner's Office, said he believes some 80 percent of the county's foreclosures are due to adjustable rate mortgages, a mortgage loan where the interest rate is periodically adjusted (usually higher).

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"Probably the lending institutions were putting people in homes that maybe couldn't afford that type of home," Knight said. "That's a lending issue."

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Knight said he tracks neighborhoods one at a time for foreclosure rates to determine if they are having an affect on property values.

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"You can't make a blanket statement to say that foreclosures are affecting all areas in Newton County. That is not true," he said.

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While an expanding tax digest with double digit growth for the last several years has shielded the county government's revenue stream from the hurt felt by declining property values in neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosure, it seems that the foreclosure rate has finally caught up with the county.

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Knight said the tax digest he submitted a month ago was up by 4 percent from last year, thanks in large part to the opening of a Home Depot and a Super Wal-Mart. Had it not been for those stores, there would have been little growth he said.

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"I honestly believe that at this point, our overall digest will probably go down into 2009 versus what it is in 2008," Knight said. "I do see a downward trend in the real estate market pretty much countywide. I think it's going to vary area to area."……………………………..