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 Barnes' budget means more money for midstate | |
Barnes' budget includes money for tax cuts, mass transit programs
By Dick Pettys
The Associated Press
ATLANTA - Vowing to fulfill his campaign promises, Gov.-elect Roy Barnes sent Georgia legislators a midyear budget Monday that makes a start on that goal by funding mass transit initiatives and property tax cuts.
| WHAT BARNES RECOMMENDS | |
| TAX CUTS SCHOOLS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Y2K PROBLEM PRISONS TRANSPORTATION | |
"I want to tell you that the hopes we raised, the promises we made along the campaign trail last year will not be dropped at the door of this state Capitol," Barnes told House and Senate budget writers meeting a week in advance of the 1999 legislative session to consider his plan.
They will be sworn in for a new term next Monday. He will take the oath of office shortly afterwards, and later in the week he will submit a second budget plan covering the 12-month period beginning July 1.
Picking up a key theme from his campaign last year, Barnes told lawmakers, "You have all read the newspaper reports and seen the television reports that say we are choking on our own growth ... (but) We are greater than this. We are a state, we are a people, who know how to solve difficult problems."
As part of the regional approach he hopes to impose on the area to reduce pollution and congestion, Barnes said his budget includes:
n $3 million to help start a new bus system in Gwinnett County which will run on nonpolluting natural gas.
n $1.9 million to evaluate a plan to build a light rail system between Marietta and Lawrenceville in the Atlanta suburbs.
"I am confident that these proposals and others I will lay out in my ... (next) budget will begin for the first time to seriously address our air pollution problems," he said.
The incoming administration expects a tough-sell for its plan, and there were early signs from lawmakers confirming that.
"The devil's in the details, and he's been short on details," said Rep. Steve Stancil, R-Canton. "I know in Cherokee County people are reluctant to look at public transportation. I'm hesitant for us to make major expenditures before we find out if people are going to use it."
Air pollution in the metro area has jeopardized millions of dollars in federal road funds because the city has failed to comply with the federal Clean Air Act.
Acknowledging that, Barnes said, "The rest of Georgia should not be penalized for the problems facing metro Atlanta."
Thus, he said, he is recommending a $25 million increase in motor fuel funds designated for roads and bridges in rural Georgia.
Another Barnes campaign promise was a hefty increase in the homestead exemption, which shields a portion of the value of homes from local property taxes.
He said he will set aside $83 million from current spending to make a start on that and disclose further details of the plan next week.
Barnes also proposed spending $138.3 million to build new schools, $225 million for a 1.4 million square foot expansion of the World Congress Center in Atlanta and $13.9 million for the Flint River Center in Albany, which local officials hope will spur economic development.
He also earmarked $5 million in state tax dollars for a special grant to his hometown, Mableton. The money will be used to develop a park around the home of the town's founder. Barnes aides insisted the money should not be considered gubernatorial pork, but it was placed in an area of the budget where pork projects usually are funded.
The budget also includes an additional $170 million to correct the software programming problem that, left unfixed, will cause many computers across the globe to go haywire when the year 2000 dawns. The state already has spent $152 million on the problem.
Barnes said the new costs stem from the fact that many of the state's computer systems were never upgraded. In fact, he said, 56 percent of the state's systems were found to be over 11 years old. "In some cases, these systems had become obsolete and could not communicate with the outside world."
| Barnes' budget means more money for midstate | |
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