Douglas County OKs $88m Budget

Yesterday, Dec. 15, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners approved the 2010 budget of $88 million. Property taxes are expected to increase to cover revenue shortfalls.

The Douglas County Sentinel reported the event here>>>

Douglas County School Board: Action Alert

News from: Douglas County Taxpayers Coalition

www.DouglasTaxes.com

Info@douglastaxes.com

1. Action Alert: Attend Douglas County School Board Meeting 7pm Tonight

FOX5 I-Team reporter Randy Travis will be revisiting Douglas County tonight (Monday) at the school board meeting at 7:00pm. His investigative report showed how the school board may be grossly overpaying for legal services.

Read more about this story:

Several citizen has signed up to speak about the issue tonight and need you support and attendance.

FOX 5 I-Team Investigates Douglas County School Board

FOX 5’s I-Team Reporter Randy Travis reports on the Douglas County Board of Education’s contract with Sherrod And Bernard’s contracts and fee.

According to the report, the school board paid the law firm 10 times the going rates for issuing a general obligation bond.

View the story here: http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/subindex/news/iteam

Opinion: Ship them off to a remote island

In My Opinion: by James Bell

They call it a “Retreat”. That’s where public officials run off to some distant location far removed from the citizens and media. Or more appropriately, Webster defines ‘retreat’ as “an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable”.

This week the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, department heads and staff headed out to Pine Mountain, Georgia to determine the budget for 2010.

Pro SPLOST P.A.C. Former by GreyStone CEO

GreyStone Power CEO Headed Pro SPLOST/Jail PAC

From Staff Reports November 16, 2009 Douglas County Journal

Douglasville GA:  A Political Action Committee called Keep Douglas Safe was organized to push the passage of the recent $150 million Douglas County Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and $120 million Bond referendum on November 3^rd.

Campaign disclosure records from the State Ethics Commission show that GreyStone Power Company President and C.E.O Gary A. Miller and William T. “Terry” Baggett both from Douglasville, Ga. formed the political action committee to solicited cash contribution in support of the passage of the SPLOST/Bond.

Property Tax Deadline Today: Nov 16

Today, Monday Nov. 16 is the deadline to make payment without interest and penalties.  As of last Friday, about 70 Percent of Douglas County property owners had paid their taxes.

Last week Douglas County Tax Commissioner Todd Cowan expressed his concerns that tax collection was down due to bad economics times.

If taxes are not paid by midnight, 1 percent interest will be added each month the balance is not paid and a 10 percent penalty for 90 days past due.

Avoid long line by paying online at:

https://www.paybill.com/DouglasCounty/

 

Lawsuit Challeges Douglas County SPLOST Vote

Read the lawsuit here>>>>

Douglasville GA – November 13, 2009: A lawsuit was filed Thursday in the Douglas County Superior Court by Douglasville resident James Quarterman challenging the SPLOST/Bond referendum on the November 3^rd, 2009 ballot which passed by a margin of only 32 votes. The vote count was 3,918 yes votes and 3,886 no votes.

In the petition to the court, Quarterman alleges felony violations of Georgia Codes OCGA 21-2-567 (threatening and intimidating voters) and OCGA 21-2-603 (Conspiracy to commit election fraud) and OCGA 48-8-110 (advocating and expressing an opinion of how voters should vote for SPLOST). Among the accused are Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller and County Commissioner Tom Worthan.

Douglas County Ga SPLOST/Bond Election Results

See Election Results HERE>>>>>

Douglas County Tax Group Calls for Investigation

Douglas County Jail: No Requests to Move Inmates by Sheriff Miller

Tax Group Calls for Investigation

Lithia Springs GA: Douglas County Taxpayers Coalition has leaned through an open records request that Sheriff Phil Miller has never made a written request to transfer state inmates from the county jail in 2009.

An open records request was made to the legal department of the Georgia Department of Corrections (DOC) for any correspondences from Sheriff Miller or his staff to the Department of Corrections concerning transfer of state inmates from the Douglas County jail, in 2009. According to a reply from Rhoda S. McCabe, Senior Assistant Counsel, “The Department has no records responsive to this request.”

Douglas County SPLOST/Bond: Vote NO!

It’s like deja vu all over again! On November 3, 2009, voters will once again vote on a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for $150 million and a $120 million general obligation bond to build a new jail/prison.

First of all, Sheriff Miller recently wrote about housing inmates in other counties. He claims the jail was deigned for about 400 inmates. The fact is, it was “redesigned” to house 811 according to reports he submitted to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He complains about the cost of housing a few inmates in other counties, but he fails to mention that he is being paid by the Department of Corrections to house 125-150 convicted state inmates at a profit.