Georgia County Government - July 2008 - (Page 7)

CountyMatters The 2009 Legislative Session Begins W By Jerry Griffin Executive Director The big issues for 2008 are still on the table, and the time to work on solutions is during the interim. hile the actual legislature doesn’t convene for six months, the session has really already begun. Qualifying is over and we know that changes in the Legislature will be few in the coming session. The question is, what will the next Legislature identify as priorities? Even more importantly, we must ask what kind of preparation the members will make leading up to the session. The fact is, the big issues for 2008 are still on the table, and the time to work on solutions is during the interim. Property taxes, transportation, trauma care and water remain big issues. Next year, we can also add the whole issue of state and local revenue decline and the cost of motor fuels. Georgia is certainly not in crisis like some surrounding states because of a history of sound fiscal policy in which state leaders provide sound leadership and don’t always take the easy political way out of hard decisions. The validity of maintaining a “rainy day fund” by the state has been documented again this year as the state’s revenues slowed dramatically. Also, the validity of maintaining a sound, balanced tax structure for the state and local governments was demonstrated as well. In the current political environment, leaders often are lured by the “siren song” of national groups that have created the illusion that everything is related to taxes and that cutting taxes is a surefire way to attract voters’ attention and win elections. Rarely are there any discussions of what government does with the taxes it raises. The easy and usual answer is that there is “fat and waste” in government and it should be eliminated – something on which everyone can agree. There is no “free lunch,” but the illusion has been created by some of these national organizations which develop “model” legislation that it is possible. Further, little consideration is given in these “model” laws for the conditions that exist in Georgia. Clearly, it is good to share policies and ideas with states across the nation, but ideas need to be adjusted for the issues we face in Georgia. For a long time, Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) has said Georgia should comprehensively examine its tax structure to determine its proper balance to sustain governmental services during periods of economic downturn as well as in periods of a growing economy. No one individual has the answers, but a sound study bringing leaders of business and our research institutions along with local government, school and state government elected leaders, can lay out alternatives for the governor and Legislature to consider. A proper process requires time for careful consideration of both the revenue structure as well as the expenditure side of the equation. The answer to tax reform is not in simply cutting revenues because of the perception that people believe taxes have gone up too rapidly. Georgia faces two serious challenges. The first is that people and businesses continue to move to the state for its favorable business climate, and because economic opportunity and jobs are here. Certainly this is positive – but, every person and every business that comes to Georgia requires government services and every child who comes here is also entitled to an education. The second challenge is that of our governmental infrastructure. It is often easy and popular to build infrastructure, but after the dedication takes place, it is easy to postpone maintenance. This is particularly true of some of old, buried infrastructure such as water and sewer facilities and transportation infrastructure such as bridges and roads. Everything has a useful life after which it has to be replaced. Transportation, in particular, requires attention. Without getting into the details of congestion, air pollution, lost productivity and the like, the governor’s Commission for a New Georgia produced a report on transportation that had some facts we need to keep in mind when we talk about investment and services of government to the people. Georgia ranks 50th in transportation expenditures per licensed driver; 50th in expenditures per capita; 17th in licensed drivers per mile of state highway; and third in percent of population growth between 2000 and 2005. These are sobering statistics indeed when compared to our state’s phenomenal, and continuing, population growth. Let’s hope the governor and Legislature both focus first on the issues of government and what state and local governments must to do to take care of Georgia citizens. ■ JULY 2008 www.accg.org 7 http://www.accg.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - June 2008

Georgia County Government - June 2008 Contents President’s Message County Matters Laurens, Treutlen and Wheeler Counties Work Together to Leverage Economic Development 2008 Hurricane Season Forecast to be Active GDEcD: Georgia Is Bolstering International Marketing Efforts U.S. Communities Announces Auto Parts Service Contract Energy Innovation Center Opens in Warner Robins Coweta County Uses Innovative Road Construction Techniques Counties & The Law: An Analysis of Ten Commandments Displays in Georgia Courthouses Georgia’s Grand Old Courthouses: Talbot County Extension News: Youth Summit Teaches Civic Engagement Research Corner: Train Me! NACo News: NACo Seeks Obesity Prevention Programs County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - June 2008

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