Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles about questions asked and answered during the Aug. 20 Eggs & Issues Breakfast sponsored by the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce.

MOULTRIE — A panel of government representatives weighed-in on questions asked at the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs & Issues event, held at Southern Regional Technical College.

Moderated by Benjie Nobles, criminal justice faculty at SRTC, the government panel included Charles White from the office of U.S. Rep. Austin Scott; Georgia House Rep. Chas Cannon; and Jody Redding from the office of Gov. Brian Kemp.

The first question that Nobles asked was what each of their office’s priorities were for the upcoming year.

White answered, “Within Congressman Scott’s office, we are in the ag epicenter of the country, right here, in Colquitt County. The Farm Bill is absolutely a priority.”

He went on to say that he felt like a broken record because he probably said the same thing at last year’s event.

“And we will not get that accomplished in this session, this year, unfortunately. But we absolutely have that on our radar, right out of the gate next year,” White said.

Redding said, “Georgia is still the number one state in the Union to do business with for the 10th year in a row and we just want to continue those policies.”

He went on to say that 75% of the jobs in manufacturing and new businesses had occurred outside the Metro Atlanta area, in rural Georgia, which has really helped the economy here.

“We just want to continue those policies that we can … to contribute to our leadership at the state level and our leadership, here, with Chas and Sam (state Sen. Sam Watson) and on down the line. That’s kind of where we are,” Redding said.

Cannon said, “We’ve had a lot of issues with property tax. Unfortunately, you’re going to see an increase in property tax with your school taxes this year and it’s really not their issue. It’s really a state issue.”

He went on to say that there was a bill that was passed in 2019 or so, that capped what the millage rate could be rolled back to in order to qualify for “equalization dollars.”

“The school system has rolled back to that level and they can’t go any further below that. We tried to get that cap to go from 14 down to 10 but it was unsuccessful this year. We’re gonna try again next year and that should allow, not just our school system but school systems around the state to lower their millage rates to a level lower than 14 mills,” he said.

Cannon said that the impact of that cap was the school system passed on increases to residents and the system might not even need the money. But because that law’s in place, they can’t roll back the millage rate, so, he said, people are going to pay more property tax.

“HB581 has really placed somewhat of a cap on homestead properties. So, if you have a property or own a home and it’s homesteaded, you’ll see it on the November ballot. It will be HB581,” he said and added that the legislation would only apply to homestead properties.

He encouraged the audience to get their property homesteaded through the tax assessor’s office if they had not already done so.

“It will spread some of the burden around from homestead properties to other commercial, industrial, non-homestead properties and that’s kind of the purpose of that,” Cannon said.

Also on the HB581, he said, the ability for counties to add on an additional sales tax was provided for.

“We’re looking at it. The County’s looking at it. We might put it on the ballot in the next couple of years but the option, they call it FLOST. I don’t come up with those acronyms but it’s called Flexible Local Option Sales Tax. If this thing passes the state in November, then individual counties will put it on their local referendum,” he said.

Cannon also said that they would take the money from sales tax and apply it directly to property tax.

“So, it would, basically, diffuse the burden of operating counties and cities by taking away from property owners and putting it on people by consumption,” he said.

Anyone who is traveling through Colquitt County, he said, and buys something in a convenience store, is helping to pay the taxes that operate the county and city.

The next question that was asked was, “What plans are in the works that would help drive economic growth and sustainability?”

White answered, “I don’t know if there is, necessarily, a plan, per se, but the facts are we’ve got to bring manufacturing back to this country.”

He also said that workforce development happened right in the halls of Southern Regional Technical College and in the halls of Colquitt County High School.

“And I think you do a fine job of that here in Colquitt County and the 11 counties (SRTC) President (Jim) Glass’ group represents,” White said.

He said that when he grew-up in the ’90s, if a student was not “college prep,” they were looked down upon and the vocational-technical classes were down in a dark corner somewhere at his high school. He went on to say that he wasn’t taking away from four-year institutions but he loved what was happening among Georgia’s technical college systems.

“We see it in our conversations with high schools and technical colleges. We see that attitude amongst high school students, especially, changing and they see that opportunity as a real opportunity to walk right out and make real money and be career-ready,” White said.

Redding reiterated his earlier statements about the state’s business environment.

“Just being the number one state to do business in. The amount of jobs created outside of Metro Atlanta in rural Georgia,” he said. “But I have to piggyback on what Charles said. Our technical college system in Georgia is not only the envy of the Southeast in the United States, but there are people who come from all over the world to come to view our system here and take it back with them. It is that good.”

He also said that healthcare and education were two things that drove everything in a local community. Without them, he said, there wouldn’t be an increase in manufacturing, businesses and job growth.

“Those are things that we’re pretty much promoting, right now,” Redding said and added that anything they could do to promote and facilitate agriculture in the counties, they were also very much in support of that.

Cannon said, “You have a philosophy of good educational opportunities, great healthcare. You try to run the government as if an outside company was looking at us to invest. What kind of policies do we want in place to be attractive? So, we try to keep our taxes low. Despite what people think, I think we have the third lowest millage rate in the state.”

He went on to say he wanted to have a pro-business environment that would get businesses to invest in Colquitt County.

“There’s some government involvement from the EDA, the County and the City but we try to limit that, if possible. We just create an overall even playing field and just call balls and strikes and not try to get involved,” Cannon said.

He went on to say that he, School Superintendent Dan Chappuis, Moultrie City Manager Pete Dillard and Colquitt Regional Medical Center CEO Jim Matney met every month to discuss issues that were affecting their respective organizations and they tried to assist an organization if it did have an issue.

“And if you have that kind of dialogue amongst those four government agencies, it really helps things, from a community standpoint, be stable,” he said. “And if you’re a business, you want to invest in a stable environment. We want to keep things stable.”

The final question that was asked was, “How can I become a more engaged citizen?”

White said, “Service is obviously a big part of being an engaged citizen. I don’t know if this is governmental directed but ‘serving in any capacity, you feel led to,’ has always been something my wife and I have always lived by.”

He added that serving the community made a huge impact, even just serving on a board.

“From a governmental perspective, I think there’s no secret that voter turnout is bad at best,” he said and added that it didn’t matter whether it was a local or presidential election.

“I would just really encourage you to do your homework and definitely make it a priority to go vote,” White said.

Redding, answered, “I’ve got to agree with Charles. Just being involved. Being here, this morning. You know Chas, Sam and I, we love to see y’all come up to the Capitol and get involved and see how the process works.”

He also said that there was a dire need for Civics 101.

“We don’t do a lot of our homework. We don’t do a lot of fact-checking now. It’s very easy just to look at our phones and get our news in just a quick snippet here and there. That kind of forms our opinion on things but we really need to do our homework,” he said.

Redding went on to add that when he said Civics 101, he meant the basics like the difference between state, local and federal governments.

“Know who your county commissioners are. Know who your city council members are. Know who your state senators and representatives are … your congressmen, on up,” he said.

He encouraged the audience to become involved and be more engaged citizens and more informed voters when they went to the polls.

Cannon said, “I agree 100% with Jody. Just having an understanding of history, where you came from, the history of Colquitt County.”

He said that they needed to know who their commissioner and city council member was and to understand the difference between the City and the County.

He went on to give some examples of the differences in the entities. In the city, the Moultrie police chief works for the city manager, but in the county, the sheriff is elected by the people, he said. Then he added that the probate court judge, tax commissioner and the clerk of court were all state officers that were also elected by the people.

“Having an understanding of how the community works, the history of the community and the history of the country and then being able to apply that to your decision-making to be an effective voter. … Because that really matters,” Cannon said.