Interview with Barrow BOC Chairman candidate Danny Yearwood
BarrowJournal.com and The Braselton News invited each of the candidates for chairman of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners to participate in an in-depth interview with reporter Kristi Reed and editor Mike Buffington to discuss issues of importance to Barrow County voters. The following is a transcript of the key issues from our interview with candidate Daniel Yearwood.
NEWS/JOURNAL: With the economy being slow, people perceive their housing assessments are too high right now. Do you look at Barrow County needing to lower its tax rate to help out homeowners during this economic downturn?
YEARWOOD: The administration keeps stating that our taxes haven’t gone up. The millage rate hasn’t gone up, but actually it probably has, in the last four years it’s gone up 2.16 mils. They keep raising the assessment value where the tax doesn’t have to be raised. Nationwide, it’s happening all over our country. The valuation of our homes is actually decreasing – everywhere except Barrow County. I don’t know why that is. Maybe they don’t want to raise the tax millage. That’s the point I’m trying to get out. It’s not that the millage didn’t go up. If they raise the value of the property, it doesn’t have to go up. The taxes are going up anyway.
NEWS/JOURNAL: The Board of Commissioners really doesn’t control the assessments, the board of assessors do. Should the commissioners, given the value that is on the books now, lower the millage rate?
YEARWOOD: The millage rate cannot actually be lowered in Barrow County at this time because of our debt ratio. As you know, our SPLOST fund is funded by sales tax revenue. Sales tax in Barrow County right now is down between 30 and 40 percent straight across the board. If that revenue does not come in, our bond payments cannot be made unless we go into our general budget to pay our bond debt. And that’s the situation we’re in and I’m sure that’s the reason our taxes actually adjusted or messed with at this time because we really don’t know where we stand county wide.
NEWS/JOURNAL: Do you think the county is in good or bad financial shape?
YEARWOOD: I don’t think we’re in bad financial shape. I think we have to look at our debt ratio as far as our bond issues. You start making bond payments twice a year on $120 million bond, it’s going to take some money to pay that debt. A thing was brought out the other night in one of our meetings that we have $15 million bond debt where we went into the airport property. It’s actually just five years that it’s going to be paid out. Either we’re going to have to start back over and issue another bond or either start paying that out of the general fund. There are a lot of these funds that exist and that’s the problem Barrow County has got right now.
NEWS/JOURNAL: With revenues being flat, where do you think the county should look at making budget cuts?
YEARWOOD: Well, I personally think we should make budget cuts straight across the board. I think we need to call in all our department heads and say listen, we need to try to cut back on our spending. I’ve talked to the sheriff candidates. Our sheriff budget is way out of control. Barrow County is spending money like it’s an open checkbook. And that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to look at all of our infrastructure of our county and we’ve got to bring them together…We’ve got every county around us cutting back. Walton County has laid off inspectors… Jackson County, not us. We’ve hired four more people this year. Not as inspectors, but in our county government. Everybody else is cutting back, we’re still hiring. This has got to be, I hate to say approached from the standpoint of a cutback, but we can’t continue paying the debt that we pay and keep the people we’ve got employed there. We’ve got to really look at every department we’ve got and say listen, with our economic situation like it is, you bring me a way we can cut your department 10 percent and let’s do it straight across the board.
NEWS/JOURNAL: Does that include layoffs of county employees?
YEARWOOD: If it has to come to that. You know I hate to say that, but all the other counties around us are doing it. I don’t know why we should have to be any different.
NEWS/JOURNAL: What about pay raises? They are doing the budget now for 2009. Do you think the county should include a pay raise for county employees in the 2009 budget?
YEARWOOD: Our county employees deserve their pay. I think we need to look at and maybe restructure some of our pay. Our pay grades are set up on time and qualifications. Those people that have been there, they deserve a pay raise. That’s the way our county government is set up. It’s set up sort of on a schedule of qualifications, time and how long they have been at that job. I didn’t set it up. I think, as chairman, you have the responsibility to the taxpayers theirselves. Ever what I can do to make sure our taxpayers do not have to suffer from a consequence of a tax rate is what I should do.
