Published: November 08, 2009 03:58 pm      

Dalton: The best value in Georgia

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 with 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 to start a business, the council and I challenge them to review the facts. The news is good!

When you add our first-class services to our large industrial base, a growing and expanding college and a superb location on I-75 – just 25 minutes from Downtown Chattanooga and 80 minutes from Downtown Atlanta – our community should be an easy sell!



Lower City Taxes

Taxes have been a concern of mine because high 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. These are two of the communities against which we benchmark ourselves.

What do you get for your tax payment?



Public Safety

You cannot have a great city without it being a safe city. 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% more violent crimes and 46% more property crimes than Dalton. Rome had 89% more violent crimes and 82% more crimes against property.

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 for fire and medical emergencies.



Public Works

The Dalton Public Works Department provides four key pick-up services: garbage, recycling, rubbish (including household debris) and leaf pick-ups.

If you had to contract these four services for your household, they would cost approximately $400 per year. In addition to these services, our City has the best maintained streets in Georgia. Compare for yourself the next time you are in another Georgia town.

Our city residents have access to a professional arborist who will consult with citizens about trees on their city property.



Parks & Recreation

Our City of Dalton tax payment also provides Dalton Parks and Recreation Department, one of the finest anywhere and we have the data to prove this!

Heritage Park has become one of the premier sites for national softball tournaments. It has been selected for next year’s North-South Girls High School All Star Game.

Our recreation department has one of the best tennis facilities in Georgia and is in the process of adding four new courts to compete for the Georgia High School Tennis Tournament.

We have several walking tracks, such as a Civitan Park and Lakeshore Park.

These are but a few of the assets of our nationally – recognized City recreation complex.



Rejuvenating the Past to Build the Future

While providing this extremely high service level and reducing taxes last year by 20%, 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% of our residents who live in a 2000 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.



Successful Schools

When the complexions of many of Dalton Public Schools’ students changed, many voiced concerns that the schools would change also. Our schools have changed; they are teaching more students at a higher level more successfully than ever before in their history.

Why should today’s classrooms look like those of 1898, which is the model public (and private) education has followed throughout the 20th century? Both the city and the county schools are staying on top of changes needed to educate students successfully in the 21st century and both districts have plenty to offer to children of varied abilities.

If you don’t believe that, make an appointment at a local school to see what is being taught and then compare your own school experiences, knowledge and learning with a fifth grader or even a first grader. Our schools are making believers every day of people who first doubted their effectiveness.

Even when school taxes are added in, Dalton remains among the most competitive cities around tax-wise. Residents and businesses get far more value for the tax dollar and tax dollars are lower than comparable cities.

Add up all these assets that are offered to Dalton residents and businesses at lower rates than any North Georgia, and likely any Georgia, community, Dalton is definitely now the most competitive community in the region and possibly in the State.



Council Continues to Cut Taxes

Even after providing all of these services, which are many more than most cities offer, and even after reducing taxes in 2008, Dalton City Council reduced the taxes again when setting the 2009 millage rate.

When the state of Georgia decided not to fund the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) this year, the Council reduced taxes by the amount that grant would have provided so that taxpayers would not have to pick up the difference in a challenging economy.

The Council also voted to fund a portion of the Downtown Development Authority’s budget so that downtown businesses can decrease their expenses down to one mil or a net decrease of $180,000. Two years ago, downtown property owners and merchants were paying three mils to finance the authority. Certainly this tax decrease will make downtown a more attractive place for doing business and for providing a “place” for people to gather.



How Do We Do It?

We are able to accomplish all this in difficult times because we are blessed with an industry which provides 72% of our tax digest. Even in a time of unprecedented economic stress, the carpet industry is still the foundation of our community.

Dalton must continue to build on this foundation by attracting new entrepreneurs to build their businesses here. This starts with all of us realizing the tremendous benefits of living here and selling these benefits to the people who are looking to move here.

We have no doubt that when the facts are presented clearly and concisely to potential newcomers, our community will be the winner most of the time.

Next time people question whether Dalton is a good place to live, challenge them with the facts and then challenge them to tell Dalton’s story to others.