Augusta Commission approves joint authority with Burke and Columbia, honors late colleague Jimmy Smith

Augusta commissioners adopted a resolution of condolences Tuesday for former Commissioner Jimmy Smith, above, who died Sunday at age 91. Staff photo by Susan McCord

Date: May 08, 2024

The Augusta Commission authorized joining a joint development authority with Burke and Columbia counties Tuesday. The commission also honored one its own, former Commissioner James W. “Jimmy” Smith, who died Sunday at age 91.

The purpose of the Greater Augusta Joint Development Authority is to promote trade, commerce, industry and employment in the three counties and encourage cooperation, but should refrain from issuing revenue bonds or promissory notes, according to bylaws approved by the commission with no discussion Tuesday.

MORE: Lamar Building closer to reconstruction; Marion Building to go up for auction

It would consist of six directors, with two coming from each county, and require approval by the other participating counties.

The commission approved a resolution of condolences for Smith, who represented District 8 on the commission from 2004-2010, chaired the Engineering Services Committee for four years and served on other committees and authorities.

Smith, whose brother Harold Smith once served as county commission chairman, is known as a founder of South Augusta Pride and Progress, an organization of south Richmond County residents and organizations that worked together to improve the area.

“Commissioner Jimmy Smith’s hard-working ways will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him,” the resolution said.

The commission heard arguments from former Commissioner Bill Fennoy, who now lives in Hephzibah, about the means used to ask state legislators to approve a resolution giving Augusta voters a chance to give Mayor Garnett Johnson a vote in a May 21 referendum.

Fennoy said the mayor, five commissioners and three Republican legislators, one of whom doesn’t represent Richmond County, who pushed the legislation through as a general bill were a far cry from the six commission votes he was required to get to seek a resolution changing the name of the John C. Calhoun Expressway from someone other than the slavery champion.

“I had to get at least six signatures in order to send the resolution to Atlanta,” Fennoy said.

Johnson said he’d met with all members of the delegation in Atlanta prior to the bill being dropped. At the time, at least three commissioners said they learned about the bill on the news.

Early voting its in its eighth day at four locations in the May 21 general primary and special election, which includes several partisan primaries and nonpartisan elections.

Commissioners deferred consideration of a proposal from Best Friends Animal Society to provide additional services at no cost to Augusta Animal Services. Jessica DuBois with Best Friends said Augusta’s cat survival rate has improved, while 46% of animals don’t make it out alive.

Animal Services Director James Hill III said parts of the proposal “cause me great concern,” but did not identify his concerns. He said Augusta maintains a current animal shelter license with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which licenses pet and livestock facilities.

The good news Tuesday was that Moody’s and S&P had maintained Augusta’s AA2 and AA credit ratings, according to Courtney Rogers with city financial consultants Davenport and Co. 

The city’s bond sale for a new arena took place Tuesday morning, with Wells Fargo the low bidder for a $250 million arena at 5.0617% true interest cost, Rogers said. All seven bidders came in within .1% of each other, he said.

Debt service is expected to be funded by the new half-cent C-SPLOST, or coliseum sales tax. The tax is expected to generate about $20 million a year, and Rogers said the city may be able to pay off the debt in about 16 years.

Also “really good stuff” was in the city’s Dec. 31 financial report, Finance Director Donna Williams said. In unaudited figures, the city’s general and law enforcement fund added $6.3 million to its reserves, fire protection added $1.3 million, water and sewer added $7.8 million and waste management – the landfill – added $3.2 million, she said.

Sales tax collections, including the LOST used to reduce property taxes and the SPLOST used for capital projects, hit record levels, Williams said.

Less positive was a $151,000 deficit in garbage collection and a $175,000 deficit in the streetlight fund that did not include the city’s onetime infusion of American Rescue Plan funds, she said.

What to Read Next

The Author

Susan McCord is a veteran journalist and writer who began her career at publications in Asheville, N.C. She spent nearly a decade at newspapers across rural southwest Georgia, then returned to her Augusta hometown for a position at the print daily. She’s a graduate of the Academy of Richmond County and the University of Georgia. Susan is dedicated to transparency and ethics, both in her work and in the beats she covers. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including a Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Fellowship, first place for hard news writing from the Georgia Press Association and the Morris Communications Community Service Award.

Comment Policy

The Augusta Press encourages and welcomes reader comments; however, we request this be done in a respectful manner, and we retain the discretion to determine which comments violate our comment policy. We also reserve the right to hide, remove and/or not allow your comments to be posted.

The types of comments not allowed on our site include:

  • Threats of harm or violence
  • Profanity, obscenity, or vulgarity, including images of or links to such material
  • Racist comments
  • Victim shaming and/or blaming
  • Name calling and/or personal attacks;
  • Comments whose main purpose are to sell a product or promote commercial websites or services;
  • Comments that infringe on copyrights;
  • Spam comments, such as the same comment posted repeatedly on a profile.