Tag Archive for 'Tommie-Williams'

Water and Property Taxes: Senator Tommie Williams Says…

I think he gets it.  I hope he gets it!  But only time will tell and it will take the 2008 session of the Georgia legislature to reveal just how Senator Williams and the rest of the Republican leadership are going to deal with the issue of water.   This interview focuses primarily on water, but near the end we discuss Glenn Richardson’s proposal to eliminate the property tax. 

When it comes to Speaker Richardson’s proposal, Tommie makes it clear that while it may pass the House, it will not pass the Senate, at least not in its original form.  I am not sure what that means, but Senator Wiliams is equally emphatic that the 2008 legislature is going to do something about property taxes.  According to Senator Williams, people are upset about their property taxes are going up. 

He points out that people on fixed incomes have to worry about their property taxes increasing to the point they can’t afford to pay them.  I don’t think anyone would argue with the idea that the elderly and people on fixed incomes need some protection, I don’t think this justifies a criticism of the property tax as an effective and fair tool for raising revenue.  There are two basic reasons the taxes of homeowners go up significantly:  (1) correcting years of under-stated property values because assessors did not do their jobs, or (2) the inflated value of real estate in this economy. 

I mentioned to Tommie that Warren Buffett, the billionaire, had recently announced that he paid 18% of his income in taxes and his secretary paid 33% of her income in taxes and had challenged members of Congress to disclose their tax rates.  I then asked Tommie if he thought the shifting of the tax burden from a wealth basis, such as the property tax, to a consumption basis, such as the sales tax, would result in his paying less taxes.  He readily admitted that he had already done the math and that he would pay less tax. 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the primary reason behind Glenn Richardson’s efforts to eliminate the property tax: less taxes for the rich, more taxes for consumers.

Water, is not an easy topic to discuss, since it seems that no one wants to talk specifics.  However, in light of Governor Perdue’s recent public confession of sin regarding the way the water problem has been handled, I really wanted to know what sins had been committed that may be affecting the delivery of water from the heavens.   I am still not sure what those sins are, but I still resent having my supply of water affected because of them.

It did not take long to establish that the water plan proposed by the Water Council is not going to receive the legislature’s approval.  The real question is what plan will pass, because some plan has to pass unless they change the law.

Tommie also pointed out that everybody is sick and tired of the hassles that come from too much growth and development in Metro Atlanta.  Too many cars.  Too much traffic.  Too little water.  However, I did not detect any real desire to curb the enthusiasm of developers for more. 

Tommie readily acknowledges that South Georgia is not going to stand for having its water sent to Atlanta.

He doesn’t think that building more reservoirs is a long term solution to the water shortage, mainly because he thinks the EPD and the Endangered Species Act would effectively prevent a reservoir being approved. 

He mentions the possibility of a desalinazation plant to pump water from the coast to Atlanta as a possibile means of providing more water to the Metro Atlanta.  That is certainly a possibility, but the costs is going to be a big issue.  Not only that, will Atlanta pay for it?  Can Atlanta pay for it?

I was surprised when he mentioned the Tennessee River, which he indicates Georgia owns half of.  Hmmm!  Never thought of that, but Tommie indicated that Georgia might claim a right to pump water from the Tennessee River to Metro Atlanta.  Of course, there are all sorts of issues with this, such as the power and control of the Tennessee Valley Authority over the Tennessee River, not to mention building the pipeline to Atlanta.

While these long term possibilities are interesting to discuss, I was more interested in finding out if anyone, including Tommie, had any idea what Atlanta was going to do in 250+ days, if and when the water ran out.  He indicated that the emergency managment agencies were working on that problem and I really did not get any idea what short term options were under consideration, other than, of course, hauling water to and fro.

The only thing that is still certain is that 2008 is going to be interesting, to say the least.

 
 Tommie Willians, Senate Majority Leader [32:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (177)

Interview with Tommie Williams, (R-19), Senate Majority Leader

If this interview with Tommie Williams is any indication, the next legislative session is going to be interesting, very interesting! Not only are they going to have to come up with a Water Plan (in the first 20 days), they are going to make a run at the biggest tax reform (the elimination of the property tax) this State has probably seen since Reconstruction. Add to that transportation (privately built and operated highways, I mean, toll roads and trolleys on Peachtree), reform of the state employees health care (no deductible, pay the second $500 out of your pocket), and it sounds more and more like 40 days and 40 nights.

A correction. In a post from a recent interview with Gordon Rogers (Satilla Riverkeeper), I said that in an earlier interview this summer Tommie had indicated that the legislature had appropriated $20M to developing a water plan of its on. Gordon said he was not aware of such. I straightened this out in this interview. Its $100,000, not $20M.

