Road paving was one of the issues under discussion at the regular meeting of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners held Thursday, August 10. Local residents will be delighted to know that the Georgia DOT is currently in the process of paving State Highway 79 which runs from Lincolnton to Elberton. Lincoln County has reached a gigantic milestone.

At the regular meeting of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners held Thursday, August 10, Kenny Adair, chief tax assessor, reported that for the first time ever, the fair market value of all real property in the county has reached $1 billion.

The figure for neighboring Wilkes County is less than $800,000.

"Tomorrow (August 11) we will be sending out approximately 7,000 tax assessment notices to county residents," said Adair. "Overall, we have experienced a 19-percent increase in the net taxable digest as compared to last year. The percentages seem to be doubling every year. However, things will even out eventually."

Adair went on to explain that indirectly, the new developments springing up in the county are causing property values to rise. "We try to compare apples with apples. In other words, we don't compare lots in Stillwater Coves to those in other subdivisions - we use similar properties. Nevertheless, it does have an impact on the tax digest when individuals pay tremendous prices for existing homes in older subdivisions. We then have to bring the value of the other homes in the subdivisions in line with the price paid by the buyers."

Remarking on the new developments, Chairman Norman indicated that the county received $222,000 in tax revenues this year from the 2,400 acres presently under development. "In the next year or two when the lots have sold, the figure will jump to about $1.6 million - this is without houses," he said, adding, "These are revenues we don't have.

"These developments are making a huge impact on the county and the City of Lincolnton," the chairman stated. "We're going to continue growing every year. The tax digest has to grow to keep up with this or the millage rate will have to increase. As things level out, the millage rate should decrease because of the growth, and local residents will probably end up paying less taxes down the road."

In conclusion, Chairman Norman said, "Some people are concerned - some are opposed to development. The county commission cannot tell someone not to sell his property, and if someone chooses to develop it, he can. However, we do have rules and regulations in place that govern the construction of subdivisions. I think our employees have done a good job with this."

In other business, the commission discussed road paving projects.

According to Chairman Norman, "We didn't pave any roads on our approved paving list last year because we didn't have the money. I don't know when we will be able to pave the roads we've approved - some of them are getting in bad shape. We're going to have some serious problems with roads if we don't find a way to pave the roads we have."

The chairman went on to say that in recent weeks, the county has spent approximately $100,000 in SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funds to patch four roads including Plantation Point Road and Trulock Road.

"I don't know how long we can continue with the patching," said Public Works Director Roby Seymour. "The cost of asphalt is phenomenal - it has jumped from $24 a ton to $40.50. We will keep doing what we can on the worst roads."

In other comments, Chairman Norman pointed out that the two worst roads in the county are Lovelace Road and Double Branches Road. "It will cost well over $1 million to resurface these roads."

He indicated that repaving a road costs $115,000 a mile; whereas, new road construction comes in at over $300,000 a mile.

"I don't know what we're going to do to maintain the roads we've got, let alone pave dirt roads," Norman continued.

Concerning state programs, the chairman noted that this year, the Georgia DOT has agreed to pave the portion of Prater Road from Highway 79 to Aycock-Norman Road through its Local Assistance Road Program (LARP). "This is less than one mile," he said.

The following roads are currently on the county's LARP list for 2007: Midway Church Road, Firetower Road, Crook Road, Jones-Martin Road, Colvin-Kennedy Road, AmityWoodlawn Road, Elam Drive, Dixie Lane, Indian Road, Ashmore-Barden Road, Comanche Circle, MurrayJones Circle, Turner Drive, Chamberlain's Ferry Road, Lovelace Road, Leathersville Road, and Double Branches Road.

In further remarks, Chairman Norman said that state DOT contracts have been awarded to the county for the paving of C.E. Norman Road and Industrial Park Road.