OPINION: Issues, goals for 2011

1. Leadership changes on BOE. The retirement of Jackson County Board of Education chairwoman Kathy Wilbanks is going to dramatically impact the school system. The system is the county’s largest taxing agency and largest employer. It affects thousands of students and their families. Yet in recent years, the system’s hired leadership has floundered. It responded too slowly to the economic downturn, creating financial disarray; and it has had a messy personnel management history. Without Wilbanks, the BOE will have a major leadership void. The other board members who might take her place all have family members who work in the system, a situation that creates a potential conflict-of-interest. The system’s hired management is weak; without a strong leader on the BOE, the system could face some real problems in 2011.

2. Renewal of E-SPLOST. County voters in March will determine whether or not to allow the three local school systems to have another round of education sales taxes for school capital projects. Although county voters approved the county SPLOST in November, there appears to be more controversy with the education SPLOST. For one thing, the county school system can hardly afford all its recent building projects; adding more will strain the system’s overhead expenses. This could be a close vote, although the March timeframe favors a “Yes” vote.

3. Redistricting. Last year was a census year and that means this spring it will be time to redistrict local, state and federal government representatives. Of particular note, the county BOE districts need to be dramatically changed to reflect the real population distribution in the county. The West Jackson Area is vastly under-represented on the BOE. The same holds true for the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, although those districts are little more balanced. In addition, where Jackson County lands in Congress will also be something local leaders should pay close attention to. Georgia will get one more district, likely in the Northeast Georgia area. Jackson County will have to decide what its best option is: To continue to be allied with the Athens area; to be allied with the Gwinnett area; or to be allied with the Gainesville area. Whatever the consensus, local leaders should elbow their way at the redistricting table to make sure local citizens don’t get squeezed or split.

4. Fix fire district spending. Overall, Jackson County’s fire departments do a good job. But they are a mess financially. Each district sets its own tax rate, which sometimes reflects real need and sometimes represents excess by local fire leaders. All citizens of Jackson County deserve equitable fire protection, but not every department needs a slew of fancy equipment to do that. In addition, some departments are very wealthy while other departments struggle. County leaders should set one countywide tax rate then allocate those funds to the various departments according to need, not whim. So far, county leaders have avoided that discussion because they lack the courage to confront a political hot potato. Time for the BOC to step up and get control of those tax dollars.

5. Do more to fix the digest. Property values in Jackson County collapsed in the recession, but getting that reality to reflect on the tax digest is like pulling teeth. While some adjustments have been made, more needs to be done to lower inflated values on the tax books. Yes, that affects local government income, but so what? The county was quick to raise values — generating more tax dollars — in the boom years, but has been damnably slow to lower them during the bust.