NEWS/JOURNAL: You’re running against an incumbent. What is the best thing he has done while in office and what is the worst thing?
YEARWOOD: I think the best thing that he has done is actually implementing some things in our county that are actually good for our county. I want to say the protection of our county has increased greatly. I’m talking about our firefighters, our ambulance service and now, we’re actually cutting back. He’s actually pulled two ambulances off. I think that he has put a lot of good effort into leading our county forward, but I think what happened is that he made some very bad business decisions. I’m going to say that was the good part. He actually wanted to lead our county forward into the future. I think he actually made some very bad business decisions when he went into these - I call them pork projects – such as the airport expansion and letting the county actually get involved in an industrial and airport authority purchase on land. We had property purchased way out of financial reason for that particular property. I haven’t understood yet why we would’ve paid $40,000 an acre for property when we could’ve bought property all over the county for $25,000 an acre. This has even happened with our new 911. You see, what has happened is that he has actually wanted to do what was good with for the county, but, even with the new 911 and the new fire station…we have so much property in our county that could be utilized for this type service, but yet this property was put somewhere else at $40,000 an acre. There was no appraisal done. I don’t understand how they came up with the figures. I mean, I would not let my county buy property without first finding out what the appraised value of it was, doing a feasibility study to see if it is the right place and a good place to put it. See if the property can be used for what we’re doing with it and make sure that we’re not paying too much for it. You know regardless of who we’re buying it from. That is a protection we should give our taxpayers as commissioners.
NEWS/JOURNAL: There is a lot of talk with Barrow County being such a growth area that the government needs to control growth better. What role do you think the Barrow County Board of Commissioners should play in controlling growth, managing growth, zoning and those type issues? How far should the county go in that process?
YEARWOOD: Well, you know planning and zoning is set up for the benefit of a county. We have rules and regulations that everybody should follow. There are some things that have happened and gone on in Barrow County that I don’t agree with. Like we put the new jail at 211. There’s not a turning lane. Anybody else in planning and zoning would’ve had to put a turning lane. I don’t undert6and why we didn’t. It doesn’t make sense to me. The only thing I can think of is that DOT might have said that if it’s not going to be a major entrance, if they’re just going to use it as an out entrance and maybe put it up on the other road. These are the things that we must address, that need to be done. I mean if it’s good for one person, it’s good for everybody. You can’t show partiality just because it’s somebody or who it is. It should be for everybody. And, yes, as far as growth, we do need to handle our growth. First off, because we need to make sure that we have the water, sewer and infrastructure for them. We need to make sure first that we do have that infrastructure in place for growth. We do not need to keep adding on subdivision after subdivision in a water drought situation. We need to sit down with our commissioners and say, listen, in this time of water drought, we need to actually stop this until we make sure we have the water capacity to give them this service. We are already in a critical situation and we sure don’t want to run out of water. I think that is our responsibility.
NEWS/JOURNAL: You discussed the need for providing infrastructure to support industry and residential development. With the financial situation being what it is, how do you propose to pay for infrastructure development?
YEARWOOD: First, we have to make sure that the money we are taking in on our tax digest is spent wisely. We’ve got to stop spending on what we want. We have to first prepare for what we need. Then, if we have something left, go for what we want. That’s the reason I’ve approached Hwy. 316 and the area I have to make sure that people realize we need to develop this piece of property for our commercial and industrial growth. We need to direct what funds we have to make sure we can bring in that commercial and industrial development to offset that cost to the public. If we can get that developed along 316 corridor where we have that money coming in off the revenue of these things, then we can prepare for other places to have water and sewer.
NEWS/JOURNAL: Are there areas of the county budget where you feel like money is being wasted? Do you have any particular cuts in mind or is there just a general need to tighten the belt?