Tommie obviously has a lot of problems with the Water Plan proposed by the Water Council and my bet is the legislature is not going to let it go into effect. Whether they come up with their own plan (I doubt) or just change the law (so the plan does not go into effect by default), I expect they will do something. The issue is just too important.

Tommie seems to support for the idea of letting private companies finance the costs of building some major roads, in return for which, upon completion, they lease the road from the state in return for the right to collect a toll on the road. According to Tommie, this would allow more of the $1.5 billion highway pie to go to rural and south Georgia. I understand the principle, but the first thought that pops into my mind is the memory of $750 hammers.

If you think this is a novel idea, think again. Ever heard of a turnpike? Pennsylvania chartered the first in 1792. By 1800 there were 69 chartered companies building toll roads. I found a paper comparing the modern efffort at privately built roads with the old one.

I am not sure where I have been, but apparently this idea of privately built roads has been growing since the 1990’s, if not before. The trend is in full swing in other states.

I would think very few private businesses can afford to finance road construction. Whoever puts that financing together has got to have some serious cash or credit, not to mention power, and with it will come that much more money and power. I hate to even think about the possibilities for abuse and corruption.

If state government can increase revenues by not spending money to build a road and then increase them again in leasing the road once it is built, is the next step to sell existing roads to private business to bring in even more revenue? Ask Virginia!

As for the elimination of the property tax, this stands a good chance of being the most contentious issue the legislature deals with. While I am all for an overhaul of the way we assess and collect taxes, both on the state and the federal level, I do not understand this focus on property taxes. According to the Tax Foundation, in 2006 Georgia collected $75M in property taxes, 23rd in the nation. This was .4% of the total taxes collected by the State. I assume this figure does not include local property tax collections because, according to the Tax Foundation, state and local tax property tax collections in 2005 was $899 per capita, a rank of 33rd in the nation.

Since most property taxes are collected and used on a local level, many people see this effort to eliminate property taxes as an effort by the state legislature to grab power by controlling the money local governments need. Right now, if you think your property taxes are too high, that is a fairly local issue and you can go to the next meeting of the county commission and gripe your heart out. But, if property taxes are eliminated, instead of talking to a small group of politicians down at the courthouse, you will have to try to pin down the Atlanta bureaucrats and, I can assure you, you will never have the power to get anything changed. And what if your county does something the powers in the state legislature don’t like (such as electing a Democrat), will power be used and abused?

I am somewhat more cynical in viewing the reason behind the elimination of property taxes. I don’t see this as an attempt to be fair. It is essentially an effort to reduce the tax burden of the rich and place it on consumers. The rich get richer and the working man pays more and more of the tax burden. Now if you want to exempt residences of people over 65 who live on a limited income, fine with me.

Real estate, commercial and residential, uses expensive county services (fire, police, water). How on earth do you justify making the family buying bread at Walmart pay for services received by the property owner collecting $10,000 a month in rent at a strip mall? You pay for what you get. You get local services, you pay for local services, you pay your fair share of property taxes, you don’t make families pay for your free ride.

I don’t think this effort will succeed.

 
 Tommie Williams, Senate Majority Leader [28:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (152)

Interview with Tommie Williams, Senate Majority Leader, (R-19)

Tommie Williams, Senate Majority Leader, (R-19), gives us his thoughts on the 2007 legislature, the budget fiasco and the need for a Special Session, together with observations about some of the bills that did pass.

 
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Interview with Tommie Williams, Senate Majority Leader (R-19)

Tommie Williams, Senate Majority Leader (R-19), discusses various bills: Charter Schools, Career Academies, Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s Waiver of CON, Legislative Restraint, Sex Offender Reform, Peach Care Funding, Judicial Compensation and Georgia Speaks Inspirations such as Prison Porn, SPLOST reform and Seatbelts in Trucks.

 
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Interview with Bill Bozarth, Executive Director of Common Cause of Georgia

Bill Bozarth, Executive Director of Common Cause of Georgia discusses SB 53 introduced by Senator Tommie Williams to exempt a proposed cancer hospital from the formal requirements of obtaining a certificate of need in order to place a new hospital in the metro-Atlanta area.

 
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Interview with Tommie Williams, Georgia Senate Majority Leader

Tommie Williams, Georgia Senate Majority Leader, discusses "Georgia Speaks", an innovative effort by the Republican Caucus to get input from the citizens of Georgia as to what matters to them. We also discuss various issues which may arise in the 2007 legislature, as well as his plans for a charter school in Toombs County, and other items of interest.

 
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