Published: May 08, 2008 11:20 pm            

Will recreation tax continue?

It may be November before Dalton voters get to decide whether to keep the city’s 1 mill property tax for recreation, says Mayor David Pennington.

The General Assembly passed House Bill 1024 more than a month ago. That bill would allow cities and counties that have a special property tax for recreation to hold referendums on whether to continue those taxes. But Gov. Sonny Perdue hasn’t yet signed that bill into law.

Pennington said Thursday Perdue would have to sign the bill this week for the city to get a referendum on the July 15 general primary ballot.

“We have to get it (the referendum) to the Justice Department first, so it’s looking more like November,” he said.

Pennington and Whitfield County Board of Commissioners chairman Brian Anderson spoke Thursday at the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce’s state of the city and county breakfast.

Anderson said the county government first started making long-range plans for the county in the mid-1990s.

“Here we are, from 1996 to 2008, 12 years later, we finally have some things that I believe most people can look at from a plan and say we are on the right path of providing what the government is supposed to do,” he said.

Anderson pointed to several areas where the board has moved to upgrade services, especially during the three years he has been in office. Anderson is not seeking re-election this year.

“We finally have our fire department on the path to doing what it needs to do,” he said.

Anderson said the board has approved funds to hire additional firefighters and to provide them with new equipment. He said that when he and other new commissioners took office in 2005, the fire department still was using several tankers that were purchased in 1978.

“We just replaced the last 1978 tanker,” he said.

Anderson said the board also approved money for six more sheriff’s patrol officers and upgraded the 911 center. And Anderson noted the county is currently updating its address system to make sure that emergency responders are sent to the right location.

He said the county has just developed its first multi-year capital plan to help it replace aging sheriff’s patrol cars and fire trucks.

Pennington asked audience members to imagine Dalton and Whitfield County in 2018.

He said he sees College Drive as “hotel row” with a number of full-scale hotels. Pennington said Dalton State College could have more than 11,000 students, up from about 4,400 currently.

“We are the leading retail center in North Georgia already, with about $1.9 billion in sales,” he said.

But Pennington said that base could be built on “if we do the right things.” He predicted the retail center near Ga. Connector 3 could see more growth, with motels and restaurants. He said Walnut Avenue and the North Dalton Bypass could become the homes to more “big box” retailers, and downtown Dalton could become a center for entertainment and boutique retail shops.

“What do we have to do to do that? First of all, as you’ve heard me say too many times, we’ve got to have competitive tax rates,” Pennington said. “At the moment, in the city of Dalton, our taxes are not competitive.”

But Pennington said the council is looking at ways to cut spending and taxes.

“In 10 years from now, unless something dramatic happens, I don’t think the city of Dalton will have a general government property tax. Hopefully, at the end of this four years, we will not have a general government property tax,” he said.

        

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