Clairmont Heights Civic Association

Rep. Mayo & Organizers from Good Growth DeKalb

 

 

Good Growth DeKalb presented the voice of the people in the community with petitions signed by more than 3,000 people against the Walmart proposal and cited the 500+ Stop Walmart signs that are all over the neighborhoods.  In addition, a survey was circulated with 75 percent of respondents opposing the Walmart development.

 

HB 794-Home Owner Equity Protection

 

As your Representative I will fight to continue to deal with the free falling home prices and county governments' budget shortfalls that result from current laws forcing property assessments down.  Today, county budgets face challenges creating additional revenue streams to support services. Property taxes generate revenue streams to supply and meet costs of operations for county governments. 

 

However, this past 2012 Legislative Session, I introduced HB 794 to resolve the issue of market values. Some homeowners face the unique burden of foreclosures lowering their own market value for their homes. The dilemma is produced from neighboring property values, which are lowered based from neighboring properties that are in fact in foreclosures. Therefore, WE must balance tax assessment values, based on the dynamics of communities, not the complications of comprehensive laws.

 

In short, we cannot burden home owners with unfair and lower property values, or with higher property assessments that burden them with significantly higher property taxes. This year HB 794 didi not pass, but received bipartisan support. As your chosen Representative, I will continue to support fair markets value for the next taxable year, and redefine property values that support todays continued falling market challenges. 

Controversial Voting Machines: 

Does your vote count?

 

After the 2000 Florida Election, voters would think twice about voter-fraud after  the "Hanging Chad Problems." However, recent controversy has revisited voter awareness around voting fraud and voting machines. Recently, Republicans have highlighted the issue of election fraud and deliberating on voting machines' accuracy and vulnerability for maintaining voter counts. However, now many Democrats have responded, they want a receipt for their votes.

  

Today, voting machines like Diebold, Electoral Systems Software, and Sequoia Voting Systems are vulnerable to possible hacking and other third party cyber fraud. Secondly, the other challenge of voting machines is the issue of a proper paper trail. The legitimacy to prove a proper recount is supported with little or no paper evidence to support the actual votes or voting numbers originally tallied and reported for in voting machines. The National Lab's Vulnerability Assessment Team of Argonne National Laboratory reported that that elections conducted by voting machines can be hacked, for, "$26 and 8th grade education." Argonne reports that Diebold systems can be hacked by remote access. 

  

Diebold's use an accurate system called LED strips. The LED Strips are scannable ballots that come in English, Spanish and possible braille. Today, many states require a legal form of identification to vote. Many anti-election fraud groups are disturbed by such state laws, making it harder for seniors and students to vote who may not have legal identification. 

  

You can take action and resolve complex problems in your own communities regarding voting machines, by signing up to be a poll watcher to report any questionable voter activity to your local election commissioners, or petitioning your state governments to require traditional paper ballots. Additionally, you can work to getting as many voters to the polls helps to alleviate the need for a recount or run-off election.

State Revenue Update

 

Gov. Nathan Deal reported today that the State of Georgia's net tax collections for the month of June totaled $1.54 billion, an increase of $39 million, or 2.6 percent, compared to June 2011. For fiscal year 2012, which ended June 30, net revenue collections totaled $16.1 billion, which is an increase of $742 million, or 4.8 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year.

 

Georgia Consumer Credit Trends 

  

                                     

 Growth Rates   YTD       12 Months

 

Credit Card           -4.66%         1.46%

 

Other Unsecured    -4.90%       -2.08%

 

 New Vehicle           3.89%       6.89%

 

Used Vehicle          0.19%        7.08%

 

1st Mortgage          2.07%        10.12%

 

Other Real Estate   -3.04%       -6.66%

 

Business                2.10%        8.38%

 

Total Loans             0.61%        5.93%

 

 

Number of Bankruptcy Filings:

 

YTD no. of Filings    1,625

 

% Change from March 2011  -2.34%

 

YTD: 1/1/12-3/31/12

12 months: 3/11-3/12

 

Source: Georgia Credit Union Affiliates

 

Rahn Mayo

Georgia House District 84

Fax: 404 591-8693

--Get Info Real Time