The Board of Directors of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce has unanimously endorsed a resolution to support funding a new Fayette County judicial complex through a public facilities authority.

County commissioners are expected to decide on a method of funding during their meeting tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Chamber leaders in recent months have emphasized the need to become more involved in public issues. The stated goal of the chamber Public Affairs Division in 1999 was to make the organization the “voice of business” in Fayette.

And Tate Godfrey, chairman for 2000, said his goal for the year is to position the chamber as “the leading advocate for quality growth” in the county. The resolution is part of an ongoing effort in the chamber to speak out on issues affecting business and chamber members, said Godfrey.

A recommendation for the resolution on jail funding was presented to the board from the chamber's Governmental Affairs Committee, which studied all of the funding alternatives and recommended the authority as the best option to fund the complex.

The PFA would issue bonds to fund and construct the jail and courthouse, and then retire the debt through a dedicated portion of county ad valorem taxes. According to chamber officials, this finance method is the least expensive funding option for Fayette County citizens and businesses.

Among reasons the chamber board cites in its resolution for supporting a PFA:

“With Fayette County entering into a long-term lease-purchase arrangement for the jail project, the revenue bonds issued by the PFA will be able to take full advantage of the county's “AA” general obligation rating (thus obtaining the best possible rates).

“The PFA leasing option follows the matching principle of finance. The payments for the asset will be spread over the period of time when benefits are being received from the project. Any residents moving into the county over the next 30 years will be responsible for paying their fair share of the project's costs.

“As the county is required to use the maintenance and operation tax base to make the annual lease payments to the PFA, the county's taxpayers will receive the property tax reduction benefits of the state of Georgia's recent property tax relief initiative. This benefit is not available with the SPLOST or general obligation bond.

“The M&O taxes being paid towards the project can be used as part of the taxpayer's itemized Form 1040 deductions to offset or supplant a portion of their federal and state tax burden. This benefit is not available with the special purpose local option sales tax.

“The PFA financing option provides immediate guaranteed funding for the project. The sunset provisions of the SPLOST limit the amount of collections to a five-year period. A general downturn in the economy or other unforeseen event (such as the impact of Internet sales on sales tax revenue) could reduce tax revenue, necessitating the need to obtain more costly funding and/or jeopardizing the completion of the jail/courthouse project.

“Additionally, Fayette County voters must approve the first two funding options, the SPLOST and General Obligation Bond. If, for any reason, the voters do not approve a SPLOST (as they did with the recent school board requested SPLOST), the county will be unable by law to move forward on the project until the next voting cycle in two years.

“If the project is postponed for an additional two years, it is probable that the federal government would mandate the building of a temporary facility to relieve overcrowding, require the early release of prisoners, or require prisoners to be housed in other counties at a prohibitive cost,” says the resolution.