Georgia County’s Debt May Force
Mortgaging of Library
Financial troubles in Lumpkin County, Georgia, are so severe that the county is considering mortgaging its library, courthouse, and jail to pay its bills.
Bill O’Leksy, who was appointed by a grand jury to investigate county government operations in 2000, said the crisis, which includes a $15-million-plus short-term debt that exceeds the county’s annual $12-million operating budget, came from several years of closed government, budgetary negligence, and wasteful road paving, according to the January 14 Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The county’s former sole commissioner, Charlie Ridley, claims that the debt is actually closer to $5 million and that the extent of the problem is being exaggerated by political opponents.
Shortly after succeeding Ridley this year, Steve Gooch approved a measure to raise county property taxes by approximately 2 mills, which will help provide long-term financial stability. But right now, Gooch said, “we need some quick cash.” If the county buildings are mortgaged, he said, a quasi-governmental authority would be set up so that the buildings could be leased back to the county.
Posted January 22, 2001.
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