$2,400 in interest, per day, for thirty years. On the backs of taxpayers.

That’s the kind of debt deal Walker County is entering into, in an agreement approved by Judge Wood on Tuesday with taxpayer input intentionally stifled.

All so Bebe can hide the expenses of Mountain Cove Farms, keep that property from being sold, and avoid raising taxes this year so she can win another election.

How did court actually go on Tuesday?

It’s said a picture is worth a thousand words. So instead of spending time typing another two or three thousand words about what happened in court with the bond and tax issue, here’s a picture that summarizes what occurred:

[More later, probably.]         

Tuesday night about 150 people showed up at a Walker County School Board meeting (at the old Osborn School in Chickamauga) to protest the unexplained firing (?) of a principal from the north end of the county. Deputies were called in at one point as the crowd grew aggressive.

Parents and teachers think Lori Vann was forced to resign from Cherokee Ridge Elementary in Wallaceville, but they don’t know why – and the issue wasn’t discussed during the public portion of Tuesday’s meeting.

When the “executive session” after the meeting ended, Superintendent Raines told remaining citizens that the principal they fear was fired is just “on vacation.”

Cherokee Ridge’s Web site still lists Vann as the principal; so far all the theories explaining her absence from the school are only rumors and conjecture.     

A Chattanoogan.com editorial asking Steve Tarvin and Jeff Mullis to let citizens vote on sole commissioner has gotten a good number of responses from other residents of Walker County – and all agree, the time has come.

“Walker County, Georgia is very close to becoming the next Detroit.”

But none of these people’s comments count because The Chattanoogan didn’t pay for a voter list and verify they’re all registered voters who actively participate in Republican Party meetings. Those are the only constituents Tarvin will listen to, much to his own detriment.   

Tuesday morning, Judge Jon Wood will finalize a decision in court that will financially enslave Walker County and its citizens, even those not yet living here or conceived, for the next three decades.

Wood is being asked to sign off on a debt proposal from the Walker County Development Authority that locks Commissioner Heiskell’s pet project plans into place and implements a new irrevocable property tax until 2045.

A dirty deal meant to hide Heiskell’s poor financial management through the next election and give her hidden funds to push expensive construction plans – something taxpayers will have to carry for a generation.

Here’s the public announcement (feel free to skim or skip, we’ll explain it):

Legal Notice, Walker County Messenger, 09/09/15: “gpn13 WM2430 NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that on September 15, 2015, at 9:00 A.M., at the Walker County Courthouse Annex in LaFayette, Georgia, the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Walker County will hear the case of STATE OF GEORGIA vs. WALKER COUNTY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY and WALKER COUNTY, GEORGIA, Civil Action File No. 15 SUV 0674, in the Superior Court of Walker County, the same being a proceeding to confirm and validate the revenue bonds designated “Walker County Development Authority Economic Development Revenue Bonds, Series 2015” (the “Series 2015 Bonds”), in the original aggregate principal amount not to exceed $17,500,000. The Series 2015 Bonds are to be issued by the Walker County Development Authority (the “Authority”) for the purpose of obtaining funds (1) to repay loans obtained by the Authority from Walker County, Georgia (the “County”) to finance the costs of acquiring and improving land for use as two industrial parks owned by the Authority, known as “Rock Springs Industrial Park” and “Walker County Industrial Park,” (2) to finance the costs of improving the Industrial Parks, (3) to refund the Authority’s Taxable Revenue Bond (Ohio Logistics Project), Series 2011, presently outstanding in the principal amount of $643,300, (4) to finance the costs of acquiring from the County (a) its Civic Center and its Agricultural Center located at 10052 North Highway 27 in Rock Spring, Georgia and (b) its Mountain Cove Resort Properties located on Dougherty Gap Road in unincorporated Walker County, and (5) to finance the costs of issuing the Series 2015 Bonds, in order to promote and expand for the public good and general welfare industry, agriculture, commerce, natural resources, and vocational training and make long-range plans for the coordination of such development, promotion, and expansion within the territorial limits of Walker County. In such proceeding the Court will also pass on the validity of the security for the payment of the Series 2015 Bonds, which consists of the Intergovernmental Economic Development Contract (the “Contract”) between the Authority and the County and the Trust Indenture and Security Agreement between the Authority and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee, each proposed to be executed in connection therewith. Under the terms of the Contract, the County (1) will agree to make payments to the Authority in amounts sufficient to enable the Authority to pay, among other things, the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the Series 2015 Bonds when due and (2) will agree to levy an annual ad valorem tax on all taxable property located within the territorial limits of the County, at such rates within the one mill limit or such greater millage limit hereafter authorized under applicable law, as may be necessary to produce in each year revenues that are sufficient to fulfill the County’s obligations under the Contract. All questions of law and fact pertaining to the right to issue the Series 2015 Bonds and to provide the security therefor will be heard and determined. Any citizen of the State of Georgia residing in Walker County, or any person wherever residing who has a right to object, may intervene and become a party to this proceeding. WAIVER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY: NO PERFORMANCE AUDIT OR PERFORMANCE REVIEW UNDER SECTION 36-82-100 OF THE OFFICIAL CODE OF GEORGIA ANNOTATED SHALL BE CONDUCTED WITH RESPECT TO THE SERIES 2015 BONDS. This the 28th day of August 2015. /s/ Carter Brown, CLERK, Superior Court of Walker County 9-2,9″

That’s actually the short version, cut down to one long paragraph for public consumption. The long version is here, in a 102 page legal document.

