On Saturday January 21st, I caught up with Commissioner Patrick Bell, who is seeking reelection to the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners for district 4. Commissioner Bell and I sat down to discuss some of the issues facing Forsyth County. Here is what he had to say...
On Saturday January 21st, I caught up with Commissioner Patrick Bell, who is seeking reelection to the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners for district 4. Commissioner Bell and I sat down to discuss some of the issues facing Forsyth County. Here is what he had to say:
CummingHome.com: “Why do you want to serve another four year term on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners?”
Patrick Bell: “That’s a good question. When I ran the first time, people asked me why I wanted to do the job. I guess, when I see something broken, I want to try to fix it. I believe that government is broken from the local level all the way to the federal level. It’s inhabited by politicians that are interested in feathering their own nests or affecting their future political aspirations and I don’t think we’ve had enough people to stand up and make decisions for the right reasons.”
“I have always been the kind of person that when I get involved in something, I really get involved. That goes from my scouting career, where I was a father who worked my way to the district committee. In my church, I became a member of the board of trustees.”
“We still have a lot to do. We are not through this economic crisis yet. We need to position Forsyth County to maintain a low millage rate. We need to continue economic development incentives, with less bureaucracy and less spending.”
CummingHome.com: “You are just about at your fourth year on the BOC. Looking back, knowing what you know today, are there any votes or decisions that you have made while serving on the commission, that you would change.”
Patrick Bell: “There are some votes that I would change now, knowing that the economic crisis has dragged on longer than anybody had anticipated. Some of the spending issues, I would have looked at.”
“I’ve been a business owner and self employed since I was 21 years old and I am used to things happening. In Government, things don’t happen. I had an expectation that things could happen faster that they could. I have learned to be more patient with the process.”
CummingHome.com:”What is the most important issue facing Forsyth County that you disagree with your opponent on?”
Patrick Bell: “At this time, it is early in the campaign and I have not seen any policy positions that they have taken. Right now, they are taking more issue with me rather than the issues. I believe that we need to focus on the issues and we do not need to focus on each other.”
“Issues like bureaucracy, smaller government, how to provide the services that the taxpayers want in the most fiscally responsible manner. How do we create a more friendly business environment to allow businesses to come to our community without making them feel like they will spend a year wrangling around with special interest groups while they are waiting to start generating revenue? “
“One thing I would like to communicate to our citizens and tax payers is that the only answer to lower taxes is not reduced spending. One way is increased economic development to bring the businesses in that have a lower impact on the community. The standard, although it is not exactly the same for Forsyth county, for every dollar a household pays in property taxes, they receive a dollar thirty five to a dollar forty in services. For a business, for every dollar they pay, they receive about forty cents in services. The more businesses we have, the more opportunities we have to keep our taxes low and maintain the services and amenities that make our community attractive.”
CummingHome.com: “Water Contract. Historically, do you think Forsyth County is getting a good deal in negotiations with the City of Cumming? Moving forward, what would you do differently? “
Patrick Bell: “Right now we are in the middle of the discussions. Looking back, and from what I understand from people who lived here a long time and were involved, that back in the 70’s, the county had an opportunity to get into the water business and opted not to. The City chose to get into the water business. As far as what we have paid, I believe it’s fair. We have some of the lowest water rates in North Georgia. “
“I think the city has made a tremendous investment in infrastructure in turn they are entitled to generate revenue. That’s one of the principles of the Republican Party. If you take a risk you get rewarded. The City took a risk, and yes they get rewarded. At the same time, it’s like buying a car. I don’t mind the car dealer making a profit; I just don’t want them making it all on me.”
“As we move forward, what I am looking for is a long term water supply solution. We do not have one. We have a plant. We have storage. We have infrastructure, but we have no supply. The fact of the matter is that the city is our source for water today. I think we need a long term solution to raw water. I think we need a 25 to 50 year contract for raw water.”
“Our Director of Water and Sewer has indicated that we could not have built a plant as cheaply as we can participate with the city of Cumming on theirs. Sharing and participating in it is a great way to do it. We still have our permit, and they have their permit, we are just sharing an intake which they happen to own.”
“We will be treating our own water, and I think on the finished water side of it the cost that we are paying now has probably reached a ceiling. I think we need to roll it back and start over with a new price. Have the price fairly adjusted by the CPI-U. Then taper that down over time to where we are buying mostly raw water and very little finished water. But the fact of the matter is that we cannot get away from it all together.”
So, we get that 25 to 50 year solution. Then, if we believe that we can find an alternative solution, it’s going to take 15 to 20 years to get it permitted funded, ect. We go to work to find an alternative solution and the next time this comes up, we will be in a place to have our own supply.
