January Newsletter 2016
Please read my newsletter for January 2016.
What’s Happening In District 1
River District Redevelopment Plan
Plan proposes the creation of three Tax Allocation Districts
In the next couple of months, the Council will decide whether to approve the River District Redevelopment Plan. This plan proposes the creation of three Tax Allocation Districts or TADS. The first question that you may be asking is What is a TAD?
A TAD is basically a form of what is called Tax Increment Financing; it works this way. First, an area is identified as being in need of revitalization due to continual and widespread disrepair and deterioration. Once the area is identified and ruled by Council to be a TAD District (normally for 20-25 years), the base tax revenue for that area is frozen, and any subsequent incremental increase generated from tax revenue is committed to the revitalization effort in that area. This tax increment financing is basically a tool to induce developers to invest their time and money to build in a specific area.
One of the many obstacles for developers who may be interested in investing in the revitalization of an area is laying the foundation for a solid infrastructure,( the utilities, site preparation, storm water etc.) for a development. This is a huge project and oftentimes represents a huge financial hurdle for developers to overcome. The revenue accrued from the tax incremental financing method allows for applications to be made for either tax exempt bond financing , taxable bond financing, or bank loans using the incremental revenue as security.
The Three TAD Districts:
- The 6th Avenue/Liberty District, with 18th St. as the Northern Boundary, 3rd Avenue and Veterans Parkway as the Western Boundary, The Chattahoochee River as the Southern Boundary and 10th Avenue and the Railroad as the Eastern Boundary. It has a fair market value of $130 million and a taxable value of $27,337,652
- The Uptown District, with 14th St. as the Northern Boundary, The Chattahoochee River as the Western Boundary, 8th st. and 6th St. as the Southern Boundary and 3rd Avenue and Veterans Parkway as the Eastern Boundary. It has a fair market value of $339 million and a taxable value of $48,064,786
- 2nd Avenue/City Village- Manchester Expressway and Ga.22 Connector as the Northern Boundary, Chattahoochee River Western Boundary, 8th and 14th street Southern Boundary, 3rd Avenue and Veterans Parkway Eastern Boundary. It has a fair market value of $105 million and a taxable value of $30,185,288.
The total taxable value of the digest is $106 million. There are many pros and cons concerning the formation of these TADS. Proponents cite the incremental revenue that revitalization will bring at the end of the TAD period when the city will receive 100% of the increased revenue as the biggest reason for the implementation; They also emphasize the many jobs that will be created by it.Opponents of TAD question whether the City should be relinquishing any tax revenue at a time when it is experiencing fiscal difficulties and below 56 days in its general fund.
Opponents also argue that some of the areas encompassed in the TAD do not fall under the criteria for being impoverished or deteriorating, while other opponents feel that other areas in the TAD just through normal growth and increase in the tax revenue would develop successfully without the implementation of a TAD.
I would suggest that you go to the City website http://www.columbusga.org where you can access all the information on the proposed TADs. I also recommend that you contact the City’s Planning Department if you have questions and also to attend the presentations at Council and any that will be given throughout the city. Please also notify your City Councilor and express your wishes or concerns.
SEQUESTRATION
Each Newsletter I plan to include the necessity for us to be persistent in letting our Congressional Legislators know that we do not want any more cuts to our military personnel at Fort Benning.
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Please sign your name to the petition www.growbenning.com. ask others to sign as well to send a loud messsage to our Congressional Legislators NO MORE CUTS TO MILITARY PERSONNEL AT FORT BENNING.
Please tell your friends who are not getting the District 1 monthly newsletter that they can receive it by going to my website www.popsbarnes.com and subscribing to our distribution list. Also, please “LIKE” my Council Facebook page Jerry Pops Barnes City Council District 1 for updated information and events in the City of Columbus and District 1.