There’s no time to go through the long, long proposal line by line, so to sum it up: Walker County Development Authority, which exists under the county but is legally separate, will sell $17.5 million in bonds (debts).

$10 million of that will go to the county to pay back a loan Bebe took out earlier this year (half of which was for Hutcheson, half to cover her wild spending), a portion will go to cover this year’s county budget shortfall, and the rest will go to Development Authority “projects” including the Audia Plant site and the industrial park in Rock Spring.

The county will turn over the Civic Center, Mountain Cove Farms, the Agriculture Center, and any claim on the industrial parks to the Development Authority which will then include them as “projects” too. Those properties will be locked down so they cannot be sold or used for collateral again through the entire length of the loan.

What IS the length of the $17.5 million loan? Up to thirty years: “with a term not exceeding August 1, 2045” [3rd page, 16th page]. The means of paying it back will be a 1 mil tax increase the county agrees to charge property owners in return for the funds [5th page, see below].

That tax increase, like the properties involved, will exist for thirty years.

Today at 3, Commissioner Heiskell will open bids for the county ambulance service during her irregularly scheduled Thursday business meeting. She will then decide which of three reported bidders will get to buy the ambulance service equipment and territory.

Sources tell LU two of the bidders are Puckett EMS and DeWayne Wilson’s Angel Medical. Angel is the service provider in Catoosa, Puckett is the contractor in Dade.

(Another source claims to have seen Puckett employees inspecting the county’s equipment and overheard them discussing plans to sell off half of it – but that’s from a single unverified source so you can take it or leave it.)

Both companies are for-profit entities, and they’ll likely be buying the ambulances and equipment for a lot less than Walker has invested into them.

No word on who the third bidder might be. This afternoon we should find out who bid, and likely know which bidder will take home the prize.   

Saturday night two men robbed a gas station in Summerville, as previously mentioned. Early Sunday morning another gas station in Flintstone was also held up and robbed at gunpoint – and those suspects appear to be the same men.

(The video runs forever, the part you want to see starts around 7:15. It’s all done by about 8 1/2 minutes in.)

If they were in Summerville and Flintstone, they would have traveled through LaFayette or a nearby neighborhood. Watch the video and contact the Walker or Chattooga sheriff’s offices if you know who they are or know anything about them. This video has sound so you might recognize a voice.

UPDATE: Summerville PD says suspects MAY have been captured. No details so far.     

Jim Hill of Rossville asks the same question many have been asking for years: Why won’t Steve Tarvin and Jeff Mullis do what has to be done so Walker County can vote on the broke, antiquated sole commissioner system that has empowered Bebe Heiskell to run the county off a cliff?

Last winter Tarvin, Mullis, Rep. John Deffenbaugh, and the Walker County Republican Party were all delivered copies of a petition signed by 2,045 Walker County taxpayers asking that we get a vote on this issue, and none of them have yet to even acknowledge getting it. Now we face another tax increase and decades of government debt.

Their silence speaks volumes.   

Speaking of tax increases and debt: The hearing to give final approval to the Development Authority plan to put Walker County citizens into debt slavery through 2045 will be next Tuesday, September 15th, at 9 AM.

More on THAT soon.

Tragedy struck a Kensington family Saturday afternoon when an 11-month-old died after being left more than two hours in a hot car.

Per multiple news reports, the baby was taken to church by its grandparents while the mother – a nurse who works a night shift – was asleep. When they returned home around 3 PM the grandparents, an aunt, and another child all exited the vehicle and left the baby behind.

The mother woke up after 5 and realized what happened. She gave the baby CPR and called 911, all to no avail. He was pronounced dead at Hutcheson.

Walker County Sheriff’s Office has ruled the death an accident, but is investigating how family members miscommunicated about taking the child inside. The baby’s remains have been sent for autopsy, as required by law any time a child dies.

The 11-month-old was the 19th child to die in a hot car this year, but the first in Georgia – and the first one in Walker, ever, that we know of. Prayerfully also the last.     

More on Commissioner Heiskell’s latest financial shenanigans.

