County Commissioner's
Office
County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner
Q. I have been hearing and reading that the county
has a lot of debt and that you have been labeled a “tax and
spend” Commissioner by some. Is this true?
A. Absolutely not!!! Union County has very little debt and we are
very financially sound. There is a group of people in the county
that goes to certain internet sites and continuously, day after day,
tells lies about me, the sheriff and anyone else they feel like trashing
that particular time. Most use anonymous names and several
of them are directly involved with a local political party, which
is the same group that is calling me a tax and spend commissioner
even though Union County has the third lowest tax rate out of 159
counties, has one of the smallest debts, and always continues to
have a balanced budget. Go figure.
Q. So how much debt
does the county have?
A. Other than leases for sheriff’s vehicles and copy machines
we only have one loan that is being paid out of budget (Gooch By-Pass
Property). I gave the details of it two weeks ago in my Q & A
column. We only owe $430,000 and are paying out of budget $119,780
per year and it will be paid off August 1st of 2011. We have
enough money in reserve to pay it off now. However, we are
collecting an average of 5.2730% interest (in 2007) on the savings
and are only paying 4.6% on the debt. So we feel it is not
appropriate to pay this debt off now.
The second loan is the courthouse
on which we owe $3,570,000. This is a SPLOST sales tax project
that the public supported with a 93% vote. This debt is being paid
with sales tax money only and no property tax money and will be
paid off in full in 2009 when our current SPLOST expires. Our final debt which will also be paid off with sales
tax revenue is $880,000 we owe on the five new fire engines which
will be paid off within two years with the new SPLOST that we will
vote on next year. (Many in the county should also see their fire
(property) insurance reduced as a result of a new ISO rating because
of the new trucks.) This amounts to an exceptionally small
amount of debt because of conservative financial management and the
continued passing of the SPLOST sales tax by the voters of Union
County.
Q. How does our debt compare to other counties in this area
of the state?
A. Our debt is really insignificant. Union County has an excellent
financial rating and always has a balanced budget. I
do not have access to information on all of the counties, but I know
that Pickens County owes several million dollars (over five) and
are trying to bail themselves out of past debt with a new SPLOST. Fannin
County has a twenty year debt of several million dollars (over ten)
to pay for their jail and courthouse. Lumpkin County owes in
the range of $10 million for past debt and the new courthouse debt.
Many counties would be envious of our financial position. We continue
to be very strong financially because of the dedicated employees
and elected officials who spend wisely and conserve your money.
Q. We have been reading some outlandishly false material
on the internet about you and other local politicians. Who is putting
that material out?
A. It is a small group of people who obviously do not like
me, nor do I think they even like themselves. It is pure junk and
I do not read it unless someone brings me a copy of a posting occasionally. It
really does not bother me because if these people were not on the
computer telling lies, they might be out doing something even more
destructive. Luckily most people in the county are smart enough to
know that these types of individuals are entertaining themselves
and understand not to believe what they are saying. Much of what
they write is pathetically childish and reminds me of squabbling
on the play ground.
Q. Is there no law
preventing these internet posters (people) from getting on the
internet and saying all of these ugly things about people?
A. Yes there is. While they are pretty safe in trashing a political
figure like me, they may find themselves in serious trouble over
indiscriminately trashing other people who are not public figures. That
has recently happened in Towns County and the person being verbally
attacked on the internet has sued the anonymous internet users who
log on under fictitious and anonymous names. This person has requested
a jury trial and the web master in California has been ordered by
a judge to turn over the real names of the anonymous internet site
users. Rumor has it that some of these are probably some of
the same ones that have been posting in Union County. As
soon as their real names are disclosed, the anonymous users will
be identified and will probably have to go to court and if found
liable (guilty), could be subject to serious fines and restitution
of thousands of dollars. This should be interesting-stay tuned.
Q. Do you not get
angry over what these people post on the internet about you,
especially when they are telling obvious lies?
A. Maybe I should, but it just comes with this job. What really
bothers me is when people that I respect are disappointed in something
that I do. I do not respect these people on the internet who are
constantly trying to tear down other people, so I could care less
what they say about me. Certainly I can not please everyone
all the time. My goal is to try to make decisions on
what is best for the majority of the people in this county, and above
all, do what I feel is right. As long as I am looking after
your best interests and your money, I feel that I am doing my job.
It is an honor to be your commissioner and hopefully you will accept
that we can not always agree on everything, but will continue to
provide excellent county services at the lowest possible cost.
Thank you for your continued support.
Lamar Paris
Union County Commissioner
Back
to List Page