YEARWOOD: I actually believe that the money that was spent for the expansion property for the industrial authority – this money could have been used elsewhere. If we were going to go into a $15 million bond debt, we should’ve directed that at Hwy. 316 and put the money and sewer over there where we could bring in the industry. See, to me this is a waste. But we cannot just say we don’t own this because we do. It’s a debt now. It’s something that we have got to try and figure out how we can utilize this property. Either sell it, develop it, something. But, in our economic times, nobody is going to come in there and pay us $40,000 an acre for that property. This is what I wouldn’t have done. This is what I was saying was a bad decision. We have got to protect our taxpayers. If we are going to be involved in any project, we have to make sure it is the best thing for our taxpayers. If it’s not, stay away from it. As far as cutting stuff in our budget, I think what we can do is cut back in everything we do in our county government. We have got to quit putting double services. Like our airport for instance. Our airport has six or seven employees. They have a groundskeeper and just certain people who do a job. Our county already has a groundkeeper. Why are we not keeping that place up? Why has it got to be funded under a different name for the same service? We’ve already got groundskeepers. Let’s send them down there and let them keep the grounds. Then they say it’s because of Homeland Security that we can’t let people in and out. Well, they’re government employees, so they should have the right to go in and clean up the airport. That’s just one of the areas. The other area I am thinking is the gas. We have got to figure out a way, and I have tried my best but of course I’m not in office so I approach this from the outside looking in, but every 911 call that’s made in Barrow County, a fire truck goes out, an ambulance goes out. We’ve got a fire truck going out there that gets six miles to a gallon on diesel fuel that’s $4 a gallon. And then we’ve got that ambulance going out there. We’ve got seven people going to a 911 call that are on county payroll. We get there and it’s a stumped toe or a sprained arm and then they call backup – Procare. So, we’ve spent all this money to go to a 911 call and don’t even need to be there. We have got to look at every department we’ve got and stop this wasteful spending. There is no need to have two people go to a 911 call. We’ve got to figure out some way to keep from wasting that money. We’ve got inspectors riding around in F-150 pickups that get 12 miles to a gallon. Why not put them in a Ford Focus that gets 28 miles to a gallon. All they’re doing is going out there to inspect a home. They don’t need a full size truck to run around in. There are so many places in our government that are just wasting money. I can sit here and say this, but I can’t do anything about it unless I get elected.
NEWS/JOURNAL: With the economy being slow, people perceive their housing assessments are too high right now. Do you look at Barrow County needing to lower its tax rate to help out homeowners during this economic downturn?
YEARWOOD: The administration keeps stating that our taxes haven’t gone up. The millage rate hasn’t gone up, but actually it probably has, in the last four years it’s gone up 2.16 mils. They keep raising the assessment value where the tax doesn’t have to be raised. Nationwide, it’s happening all over our country. The valuation of our homes is actually decreasing – everywhere except Barrow County. I don’t know why that is. Maybe they don’t want to raise the tax millage. That’s the point I’m trying to get out. It’s not that the millage didn’t go up. If they raise the value of the property, it doesn’t have to go up. The taxes are going up anyway.
NEWS/JOURNAL: The Board of Commissioners really doesn’t control the assessments, the board of assessors do. Should the commissioners, given the value that is on the books now, lower the millage rate?
YEARWOOD: The millage rate cannot actually be lowered in Barrow County at this time because of our debt ratio. As you know, our SPLOST fund is funded by sales tax revenue. Sales tax in Barrow County right now is down between 30 and 40 percent straight across the board. If that revenue does not come in, our bond payments cannot be made unless we go into our general budget to pay our bond debt. And that’s the situation we’re in and I’m sure that’s the reason our taxes actually adjusted or messed with at this time because we really don’t know where we stand county wide.
NEWS/JOURNAL: Do you think the county is in good or bad financial shape?
YEARWOOD: I don’t think we’re in bad financial shape. I think we have to look at our debt ratio as far as our bond issues. You start making bond payments twice a year on $120 million bond, it’s going to take some money to pay that debt. A thing was brought out the other night in one of our meetings that we have $15 million bond debt where we went into the airport property. It’s actually just five years that it’s going to be paid out. Either we’re going to have to start back over and issue another bond or either start paying that out of the general fund. There are a lot of these funds that exist and that’s the problem Barrow County has got right now.
