Deal signs budget in Polk
Polk County got to play center stage at week’s end as a special guest landed at Cornelius Moore Field for a short stop to provide a signature important to the entire state. Governor Nathan Deal was the special guest, and the 2018 amended state budget got his final approval with the swipe of several pens made sure that millions in additional funding for the state, a lot of that going to local projects. That brings the total to $25.4 billion in spending for the state during the current fiscal year.
“That reflects the fact that we have a growing and strong economy,” Deal said. “One in which we’ve been able to keep our AAA bond rating, and one in which we’ve been able to build our rainy day fund up to now about $ 2.4 billion, which is a good safeguard against another recession that may be coming, but hopefully not soon.”
State Rep. Trey Kelley introduced Deal to a gathering of state and local officials and students from the Polk County Col- lege and Career Academy on Friday morning in a hangar at the local airport.
Kelley had a lot of praise for Deal’s leadership over his past seven years in office, from his leadership on the state level in pushing through increased funding for education and infrastructure, to criminal justice reform and the expansion of accountability courts across Georgia.
He added that Deal’s leadership has also kept Georgia at a top ranking as the best state in the country for business.
Kelley focused much more on lauding Deal’s leadership on local issues, like the funds announced in past months for an extension of Cornelius Moore Field, to inclusion in the budget for funds to reopen the former Department of Labor office in Cedartown’s Northside Industrial Park as the Cedartown Career Center, a adult education and workforce development site to be run by the Technical College System of Georgia in a partnership with Georgia Northwestern Technical College.
“The funds appropriated for this effort will mean a new reinvigorated sense of economic development in Polk County, and will allow Polk County to spread our message further as we engage both national and international economic development efforts,” Kelley said. “The creation of the new Cedartown Career Center under the TCGS will offer residents of our community to learn the skills that they need to find gainful employment and serve as an economic development tool for our county.”
He added that “your administration truly turned lemons into lemonade, and at a time when a lack of trust in government is growing, your leadership has provided a shining example of what can happen when elected officials can work collaboratively.”
Deal himself spoke a lot about those projects and the money being spent in the amended state budget for the year, including funds for the runway extension at Cornelius Moore Field totaling up to $4.5 million, the additional money to re-open the unemployment office, and much more. He highlighted on the state level increases in funding adds $415 million for statewide use.
A large portion of it is going directly to local governments ands school systems to provide them with financial support,” Deal said.
Included in the amended budget was $101.4 million for K-12 enrollment growth and $ 15.7 million for local systems to purchase school buses, marketing funds for the college and universities around the state to the tune of $ 9.6 million for dual enrollment, and more than $ 10 million to upgrade equipment at technical colleges around the state.
Deal also talked about transportation projects, citing an increase in the amount being spent on roadway improvements statewide.
“If you see a lot of orange barrels and orange cones as you travel, that is a reflection of that,” Deal said.
Joining Deal and Kelley in a helicopter flight to the Polk County Airport for the event was State Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen,) and TCSG Commissioner Matt Arthur.
Local officials l i ke Polk County Commission Chair Jennifer Hulsey said they were glad to have Deal and state officials in the area to sign the budget.
“We’re glad that Gov. Deal and other state officials have provided us with help for economic development. We’re excited about the possibilities with our airport in the future,” Hulsey said.
That help at the airport has the potential to provide Polk County with ad- ditional new business as they are able to take on corporate-sized jets with the runway is extended to 5,000 feet. Deal said that will allow business leaders from around the globe to land locally and see Polk County for themselves.
For Polk County Commission vice chair Hal Floyd, that means the possibility of new industrial investment and the potential even for new development at the airport.
“When we start bringing corporate jets into here, it’ll be good for a lot of people,” Floyd said. “It gives us the ability to do that, and I think that will attract a lot of business. It Certainly gives us the opportunity to work a deal with some people.”
It was also a positive for Development Authority of Polk County President and CEO Missy Kendrick, who believes the extension will provide a much needed plus to allow her to bring in those interested in development.
“Governor Deal’s visit today is another step in the right direction for Polk County,” Kendrick said. “The expansion of our airport and the location of GNTC in the industrial park further positions us for positive economic development. There is a reason that all of these good things are happening here. It is a great place with great leadership. We are fortunate to have well respected leaders both locally and at the capital.”
The second big investment locally Deal discussed in detail was the new Cedartown Career Center, where GNTC will provide adult education opportunities. He said that Labor Commissioner Mark Butler agreed to turn over the building to the TCSG for its use after the Labor department closed the office.
Hulsey is among local officials still unhappy about the move on the state’s part to close one office, but was glad that that story is ending with a new use for the office in Cedartown’s industrial park.
“I am very glad to hear that the building the labor department was in will be used to help our young people develop the skills they need to get good jobs, and I was not happy about it when the labor department announced after they closed that they were leaving,” Hulsey said. “The positive outcome of the Governor’s decision is that it will provide some good for our community and help make Polk County competitive in workforce development and the greater economy of Georgia.”
State officials will still have to vote for appropriations needed to run the office in the 2019 state budget, set to be voted on by both the state house and senate later on in the month before Deal gives that document his signature at the end of the legislative session.
Additional funds made available in Polk County locally include investments into the City of Cedartown’s expansion of the Industrial Park into the York property and upcoming site developments, and also for Cedartown’s Goodyear Park Soccer Complex. Money in the amended budget also is allowing for additional agriculture education funding via the Young Farmers Program.
Before Deal and officials took off again for business elsewhere during the March 9 event in Polk County, he spent some time briefly speaking with local officials and meeting with students f rom t he Polk County College and Career Academy.