In this Update
Update from Lynne Riley for Georgia
Bills Introduced to Recreate Milton County
Dear Friends in Georgia House District 50,
Efforts continue in the General Assembly to seek legislative, then state-wide voter approval to allow for the re-creation of previously existing counties in Georgia
The 10 legislators of the six Milton County cities today introduced bills seeking to re-create previously existing counties in Georgia. Please visit my real-time legislation page at http://lynneriley.com/legis or the following links to read the resolutions for
You may also go to the Georgia General Assembly website http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation to read House Resolutions.
Similar legislation was introduced in past sessions of the General Assembly. While the legislation was not adopted, it had not weakened the resolve of the tens of thousands of supporters of government being served closer to the people.
Events in Fulton County Government over the past year have re-affirmed the need for reduction in its size and scope:
1 - The Board of Commissioners approved the funding of a new aviation museum, while continuing to ignore the need for many critical repairs to existing facilities as noted in a 2008 facilities assessment report.
2 – The Board of Commissioners authorized additional funding to the Grady Health System, without compliance to the Memorandum of Understanding executed in 2009, which protected the taxpayers by requiring documented evidence of services provided to qualified residents of Fulton County for reimbursement of costs.
3 – The 2011 General Fund Budget approved on January 19th provides for $106 million in spending in excess of revenues for the year. This deficit spending policy also utilized deferral of debt service to free up $17 million for current operating expenses. It provides salary increases to only certain employees. It ignores the ever-increasing liabilities for retirees’ pension and other post-employment benefits, which are projected at over $1.2 billion. It does not allocate meaningful funds to capital improvements to deteriorating county facilities.
4 – Incidents of employee embezzlement were not addressed until litigation against the county for wrongful termination of the whistleblower was proposed.
Fulton County has a population greater than six states in our country. Every citizen in Fulton County will be better served through the provision of services in a smaller jurisdiction by a more focused and efficient government structure.
Please contact me at at any time.
Sincerely,
Representative Lynne Riley
House District 50 - Johns Creek, Fulton County