Empty Nest
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Canine flu spreading in region
Special Olympics
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June 25, 2015 | johnscreekherald.com | 75,000 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 19, No. 26
City Council mulls ending arts grant funding ‘Not government’s business’ council members say By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Three members of the Johns Creek Council – and that constitutes a majority with two seats unfilled – are poised to ending the city’s arts grants programs after a June 15 workshop discussion about the $30,000
annual program. The program was started in 2011, but only Mayor Mike Bodker was serving at the time of the creation of the arts grant program. At the June 15 workshop, council members Steve Broadbent, Bob Gray and Lenny Zaprowski voiced their concerns about government “being in the business of
funding the arts.” Bodker said he did not believe in funding the arts for “operational funding,” but did think it right for the city to fund particular programs. Councilwoman Cori Davenport said she was “a giver” and did not have a problem funding the arts grants. The maximum amount in
BROADBENT
ZAPROWSKI
any year authorized for arts grants is $30,000. The only time the city ever disbursed
the grants was in the first year when all $30,000 was distributed to fund requests from the Johns Creek Arts Center, Performing GRAY Arts North (now defunct) and the Johns
See ARTS, Page 4
FULTON PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS »
N.F. homeowners get sticker shock But commissioners promise to roll back 2015-16 millage By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com
HATCHER HURD/STAFF
This house on North Bridges Drive was the scene of a combined Johns Creek Police-DEA drug bust that allegedly netted 20 pounds of meth.
Two arrested in large meth bust 20 pounds of drug found in home near schools JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Two residents are facing felony charges June 18 after allegedly manufacturing methamphetamine in a residential neighborhood within close proximity of two schools. According to police, at about 9 a.m., members of the
Johns Creek Police Department and the DEA served a search warrant on the home on North Bridges Drive, which backup up to Taylor Road Middle School and Chattahoochee High School. Johns Creek Police Spokesman Officer Chris
Byers said the authorities were acting on a tip. In the home were Hector Valle-Gomez and Mary Jessica Flores. The search of the home led to the seizure of approxi-
See METH, Page 4
NORTH FULTON – Many North Fulton homeowners are expressing dismay if not outrage over their recent property assessments, but that may be somewhat eased by a promise from the Fulton County Commission to roll back the millage rate to revenue neutral. Nevertheless, county officials are preparing for around 40,000 assessment challenges. One of those may well be Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker. When cautioning residents to expect property revaluations to be high, he used his own home as an example. He said his home’s valuation went up $100,000. “And it is not an expensive home,” the mayor said.
“Furthermore, no house in my subdivision has sold for what the county is appraising our homes at.” North Fulton property values are on ELLIS the rise, however, as the county and state begin put distance behind the effects of the recession on property values. Countywide the preliminary numbers are startling: • Residential property increase of 9.04 percent • Commercial property increase of 45.5 percent • Industrial property increase of 52.0 percent North Fulton residential properties can expect to be higher due to higher appreciation values for property in North Fulton. The good news for taxpay-
See TAX, Page 26
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