Hart BOC to Hear Presentation From Residential Growth Expert Tonight

A reminder that tonight’s Hart County Commission meeting is taking place at the AgriScience Center on Bowman Highway.

Hart County Commissioners are hoping a large number of citizens will turn out tonight to hear a presentation from Dr. Jeffrey Dorman, an expert on the effects of uncontrolled residential growth on the taxpayer.

Dr. Dorfman is a professor at the University of Georgia’s Applied Economics Department.

Hart County Commission Chair Marshal Sayer said he asked Dr. Dorfman to speak at this evening’s meeting.

“With all the development going on in Hart County I would just like for the taxpayers and all the stakeholders to understand the impact of taxation with all this growth. That is the main purpose of this,” he said.

Sayer said he discovered Dr. Dorfman after reading an article in the Madison County Journal about a presentation he had done for the Madison County Commission.

The decision to have Dr. Dorfman deliver his presentation to the public also comes in response to the City of Hartwell’s request to annex approximately 274 acres in the county for a 1,200 single-family home subdivision by developer Kenny Whitworth.

Hartwell’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the subdivision, which will be located on property between Liberty Hill and Fairview Roads, but their recommendation comes with a laundry list of conditions suggested by the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission.

Hart County Commissioners have argued such a large subdivision will amount to an increased burden on the taxpayers who will carry the extra cost for the needed services the new subdivision would require such as fire, EMS, law enforcement as well as infrastructure.

The special County Commission meeting will take place tonight at 6p at the AgriScience Center on the Bowman Highway and is open to the public.