“But, that is only if it makes sense. There is no sense to go looking for a supply if we can get along well with the city and have a fair rate. The reservoir that was talked about up in North Georgia was a 250 to 500 million dollar investment. That takes a lot of gallons, at pennies to the gallon, to recover that investment. Does it make sense to do that or does it make sense to get along with the city and get our raw water through them?“
“If we do not have a long term water solution, we will not have economic development - which means we will not be able to protect our low tax rates.”
CummingHome.com: “What percent of LOST, Local option Sales Tax, do you think the City of Cumming should receive? “
Patrick Bell: “I will start by saying that I am not trying to be evasive by not quoting a percentage split. I know that a lot of people want hear that, but there are a lot of things that go into determining that split. We have yet to get to that point. One of the key things to look at is service delivery. What services does the City of Cumming provide verses what services does the county provide. The state requires that we do the Service Delivery Strategy to eliminate duplication of services. There is a tremendous amount of planning and a list of things that are used in the negotiations with the city.”
“LOST is based largely on service delivery. Then, we need to look at the value of the tax digest of the county and the city and we have to look at the budgets of the county and the city.”
“Now, a lot of people think we have to look at just the population split, thinking it is just the residents of each. But that has been answered for us and we have to look at a night time and a daytime population as part of the total information I mentioned before to calculate the LOST split.”
CummingHome.com: “Could you go back for a second and explain that last point in more detail?”
Patrick Bell: “In unincorporated Forsyth County, outside of the city limits, we pretty much empty out during the daytime. People head to work, and a lot of them head to the City of Cumming. The stay at home folks come to the City of Cumming to do their shopping. So, there is more burden on the city infrastructure during the day, than there is at night. You have to look at the transition of the burden on infrastructure and the cost of maintaining the infrastructure. “
“You also have to look at what each entity brings into the county as far as tourism, special events, conventions and things of that nature, and the correlating burden on infrastructure and the correlating revenue.”
“For example, the fair. There is a huge burden placed on city services and infrastructure during the fair. There is also a tremendous amount of money generated for the community as a whole during the fair. So if you look at the rodeos, the fair and the barbeque fest, all of those people converging on the city put a pretty big burden on their public safety and wear and tear on the roads you have to account for that. “
“I am not evading the issue by not giving a percentage split. I just don’t have all the data yet.”
CummingHome.com: “Not all of my readers are up to speed on the discussion about the equestrian center. Why are we even talking about an equestrian center?”
Patrick Bell: “It is an interesting project. We have the 100 million dollar Park and Green Space bond that we have acquired properties with and some projects are moving forward. For example, rec centers are opening, I think, next week. We have parks that have some of the passive areas started. We are trying to deliver what the people are already paying for without additional general fund expense.”
“In the north end of the county, if you look at the Eagles Beak property, we have some nontraditional things going on. It’s not just soccer and baseball; it’s not just rec centers and tracks. We have an archery meadow, where people can do competition archery. We have the remote control airplane field that is getting ready to host a Lockheed engineering competition. We will have a BMX track. We will have a canoe and kayak launch. So there are things for people who are not involved in team sports.”
“People have been asking since I came into office, where can we create something for the equestrian community. We looked at putting trails up at Eagles Beak; we talked to Eagles Point, the landfill, about utilizing their easement along the Etowah River to put in an equestrian trail. There has just been a lot of talk about it.”
“Several people approached me about how Lanierland could be used for an equestrian center and not just team sport developed. We approached the Director of Parks and Rec and our consultant. They looked at the park to see if it would fit and if it was appropriate. After looking at the property, we felt that it tied into the area and that the property could accommodate the idea. My commitment has been that I would consider it as long as it was revenue neutral or a revenue generator.”
“I reached out to high school teams and asked them to reach out to their people to see if there is a need for it. It appears that there is an overwhelming desire for it. The next step is to see if it is fiscally possible.”
CummingHome.com: “If we did this, how would it be funded?”
Patrick Bell: “The construction would be funded with the Park and Green Space Bond money that has already been allocated for that area. There is about 4 million allocated for a project in that community.”
CummingHome.com: “Would we lose the amphitheater at Lanierland.”
Patrick Bell: “No, it ties into it. It is an important part of the concept. I have been an advocate of saving the music park since we first looked at the property.”
CummingHome.com: “Is there anything in the operating budget that you think needs to be cut.”
Patrick Bell: “We have to always be willing to cut. I would like to see a budget reduction this year. We have done well. Our general fund has recovered. We have protected our credit rating. We have had great audits and great reviews. Our county is in great financial shape. I think we are in the top ten in the country. But, we always have to look at the budget and make sure we are being fiscally responsible.”