NEWS/JOURNAL: With revenues being flat, where do you think the county should look at making budget cuts?
YEARWOOD: Well, I personally think we should make budget cuts straight across the board. I think we need to call in all our department heads and say listen, we need to try to cut back on our spending. I’ve talked to the sheriff candidates. Our sheriff budget is way out of control. Barrow County is spending money like it’s an open checkbook. And that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to look at all of our infrastructure of our county and we’ve got to bring them together…We’ve got every county around us cutting back. Walton County has laid off inspectors… Jackson County, not us. We’ve hired four more people this year. Not as inspectors, but in our county government. Everybody else is cutting back, we’re still hiring. This has got to be, I hate to say approached from the standpoint of a cutback, but we can’t continue paying the debt that we pay and keep the people we’ve got employed there. We’ve got to really look at every department we’ve got and say listen, with our economic situation like it is, you bring me a way we can cut your department 10 percent and let’s do it straight across the board.
NEWS/JOURNAL: Does that include layoffs of county employees?
YEARWOOD: If it has to come to that. You know I hate to say that, but all the other counties around us are doing it. I don’t know why we should have to be any different.
NEWS/JOURNAL: What about pay raises? They are doing the budget now for 2009. Do you think the county should include a pay raise for county employees in the 2009 budget?
YEARWOOD: Our county employees deserve their pay. I think we need to look at and maybe restructure some of our pay. Our pay grades are set up on time and qualifications. Those people that have been there, they deserve a pay raise. That’s the way our county government is set up. It’s set up sort of on a schedule of qualifications, time and how long they have been at that job. I didn’t set it up. I think, as chairman, you have the responsibility to the taxpayers theirselves. Ever what I can do to make sure our taxpayers do not have to suffer from a consequence of a tax rate is what I should do.
NEWS/JOURNAL: You’re running against an incumbent. What is the best thing he has done while in office and what is the worst thing?
YEARWOOD: I think the best thing that he has done is actually implementing some things in our county that are actually good for our county. I want to say the protection of our county has increased greatly. I’m talking about our firefighters, our ambulance service and now, we’re actually cutting back. He’s actually pulled two ambulances off. I think that he has put a lot of good effort into leading our county forward, but I think what happened is that he made some very bad business decisions. I’m going to say that was the good part. He actually wanted to lead our county forward into the future. I think he actually made some very bad business decisions when he went into these - I call them pork projects – such as the airport expansion and letting the county actually get involved in an industrial and airport authority purchase on land. We had property purchased way out of financial reason for that particular property. I haven’t understood yet why we would’ve paid $40,000 an acre for property when we could’ve bought property all over the county for $25,000 an acre. This has even happened with our new 911. You see, what has happened is that he has actually wanted to do what was good with for the county, but, even with the new 911 and the new fire station…we have so much property in our county that could be utilized for this type service, but yet this property was put somewhere else at $40,000 an acre. There was no appraisal done. I don’t understand how they came up with the figures. I mean, I would not let my county buy property without first finding out what the appraised value of it was, doing a feasibility study to see if it is the right place and a good place to put it. See if the property can be used for what we’re doing with it and make sure that we’re not paying too much for it. You know regardless of who we’re buying it from. That is a protection we should give our taxpayers as commissioners.
NEWS/JOURNAL: There is a lot of talk with Barrow County being such a growth area that the government needs to control growth better. What role do you think the Barrow County Board of Commissioners should play in controlling growth, managing growth, zoning and those type issues? How far should the county go in that process?
