GAINESVILLE - To an outsider, it may raise eyebrows: Hall County spending millions of dollars for a building to use in centralizing government operations... while at the same time, county employees are being forced to take unpaid furlough days or, in some cases, being laid off. But, Assistant County Administrator Phil Sutton says it's not a fair comparison.
That was one point Sutton made Friday in the second part of a two-part interview with him regarding the purchase.
Q - How can the county rationalize such a purchase with the current state of the economy, with with layoffs in county government, unpaid mandated furloughs for workers, etc.?
A - "SPLOST funds...are dedicated to capital projects that are approved by the voters. So, the money cannot be used for any operational costs such as personnel, benefits, any kind of regular, ongoing operating costs. They must be paid out of other funds. They cannot be paid out of SPLOST funds."
Q - And, the timing of the purchase?
A - "We think that this is exactly the right time to make this kind of deal with capital funds because we're getting much better deals on land costs, buildings and construction. With the economy suffering, it is one of the few areas we can continue to help the economy by providing some substantial projects and we;ve got a couple of the largest projects in the county going on right now and we're certainly helping the construction industry which has been devastated by this economy. So, we're...putting people to work and getting very good prices. And, also, I'm sure we wouldn't have got such a good deal on this building. We're probably paying a third of its true value, and no doubt the economy had something to do with that. It's exactly the right time to do this (purchase the Liberty Mutual building.) "
Q - You are borrowing money in anticipation of taxes so you can go ahead and make the purchase now while waiting for the SPLOST money to start coming in. How long will you have to carry the debt?
A - "It's a TAN, a Tax Anticipation Note, which expires at the end of December. So, that money has to be paid back by the end of December. Now, the commission may consider...converting that over to a...Certificate of Participation. If they decide to do that, we could carry that as a debt for a little bit longer, but it would be no more than five years and it could be 'called' at any time. So, as soon as we get the SPLOST accumulated to a nice healthy level then we'll pay that off. The interest rate on the loan, compounded yearly, would be .8% because of the county's good bond rating, one of the best for a government of its size. For the four-month term of the loan, that would work out to .2% for four months."
Q - What about the impact on downtown businesses, especially restaurants, of moving so many county workers - we've heard the number 200-plus, tossed around - outside the central business district?
A - "First, we're not moving 200 people out of downtown. It's probably about 90 people in the downtown area. The other people are (now working in county offices) out on Rainey Street (parks and leisure services)...Prior Street (health department workes), Jesse Jewell, Browns Bridge Road (elections office), they would be moving...about 110 people who are not in the downtown area that are moving."
Q - How long will it take to replace those 90 or so people who will be moving out of downtown as the 1936 courthouse and the Courthouse Annex are converted to judicial office space?
"I would imagine there are several options and though we have not made a final determination since we just bought the building the last couple of days. So, we are not going to solidify any plans until after that actually occurs. But...the people that are out on Prior Street, those will probably all be replaced by health department employees. The health department will be moving some of their staff from other facilities that are leased and into that building which would be owned by the county."
Thursday
October 10th, 2024
8:30PM