As usual, the Chattanooga Times gets to the heart of what’s going on: another loan, to repay a loan, which was taken out to pay a loan. The deal will cost Walker taxpayers $10 million in interest over a twenty year period and puts the Civic Center and other buildings at risk if payments aren’t made.

Heiskell says the plan will keep her from raising taxes, then immediately admits there will be a new tax from the Development Authority to pay for this non-raising of taxes.

WQCH Radio, 09/05/15: “THE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HAS THE ABILITY, ACCORDING TO STATE LAW, TO COLLECT UP TO 1-MIL OF PROPERTY TAX WITHOUT HOLDING A REFERENDUM. AND UNLIKE COUNTY GOVERNMENT, WHICH MUST PAY BACK LOANS WITHIN THE YEAR, THE AUTHORITY CAN ENTER LONG-TERM DEBT, SUCH AS THE PROPOSED 20-YEAR BOND ISSUE…

The county is prohibited from taking on long-term debt outside of bonds, and can’t sell bonds without voter approval. But the Development Authority CAN sell bonds without the voters, and can then levy a tax on the voters to pay those bonds back.

“THE CASH INFUSION FROM THE BOND SALE, IN ADDITION TO OTHER INCOME SOURCES – SUCH AS THE SALE OF THE COUNTY AMBULANCE SERVICE – WITH ALLOW THE COUNTY TO PAY OFF A 10-MILLION DOLLAR ‘LINE OF CREDIT’ WHICH IS DUE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR. ALMOST 5-MILLION OF THAT MONEY WAS USED TO HELP HUTCHESON MEDICAL CENTER, WITH THE REMAINDER DRAWN-DOWN TO FUND GENERAL OPERATIONS OF THE COUNTY. IT WILL ALSO FUND AN ESTIMATED 5.2 MILLION DOLLARS FOR WORK ON THE BUSINESS PARK AT NOBLE, IN PREPARATION FOR IT’S FIRST INDUSTRY: AUDIA INTERNATIONAL.

$5 million of the short-term loan being repaid by this 20-year deal was dumped into the county’s general fund, where it went to buy the Stearns Bank building and operate money-losing Mountain Cove Farms. Mountain Cove Farms will now be transferred, on paper, to the Development Authority so its losses won’t show up on the county’s financial reports. But it’ll still be operated by the county as usual.

“THE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO SELL, LEASE OR OPERATE MOUNTAIN COVE FARMS, IF THE FINANCING PLAN IS APPROVED. COMMISSIONER HEISKELL SAID THE AUTHORITY WILL ALLOW THE COUNTY TO CONTINUE OPERATING MOUNTAIN COVE FOR SPECIAL EVENTS – SUCH AS THE UPCOMING COUNTY FAIR – AND AS A WEDDING VENUE.

“THE COMMISSIONER TOLD WQCH NEWS EARLIER THAT SHE PLANNED TO CUT THE COUNTY BUDGET BY 1.5-MILLION DOLLARS, BUT UPDATED THAT INFORMATION THURSDAY, SAYING THE BONDING AGENCY WOULD NOT ALLOW THAT REDUCTION.

“AGAIN, ACCORDING TO THE COMMISSIONER: THE NET INCREASE TO PROPERTY OWNERS WILL BE A 1-MIL INCREASE IN TAXES WHICH WILL GO TO PAY-OFF 20-YEAR BONDED DEBT THROUGH THE WALKER COUNTY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.”

The deal is still technically not done until a “public” hearing is held on September 15th at the Courthouse Annex. But according to the Walker County Messenger, members of the “public” who show up next Tuesday won’t be allowed to speak, only listen.

Heiskell isn’t just ignoring the public at large, she’s ignoring her own Walker County Republican Party. The party voted back in the spring to have Heiskell publish a line-item budget, but she tells the Times Free Press she doesn’t care what they say:

“Despite a resolution earlier this year at the Walker County Republican Convention, Heiskell said she will not release a line-item budget for the fiscal year that begins next month.

“Heiskell said she is not worried that her budget will upset the majority of the local Republicans.”

(Keep that in mind when you’re voting along party lines and blindly checking boxes for the R candidates.)

Heiskell also admits to the TFP she doesn’t really stick to a budget or hold her departments to budgets, either:

“..Heiskell she also doesn’t want to have to approve budget amendments every time county agencies spend money differently than they planned to at the beginning of the fiscal year. ‘That happens a lot,’ she said.”

That kind of fiscal responsibility is how we got to the point of needing a 20-year loan pushed through the back door to pay one year’s operating expenses. Now Bebe’s mortgaging away the next two decades so she doesn’t have to directly raise taxes before next year’s election.   

LaFayette’s new Bojangles restaurant seems to be moving right along, and should be on track to open by November as originally projected.

Per reports, the restaurant’s construction, electrical, plumbing, signage, and HVAC permits quoted a project cost in excess of $1.2 million. That’s a lot of biscuits.