YEARWOOD: Well, you know planning and zoning is set up for the benefit of a county. We have rules and regulations that everybody should follow. There are some things that have happened and gone on in Barrow County that I don’t agree with. Like we put the new jail at 211. There’s not a turning lane. Anybody else in planning and zoning would’ve had to put a turning lane. I don’t undert6and why we didn’t. It doesn’t make sense to me. The only thing I can think of is that DOT might have said that if it’s not going to be a major entrance, if they’re just going to use it as an out entrance and maybe put it up on the other road. These are the things that we must address, that need to be done. I mean if it’s good for one person, it’s good for everybody. You can’t show partiality just because it’s somebody or who it is. It should be for everybody. And, yes, as far as growth, we do need to handle our growth. First off, because we need to make sure that we have the water, sewer and infrastructure for them. We need to make sure first that we do have that infrastructure in place for growth. We do not need to keep adding on subdivision after subdivision in a water drought situation. We need to sit down with our commissioners and say, listen, in this time of water drought, we need to actually stop this until we make sure we have the water capacity to give them this service. We are already in a critical situation and we sure don’t want to run out of water. I think that is our responsibility.
NEWS/JOURNAL: You discussed the need for providing infrastructure to support industry and residential development. With the financial situation being what it is, how do you propose to pay for infrastructure development?
YEARWOOD: First, we have to make sure that the money we are taking in on our tax digest is spent wisely. We’ve got to stop spending on what we want. We have to first prepare for what we need. Then, if we have something left, go for what we want. That’s the reason I’ve approached Hwy. 316 and the area I have to make sure that people realize we need to develop this piece of property for our commercial and industrial growth. We need to direct what funds we have to make sure we can bring in that commercial and industrial development to offset that cost to the public. If we can get that developed along 316 corridor where we have that money coming in off the revenue of these things, then we can prepare for other places to have water and sewer.
NEWS/JOURNAL: Are there areas of the county budget where you feel like money is being wasted? Do you have any particular cuts in mind or is there just a general need to tighten the belt?
YEARWOOD: I actually believe that the money that was spent for the expansion property for the industrial authority – this money could have been used elsewhere. If we were going to go into a $15 million bond debt, we should’ve directed that at Hwy. 316 and put the money and sewer over there where we could bring in the industry. See, to me this is a waste. But we cannot just say we don’t own this because we do. It’s a debt now. It’s something that we have got to try and figure out how we can utilize this property. Either sell it, develop it, something. But, in our economic times, nobody is going to come in there and pay us $40,000 an acre for that property. This is what I wouldn’t have done. This is what I was saying was a bad decision. We have got to protect our taxpayers. If we are going to be involved in any project, we have to make sure it is the best thing for our taxpayers. If it’s not, stay away from it. As far as cutting stuff in our budget, I think what we can do is cut back in everything we do in our county government. We have got to quit putting double services. Like our airport for instance. Our airport has six or seven employees. They have a groundskeeper and just certain people who do a job. Our county already has a groundkeeper. Why are we not keeping that place up? Why has it got to be funded under a different name for the same service? We’ve already got groundskeepers. Let’s send them down there and let them keep the grounds. Then they say it’s because of Homeland Security that we can’t let people in and out. Well, they’re government employees, so they should have the right to go in and clean up the airport. That’s just one of the areas. The other area I am thinking is the gas. We have got to figure out a way, and I have tried my best but of course I’m not in office so I approach this from the outside looking in, but every 911 call that’s made in Barrow County, a fire truck goes out, an ambulance goes out. We’ve got a fire truck going out there that gets six miles to a gallon on diesel fuel that’s $4 a gallon. And then we’ve got that ambulance going out there. We’ve got seven people going to a 911 call that are on county payroll. We get there and it’s a stumped toe or a sprained arm and then they call backup – Procare. So, we’ve spent all this money to go to a 911 call and don’t even need to be there. We have got to look at every department we’ve got and stop this wasteful spending. There is no need to have two people go to a 911 call. We’ve got to figure out some way to keep from wasting that money. We’ve got inspectors riding around in F-150 pickups that get 12 miles to a gallon. Why not put them in a Ford Focus that gets 28 miles to a gallon. All they’re doing is going out there to inspect a home. They don’t need a full size truck to run around in. There are so many places in our government that are just wasting money. I can sit here and say this, but I can’t do anything about it unless I get elected.
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