Published: November 07, 2009 09:58 pm      

David Pennington: Dalton: Georgia’s best value

(Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part column by Dalton Mayor David Pennington. The second part will run in Monday’s paper.)



I have a confession to make. When I ran for mayor, I knew Dalton had many good things going for it. What I did not know was the scope and quality of what we have. I also knew that our taxes were too high. Could we maintain the good while reducing taxes? The answer is definitely “Yes!”

As I began digging into the facts, I discovered that Dalton’s best days are not behind us. In fact, with our local resources and our decreasing taxes, we are poised to move to greater heights if we are willing to take the right steps.

To anyone who says that Dalton is not the place to call home or start a business, our city council and I challenge them to review the facts.

When you add our first-class services to our large industrial base, a growing and expanding college and a superb location on I-75, our community should be an easy sell.

Lower city taxes

Taxes do not attract new businesses or new families. With hard work and even sacrifice by many people, we are changing the tax picture in Dalton.

On a home assessed for tax purposes at $200,000, a city of Dalton resident will pay $580 for the city government portion of the tax bill. Compare this to $678 for a Rome resident or $532 for a Gainesville resident.

What do you get for your tax payment?

n You cannot have a great city without it being safe. The Dalton Police Department is a certified department and helps keep our crime rate at a very low level. Out of 700 law enforcement agencies in the state, only 93 are certified. In the last full year of crime statistics, Gainesville had 31 percent more violent crime and 46 percent more property crimes than Dalton. Rome had 89 percent more violent crime and 82 percent more property crime.

The Dalton Fire Department has one of the most desirable fire protection class ratings in the state at a low “PC-2.” Gainesville is also a PC2 and Rome is PC5. This not only means lower insurance rates for Dalton residents, but also quicker response times.

n The Dalton Public Works Department provides four key pickup services: garbage, recycling, rubbish (including household debris) and leaf pickups.

If you had to contract these four services for your household, they would cost approximately $400 per year. Also, city residents have access to a professional arborist.

n Our city tax payment also provides Dalton Parks and Recreation Department, one of the finest anywhere. Heritage Park has become one of the premier sites for national softball tournaments. Our recreation department has one of the best tennis facilities in Georgia and is in the process of adding four new courts. We also have several walking tracks.



Rejuvenating the past

to build the future

While providing this extremely high service level and reducing taxes last year by 20 percent, we are still able to invest in the community’s future.

We are finishing renovation of the Dalton Freight Depot, which is one of the premium depot renovations in Georgia.

We are beginning the Crown Mill renovations project starting with the restoration of the Historic Hamilton House.

We have also begun work on the new Dalton Community Center project that will transform not only that whole area, but also give the kids who frequent that center a brighter future.



Highly competitive utilities

Dalton Utilities has long been a highly respected and even envied resource that leaders of other communities would love to have. For 95 percent of our residents who live in a 2,000 square-foot home served by Dalton Utilities, their annual utility bills are approximately $700 less than their counterparts in Rome or Gainesville.

Add to that the innovative projects undertaken by Dalton Utilities to make a “greener community” with better “quality of life” experiences as well as the tremendous infrastructure, such as the “fire-hose-size” fiber optic network that Dalton Utilities has built and the Dalton picture develops into some really incredible opportunities.