It’s not just workers participating: Continue readingColquitt County’s Latino community is gearing up to make its presence known by, well, disappearing, at least as much as possible for the largest minority group.
On Friday, the day a strict new immigration law takes effect, many will stay home from work and refrain from shopping to help make others aware of the impact of their contributions in the county.
Tag Archives: taxes
HB 87 getting press in Mexico
El Universal of Mexico City reported from Atlanta 27 June 2011,
Juez bloquea partes de ley migratoria de Georgia
Un juez federal concedió este lunes la solicitud de impedir que partes de la ley de Georgia contra la inmigración ilegal entren en vigor hasta que se resuelva una demanda. |
In case you have not emulated
Mayor Paul Bridges of Uvalde and learned Spanish,
here’s google translate’s version in English:
A federal judge on Monday granted the request to prevent parts of the Georgia law against illegal immigration to take effect pending resolution of a lawsuit. |
We don’t need to feed the incarceration machine with a private prison in Lowndes County Georgia that will profit private prison executives and investors at the expense of Georgia taxpayers and Georgia farmers. Spend that tax money on rehabilitation and education instead.
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Andrea Schruijer’s Opportunity —John S. Quarterman
Welcome AndreaContinue readingShuijerSchruijer to a great opportunity as the new Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)!
For a year I’ve been asking for a list of jobs attracted by the Authority. We welcome your marketing expertise so we’ll know the Authority’s successes!
We welcome your communications expertise to inform the community affected by the process of bringing new jobs. VLCIA could publish its agendas, minutes, and videos of its meetings, events, and new jobs on its web pages, and facebook, maybe even twitter.
We welcome your stewardship of the Authority’s $3 million/year in taxes. Maybe some
Uvalde “mayor for everybody” works against HB 87
Catherine E. Shoichet wrote for CNN 28 June 2011 about Paul Bridges, mayor of Uvalde, Republican mayor in the South becomes unlikely advocate for immigrants:
He thinks Governor Nathan Deal got it wrong when he signed HB 87: Continue readingBridges is waging a deeply personal battle.
Enforcement of the Georgia law could put him in prison and tear apart the families of some of his closest friends.
Budget meeting and Lowndes County Commission meeting tonight
![](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2011-06-27--budget/small/P6270014.jpg)
Then there’s the regular session of the County Commission; agenda appended. They plan to vote tonight to approve the budget they never published.
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Continue reading![]()
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
VLCIA land accounting
![](http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/1BC9CL1zm4E/default.jpg)
While the VLCIA board was approving minutes for their 17 May 2011 regular meeting, Chairman Jennett said this:
On the last page, where we’re talking about the industrial park acreage, this is real good the way you’ve presented this, it shows Azalea West 17 acres Lake Park 10, Hahira 10, [?] 165, Miller 220, West Side 155.It’s good Chairman Jennett is having Col. Ricketts keep track of all this land VLCIA has acquired. He started on this project at Brad Lofton’s last board meeting, when he asked Lofton about lot sizes. I look forward to the results.Let me ask you that in future you do one more thing. That you tell me how many 100 acre sites you have, how many 50 acre sites you have, and how many 25 acre sites you have,
[Col. Ricketts made some response.]
Then I’m going to assume that everything else is ones, fives, and tens. And my point would be that we track those, and that when someone comes with a project that and they need 200 acres, we can’t do it. But I think there might be room for at least one and maybe two 100s. I think that’s important when we think about people….
Incidentally, while that list Chairman Jennett read does add up Continue reading
Industrial Authority debts could force Lowndes County to raise taxes
![](http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/greendollar170.jpg)
VLCIA has already issued $15 million in bonds for which apparently the Lowndes County Commission has committed the county, that is, we the taxpayers, to pay the debt service. That comes out of VLCIA’s one mil of dedicated tax income. But according to the intergovernmental contract, it’s actually not even just from VLCIA’s current millage:
The current VLCIA millage is one mil, or about $3 million a year, collected by the county in property taxes and handed over to VLCIA.![]()
Section 4.4 Security for Contract Payments and for Bonds.
(a) The obligation of the County to make the payments required pursuant to Section 4.1(a) hereof shall be a general obligation of the County for which its full faith and credit is pledged, and shall be payable from any lafully available funds, subject to the Tax Funding Limit. In particular, the County agrees to levy an annual tax on all taxable property located within its boundaries, as now existent and as the same may be extended, at such rate or rates, as limited by the Tax Funding Limit, as and when it may be necessary to provide the County with sufficient revenues to make all payments required to be made by the County under this Contract.
But VLCIA’s charter says (in Section 5): Continue reading
Prisons bad for education budget
“Corrections over the past 25 years has become an increasingly big component of state budgets, to the point that it’s competing for funding with education and other core services,” Mauer said. “And you can’t have it both ways anymore.”
If we want knowledge-based jobs here, a private prison is not how to get them. Let’s not build a private prison in Lowndes County, Georgia. Spend those tax dollars on education instead.
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“We really need it in the county really bad.” —Grayson County, VA
Susan Kinzie wrote in the Washington Post 30 May 2011, New Virginia prison sits empty, at a cost of more than $700,000 a year
This is how bad the economy is in southwestern Virginia: People are wishing they had more criminals in town.Meanwhile, the story continued, Virginia has closed 10 prisons due to budget shortfalls and lack of prisoners. And it’s not just Virginia: Continue reading
That’s because Grayson County has a brand-new state prison standing empty. No prisoners. And that means no guards, no administrators, no staff, no jobs.
“I wish they would go ahead and open it up,” said Rhonda James of Mouth of Wilson, echoing many residents there. “We really need it in the county really bad.”
Three hundred new jobs — maybe 350 — that’s what people were told when the prison was planned. With about 11 percent unemployment and no relief in sight, that sounded really good to an awful lot of people here.
But months after the commonwealth finished building the 1,024-bed medium-security prison for $105 million, it remains empty, coils of razor wire and red roofs shining in the sun, new parking lot all but deserted and a yawning warehouse waiting for supplies.
And it’s costing more than $700,000 a year to maintain.
Gov. Deal asks state to look into farm labor shortages
Jeremy Redmon wrote in the AJC 27 May 2011, Governor asks state to probe farm labor shortages
State officials confirmed Friday that they have started investigating the scope of Georgia’s agricultural labor shortages following complaints that the state’s new immigration enforcement law is scaring away migrant farmworkers.Gov. Nathan Deal asked for the investigation Thursday in a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black. Deal wants Black’s department to survey farmers about the impact Georgia’s immigration law, House Bill 87, is having on their industry and report findings by June 10.
The labor shortages have sent farmers scrambling to find other workers for their fall harvests. Others are making hard choices about leaving some fruits and vegetables to wilt on their fields.
Proponents of HB 87 say people who are in the country legally have nothing to worry about concerning the new law. They hope the law that takes effect July 1 will deter illegal immigrants from coming here and burdening the state’s taxpayer-funded public schools, hospitals and jails.
![](http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2007/0711/20070711_122252_APRISONERS_JL83.jpg)
Better: we don’t need a private prison in Lowndes County. Spend that money on education instead.
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