Not every spill is the city’s fault.
City of Valdosta PR, VDT, 18 February 2015, Sewage spilled into waterway,
VALDOSTA — An estimated 375 gallons of sewage dumped into a tributary of Dukes Bay Canal Monday, according to city officials.
A spokesperson for the city said the wastewater spill near Old Statenville Road and Arlington Ave. was the result of a manhole overflow at the 1100 Block of Old Statenville Road around 11 a.m. Monday.
The public is being cautioned Continue reading
The Valdosta Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution against
HB 170 last night and forwarded it to the local legislative delegation
via email and on paper, according to Joy at the Valdosta School Superintendent’s
office just now.
Not surprisingly, VBOE’s resolution looks a lot like the City of Valdosta’s resolution. Both were written before yesterday’s changes to HB 170, which still pit counties against cities.
The Lowndes County Board of Education unanimously passed a similar resolution also last night.
What will the
Lowndes County Commission do tonight?
And what will the
Lowndes County Board of Education do Thursday?
Here’s the Rationale in the yesterday’s VBOE agenda:
HB170 has been introduced this legislative session. It proposes to remove the local tax on fuel and replace it with a tax at the distributor level which would be paid to the state. For Valdosta City Schools this would mean a reduction in revenue of approximately $1.8 million annually from ESPLOST. The total loss of revenue for the city and county governments and the city and county school districts would be approximately $12 million annually. If passed, this bill would have a devastating effect on our community.
And here’s the resolution: Continue reading
Yesterday a Georgia House subcommittee did exactly what Valdosta
urged it not to do about distributing HB 170 funds.
Given that LMIG mismatch between cities and counties
to replace the previous mismatch of forced double taxation
on cities and counties, is the legislature trying to cause
dissension between counties and their cities, or is it just that inept?
We know Valdosta’s position.
What will the Lowndes County Commission do?
Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson wrote to bill’s sponsor: Continue reading
How long will the Lowndes County government and ACCG wait to act,
while the Georgia legislature moves on
its stealth transportation
tax hike for Atlanta that would defund local school boards and city
and county governments?
A House subcommittee has made some changes to the bill,
but it would still force local governments to raise taxes,
and it adds an unrelated repeal of an electric vehicle tax credit
to its boondoggle for trucking companies and Atlanta.
Do we want our local public schools to be defunded like
wildlife programs were through the state’s wildlife license plate revenue
tax taking?
If not, now’s the time to lobby against HB 170, before
the full House Transportation Committee meets Thursday.
Yet there’s still nothing about HB 170
on the county’s agenda for this evening’s voting Regular Session.
Valdosta has already Continue reading
Local schools would lose
$4 million annually
and local governments overall
$12 million annually,
because
HB 170 would
“re-allocate local sales tax funding from local governments to the state of
Georgia”, resolved Valdosta’s Mayor and Council last Thursday.
Plus HB 170 would effectively authorize
“double taxation of municipal residents”,
because both Lowndes County and Valdosta would have to raise property taxes,
which would result in Valdosta’s citizens being taxed more twice (by
both the county and the city).
For how serious Valdosta considers this threat to its ability to provide services
to local citizens, witness how fast this resolution got passed
(within weeks after HB 170 was introduced into the legislature)
compared to how long it took for Valdosta to pass
a resolution against the Sabal Trail pipeline
(about eighteen months).
Here’s the complete text of the Valdosta resolution that passed 5 Febuary 2015. See also Valdosta’s PR about this resolution, which contains links to the evidence, and Valdosta’s letter to the sponsor of the bill.
RESOLUTION NO. 2015-3
A RESOLUTION TO OPPOSE THE STATE OF GEORGIA’S
TRANSPORTATION FUNDING ACT OF 2015 Continue reading
Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll
sent a message Saturday with an attached letter from
City Manager Larry Hanson to the sponsor of
HB 170, strongly opposing that stealth tax hike.
This is in addition to
the resolution the Valdosta City Council passed against HB 170.
Carroll’s cover letter:
All,
Attached is a message Mr. Hanson prepared and sent to Rep. [Jay] Roberts regarding the proposed State Transportation Funding legislation or HB 170. Rep. Roberts is the lead sponsor of this bill.
As many of you have already heard, the Valdosta City Council adopted a resolution Continue reading
While the Lowndes County Commission has no position, the City of Valdosta already voted to oppose the legislature’s HB 170 proposed stealth tax hike that would convert a local sales tax into a state excise tax, forcing local governments to raise property taxes.
Valdosta PR Resolution to Oppose the State of Georgia’s Transportation Funding Act of 2015,
Click here to view the Resolution to Oppose the State of Georgia’s Transportation Funding Act of 2015.
Click here to view the Local Sales Taxes Collected on Motor Fuel Sales by county.
The Valdosta Mayor and City Council unanimously approved Continue reading
Videos of the Planning Commission recommending Monday 26 January 2015.
The Central Avenue Church of Christ wants
to rezone 5.6 acres to Downtown Commercial,
while the two small rezonings are on
Old Pine Road
and
Skipper Bridge Road,
plus
Devine Subdivision
on Tillman Crossing.
See the agenda.
The Central Avenue Church of Christ wants
to rezone 5.6 acres to Downtown Commercial,
while the two small rezonings are on
Old Pine Road
and
Skipper Bridge Road,
plus
Devine Subdivision
on Tillman Crossing.
This meeting already happened tonight.
Thanks to Lowndes County for starting to post Planning Commission agendas including this one. -jsq
Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
Continue reading
Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
AGENDA
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue
Monday, January 26, 2015 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing
Citizens can attend this open meeting to hear about that flooding study, traffic cameras, compensation, and other issues, even though it’s
inconveniently located in another county, almost as if the
Valdosta City Council didn’t want you to see what they’re doing.
If City Hall wouldn’t do, why not the Convention Center?
It has its own chef. Like the VDT editorialized,
there was no need to go to a out-of-town fancy resort.
Joe Adgie wrote for the VDT 8 January 2014, Valdosta City Council retreating in Moultrie,
The two-day event will feature discussion of issues that Mayor John Gayle and the City Council want to focus on in the coming year, as well as priorities for the legislative delegation and the Georgia Department of Transportation.
In addition, the results of a city employee compensation study will be released and discussed at the retreat.
The number one issue listed by the council for the current year involves funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for a levee and pump proposal.
According to the city, Continue reading
