ATLANTA – The state awarded nearly $8.4 million in infrastructure grants to five local government applicants Friday, the first round of awards through a rural workforce housing initiative Gov. Brian Kemp announced during his State of State address last January.
The grants ultimately will support more than 500 units of single-family and multi-family housing.
“On the back of three straight record-breaking years for economic development, we are taking action to ensure hardworking Georgians are able to live in the same communities where they work,” Kemp said. “These grants are the first step in meeting the needs of communities experiencing incredible growth as we continue to see new opportunities come to all corners of the state.”
The largest of the grants – $2.4 million – will go to the city of Colquitt to provide water and sewer service to a new subdivision that will include 49 single-family homes as well as a nearby multi-family housing development with 44 units.
The consolidated government of Columbus and the Douglas Coffee County Industrial Authority will receive $2.3 million each. The Columbus grant will go toward water, sewer, drainage, and street improvements to enable the completion of a development that will add 24 new single-family homes.
The Coffee County grant will be used for water, sewer, drainage and street improvements to allow the construction of 65 homes in a new subdivision near several large employers.
The city of Albany will receive $925,513 to facilitate the creation of a subdivision with 29 single-family homes on six acres within the city limits.
The Stephens County Development Authority was awarded a grant of $478,400 for a sanitary sewer lift station needed to accommodate the construction of 318 housing units in a new development near a regional industrial park that is set to expand.
The General Assembly allocated $35.7 million in the fiscal 2023 midyear budget to launch the initiative.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney
ATLANTA – If the special grand jury Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis assembled to investigate illegal interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election had gotten its way, the case would have cast an even broader net than last month’s indictment.
The special grand jury recommended 39 indictments rather than the 19 defendants – including former President Donald Trump – now facing state racketeering charges, according to the special grand jury’s final report, most of which was under seal for months before being released Friday.
Targets of the investigation who ended up avoiding indictment by a separate grand jury included some prominent names: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; former Georgia Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler; Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, and Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Willis was not allowed to investigate Jones following a court ruling that found a conflict of interest. The district attorney, a Democrat, hosted a fundraising event last year for Charlie Bailey, Jones’ Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney released portions of the special grand jury’s report in February. However, all the released portions indicated was that the panel had recommended indicting more than one suspect, leaving out names.
The version of the report released in February also concluded that no widespread fraud occurred in connection with the election.
McBurney released the rest of the 26-page report on Friday.
The special grand jury recommended that Graham, Perdue, Loeffler, Flynn, and Jones be charged in connection with efforts to overrun the election results in multiple states, including Georgia. The panel also cited Perdue in connection with communications with multiple Georgia officials between the November 2020 election and January 2021.
The report also recommended indicting Jones in connection with a December 2020 meeting of “fake” electors at the Georgia Capitol to certify Trump the winner of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes rather than Democrat Joe Biden, who had carried the state in the November election.
Willis empaneled the special grand jury in May of last year. The panel completed its work late in the year after hearing from 75 witnesses.
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia is taking advantage of a strong state economy by seeking a $385.4 million increase in its fiscal 2024 mid-year budget.
With the state sitting on a massive budget surplus, Gov. Brian Kemp has given state agencies permission to request 3% spending increases in both the mid-year budget, which covers spending through next June, and the fiscal 2025 budget, which takes effect next July.
The system’s Board of Regents voted Friday to request a mid-year budget of $3.6 billion in state funds. The largest portion of that money – $119.1 million – would go to pay off the bond indebtedness incurred in building seven fee-funded public-private construction projects, including student dorms and parking facilities.
Paying off the debt portion of those projects would considerably reduce the fees students who use the facilities would have to pay, Tracey Cook, the university system’s chief fiscal officer, told board members before Friday’s vote.
“This is a major ask,” Cook said. “We hope this will be considered by the governor.”
The regents also approved a $3.3 billion fiscal 2025 budget request, less than the proposed mid-year 2024 budget but $101.8 million more than the $3.2 billion university system spending plan in the original fiscal 2024 budget the General Assembly adopted last spring.
The vast majority of the additional spending would come from an increase in the student funding formula driven by enrollment growth and increases in health insurance costs for system employees and retirees.
The regents also adopted a $198 million fiscal 2025 capital budget request. The largest single portion of the capital budget – $68.6 million – would go toward five new construction projects.
The list of new projects includes a planned expansion of Middle Georgia State University’s Eastman campus and an addition to the nursing and health science building at the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick. Renovation projects are planned on the campuses of Albany State University, the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, and Georgia College & State University.
Kemp will present his budget recommendations to the legislature in January.
Hurricane Idalia felled a large chinaberry tree in western Bulloch County Aug. 30. PHOTO by Eddie Ledbetter
ATLANTA – President Joe Biden declared Georgia a federal disaster area late Thursday, freeing up federal aid for recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia.
Gov. Brian Kemp formally submitted a request Wednesday for a disaster declaration covering 30 counties across south-central, southeastern and coastal Georgia. However, the declaration the president issued will apply to only three counties: Cook, Glynn, and Lowndes.
Lowndes County sustained the most damage when Idalia tore through South Georgia last week, with losses estimated at more than $12.8 million, the Valdosta Daily Times reported Thursday.
The federal assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help residents and businesses recover from the storm’s impacts.
Federal funding also is available to the state and eligible local governments as well as nonprofit organizations to help with debris removal and emergency protective measures in the affected counties, and for hazard mitigation statewide.
With damage assessments continuing in other areas, more counties could be added to the federal disaster declaration, according to a news release from the White House.
ATLANTA – A Georgia-based recycled paper and packaging company will build a new production facility in the portion of Warner Robins in Peach County, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
Pratt Industries will invest more than $120 million in the project, which will create more than 125 jobs.
“Expansions like this account for more than 70% of last year’s economic development projects,” Kemp said. “[They] are a testament to our business-friendly and partnership approach as we bring more opportunity for hardworking Georgians.”
Based in Atlanta, Pratt Industries is the fifth-largest corrugated packaging company in the nation and the largest privately owned producer of 100% recycled containerboard in the world.
“We’re committed to the great state of Georgia. In fact, Georgia is where our company began,” said Anthony Pratt, global executive chairman for Pratt Industries. “We are excited to expand our operations in the region.”
The new factory will be Pratt’s 13th site in Georgia and bring the company’s investment in the state to more than $800 million. Pratt will now have more than 2,100 employees on its payroll in Georgia and 11,700 nationwide.
The state Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team partnered with Georgia Power and the Development Authority of Peach County on the project.
The plant is expected to begin operations late next year.