Alzheimer’s Awareness Day at the Georgia State Capitol
Alzheimer’s Awareness Day at the Georgia State Capitol take place:
Wednesday, February 3rd 2016
Transportation will be provided by a coach bus to the Capitol and Free lunch will be served
Georgia House Bill 875: The Patient Access to Specialty Tier Drugs
Dorothy Leone Glasser is a very special friend of mine whom I have known for many years. Dorothy is truly a phenomenal person. She has lived with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus for over thirty years. She has overcome two forms of cancer, kidney failure, two strokes, a coma, heart attack and disabling arthritis. She received three death sentences from her doctors between the ages of twenty and thirty-seven. throughout all of that, with her indomitable spirit She managed to graduate from Nursing School; therefore, she has clearly experienced the illness, the physical and emotional obstacles and the problems from a patient’s perspective.
Today, Dorothy is the Executive Director of the advocates for Responsible Care(ARxC), a non-profit wellness and advocacy organization whose Mission Statement is “Empowering individuals to achieve their maximum wellness with a strong voice as health care advocates, effectively reducing cultural incompetency and health care delivery disparity”. That is a very strong mission statement driven by a very strong and committed health care advocate. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Arthritis Foundation, the Advocacy and disparities Chair on the Leadership Council for the SE Region.
Dorothy has published countless materials on wellness and is frequently asked to speak on radio and television on health care and wellness issues. She testifies before congressional committees and was asked to speak with President George W. Bush as well as various civic, community leaders, legislators and a crowd of over 4200 in Atlanta at the Atlanta Civic Auditorium to discuss her experiences as a health care advocate and in promoting the new Medicare benefits and enrollment for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage.She has received numerous awards, too numerous to name here, for her tremendous outreach and advocacy for those who can’t advocate for themselves, however, just to name two of them: The National Association of Professional Women recognized her as “Woman of the Year 2012”,
In 2013, the Latino Health Excellence Coalition of Georgia honored her with the “2013 Latino Health Excellence Award” Dorothy was the first person to educate me concerning Medicare Part D, and also the first to inform me about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance Program, which I have directed people to use if they have trouble affording their prescription medication; so everyone I have helped in this regard, she has directly helped as well. She has always advocated for access to prescription drug coverage for everyone.
In 2011, ARC along with Georgia Bio took the lead and organized the Specialty Tiers Coalition of Georgia, (STCGA). This coalition is composed of 20 organizations with the purpose of keeping “Specialty Tier Drugs”, which are normally expensive and economically inaccessible to the patients who desperately need them. Everyone knows that prices for prescription drugs have skyrocketed. Drugs are placed into certain ‘Tiers” by insurance plans depending on their cost. Drugs in Tier 1 are the drugs that cost the least and drugs in Tiers 4,5, and 6,(Specialty drugs), cost the most. One of the types of drugs in the Specialty tiers categories is “Biologics. They are used to treat very critical and chronic conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other autoimmune diseases.These drugs are not chemically synthesized like other drugs but are manufactured through intricate genetic bioengineering processes. Insurance plans that place drugs in tier groups 1-3 have a definitive co-pay that patients pay,Patients who rely on Specialty Tier medication are required to pay a percentage of the retail cost of the medication, costing hundreds to thousands of dollars out of pocket for a 30 day supply. Because many Georgians who need Specialty tier drugs are critically and chronically ill, they can’t afford to pay for the medication they desperately need. the STCGA with the help of State Representative Sharon Cooper, the Chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee has before the Georgia Legislature House Bill 875 sponsored by Representative Sharon Cooper,Representative Lee Hawkins,( Vice Chair House HHS committee), Rep. Virgil Hudd, Rep. Carl Rogers, Rep.Howard Maxwell, and Rep. Jason Shaw
HB 875 increases affordable access to Specialty Tier medications that saves lives and removes barriers to access. This bill will also promote clear information on insurance plan websites about specialty drug access for all consumers. We need all Georgians to call their State House and Senate legislators and ask them to vote for House Bill 875. In our Legislative Agenda for Columbus, I asked our Legislative Delegation for consideration of a bill such as this. Please go to http://www.rxinreachga.org/take-action/ to send your state legislators a letter of support for HB 875. You can also access a social media toolkit to help spread the word on Facebook and/or Twitter