Georgia County Government - March 2009 - (Page 17)

new operations center, slated for completion this year, to be housed in the county fire station. Progress for the Future In all four counties, Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) referendums do very well, and have been integral to paying for capital projects of many kinds, preparing the region’s communities for a prosperous, growing future. Boatright points out that as SPLOSTderived funds help develop new facilities, the need to maintain them with money from taxpayers also comes into play, which strategic growth plans must attend to for the future. However, maintenance concerns over the next few decades aren’t stopping progress now. In Bacon County, citizens are benefitting from the county’s fourth SPLOST, anticipated to bring in $40 million to fund projects, including a new $30 million county jail with 450 additional beds. Ware County recently brought on-stream the new SPLOST-funded Trembling Earth Recreation Center, the largest of its kind in the region, covering 300 acres. Ware taxpayers also voted in a $63 million SPLOST IV referendum, slated to pay for a host of new capital improvements over the next five years. Atkinson County is also in the third year of a $6 million SPLOST and in 2011 will hold another SPLOST referendum. Coffee County also has a successful SPLOST program. As ever prone to innovations, the county just “bought back” a 100,000-square-foot spec building on 21 acres it had sold in 1984 for $700,000. According to Lewis, plans are to improve it and get it back on the market. Another spec building Coffee County built in 2004, for $1.3 million, recently sold for $1.3 million, and breaking even on the deal suited the county just fine. “It would cost $3 million to build it today,” Lewis contends. Conclusion To secure the long-term economic prosperity communities here want, attracting and promoting diverse industries and economic development will remain a leading priority for Ware, Bacon, Coffee and Atkinson counties. Ware County Chairman Brown sums up their vision: “We have a location outstanding for business of all kinds. We are just 60 miles from four major interstates, via Corridor Z. We have the potential to be a fast-growing, major commercial region, and we’re working toward that.” Challenges exist, however. Though growth here remains predictable and moderate for now, in step with most of Georgia’s extremely rural regions, it is just this rural cachet, and temperate climate, which attracts retirees and other newcomers to such areas in increasing numbers. “We get a high rate of walk-in traffic from Florida,” Gail Boyd asserts. “And as is true throughout the inland coastal Georgia region, Floridians find the lower cost of housing and living attractive here.” The goal now is to attract the “right kind” of retirees, all agree. According to Futch, not all the counties in the region are ready for Florida’s floodgates to open, however, since many SOUTHEAST GEORGIA continued on page 18 MARCH 2009 www.accg.org 17 http://www.swampgeorgia.com http://www.accg.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - March 2009

Georgia County Government - March 2009 Contents President’s Message County Matters Focus on Southeast Georgia The Georgia Public Service Commission Jerry R. Griffin MPA Scholarship Recipients Named Extension News Research Corner Staff News County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - March 2009

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