Tax hike is confusing; no GOP presidential candidate yet

While the county government is looking at a 5-mill hike, some 48 percent, you have to look a little deeper to really figure out how that might hit property owners.

Property values in Barrow County have collapsed from the recession. So even as the tax rate goes up, the values have, overall, gone down. Thus, if the rate goes up 48 percent but the value has dropped 20 percent, the net tax increase will be much less than the 48 percent.

The problem is, most of the property values decline have been in housing. Business values have not fallen as much. Thus, any tax hike will hit business more than residential property.

This has nothing to do with school property taxes — people comment on our website about this and blame the school system, but the school system has nothing to do with the county government — those are two different independent governing agencies. Each one sets its own tax rate. (The school system could also raise taxes this year, but that’s a totally different discussion.)

Also, many people seem confused about how the county can continue to do capital projects while at the same time it’s cutting people and raising taxes. While that might seem strange, the county’s general fund is separate from its capital projects funds. Most county capital projects are funded by bonds and SPLOST money; that money cannot be redirected into the general fund since those capital projects were approved by voters. Those dollars can only be used for the specific projects voters approved, nothing else.

So in effect, the county’s general operating fund can be struggling (it is) while the capital projects continue.

Related to that, some people have been very critical over the county’s recent SPLOST vote, a vote that preceded the passage of new legislation that would have allowed unused SPLOST money to be redirected.

But in all fairness, county leaders had no way of knowing that such legislation was pending before they called for the recent vote. In fact, the legislation was changed in the process. When they called the SPLOST vote last fall, county officials had no way of knowing about this legislation.

Perhaps county leaders deserve blame for some things, but this isn’t one of them.

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The Republican Party has a problem. Despite the fact that it faces what could be a weakened Democratic President in next year’s elections, the GOP has no top candidate in the running.

The underlying problem here is that the Republican Party is being torn apart by an internal battle between fiscal conservatives — Tea Party advocates — and the religious-conservative wing that focuses mainly on social issues.

Although those two sides aren’t ideologically opposites, their approach to the issues is very different. Tea Party fiscal conservatives want to deal with spending problems and put all other issues on the backburner for now. Religious conservatives still want to talk about abortion, gay marriage and other non-fiscal issues.

One would think that the GOP could put its internal division behind and focus on beating President Obama. Obama has, after all, created a firestorm of controversy over his liberal leading of America, especially health care reform that will, in effect, create a system of socialized medicine.

Instead, Republicans appear to be headed for a brutal, divisive battle for the nomination, a battle that could weaken the eventual GOP winner so much that Obama wins a second term in office.

Just take a look at the possible GOP field: Newt Gingrich has already imploded, Mitt Romney is too liberal for the party, Ron Paul is too Libertarian, and Sarah Palin has already seen her star power fade. Other possible candidates appear to have weak name recognition: Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum and Mitch Daniels are all unknowns nationwide. And there are other even lesser-known candidates vying for the GOP seat.

The one potential GOP candidate who might have the combination of intelligence, communication skills and personality isn’t running: Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey. Christie has the “right stuff” to be president, but has said repeatedly he would not run. Many observers speculate that he’s waiting for 2016 to make a move.

This decade will be a turning point for the U.S. Strong leadership on fiscal issues will be needed to prevent an economic collapse caused by too much federal spending. President Obama is not the leader to do that.

But so far, the GOP has not found anyone else to really challenge him.

Mike Buffington is co-publisher of the Barrow Journal. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.