Harris County Georgia Chamber of Commerce

Education

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS: 6 county public schools with 277 teachers, 4,319 students, and 246 high school graduates in 2005; 1 private school with 30 students in 2005.

HIGHER EDUCATION:
Technical College: Columbus at Columbus (22 miles) with 2,500 students; West Georgia at LaGrange (24 miles) with 2,640 students.

2-yr: Gordon College at Barnesville (59 miles) with 3,115 students.

4-yr: Columbus State University at Columbus (22 miles) with 6,250 students; LaGrange College at LaGrange (24 miles) with 940 students.

Local Taxes

PROPERTY: Property taxes are determined by tax rates and assessment ratios which vary by location. The only realistic way to compare property taxes from different locations is to use 'effective tax rates' (tax rate multiplied by assessmen ratio). Effective tax rates combine city, county, school, and state tax rates into one convenient figure -- the annual tax for each $1000 of property at its fair market value. This rate applies to all property: land, buildings, machinery, equipment, and inventory.

Effective Rates:
City	Year	Within City	Outside City
Hamilton	2007	$12.52	$9.71
Pine Mountain	2007	$16.50	$9.71

SALES: City and county have 3% local sales tax in addition to the 4% state sales tax.

Incentives/Exemptions

INVENTORY (Freeport): Freeport is the general term used for the exemption of ad valorem tax on inventories as defined by Georgia law. The law offers manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and warehouse operations an attractive inventory tax exemption on three classes of property.

Harris County exempts 100% on all classes of certain business inventory from property taxation.

JOB TAX CREDIT: Tier: 4, Amount: $750 as of 2009
Tier refers to the economic well-being of a county. For more information go to http://www.dca.state.ga.us/economic/TaxCredits/programs/taxcredit.asp

JOINT DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: Yes

Municipal Services

FIRE PROTECTION: 15 volunteer personnel. Protection outside city limits provided by county volunteers. Fire insurance classification 6 in city and 10 in county.

ZONING: City has zoning ordinance.

Transportation

COMMERCIAL AIRPORT: Columbus Airport (22 miles) service by ASA.

GENERAL AVIATION AIRPORT: Columbus Airport (22 miles) with a 7,000 feet bituminous runway, aircraft tiedown, airframe & power plant repair, hangar, lighted runway, VOR, ILS, NDB; Pine Mountain Airport (5 miles) with a 5,000 feet bituminous runway, aircraft tiedown, airframe & power plant repair, lighted runway, NDB.

RAIL: Norfolk Southern piggyback - Macon (80 miles); Norfolk Southern rail - Hamilton (local).

WATER:
Navigable River: Chattahoochee River (9 foot channel depth) with public barge dock at Columbus (22 miles).
Seaport: Savannah Seaport (252 miles) with maintained channel depth of 42 feet.

Utilities

ELECTRICITY: A part of Georgia's modern integrated electrical transmission system, Harris County has excellent ability to supply industrial demands. Compared to 47% for the U.S., coal accounts for 84% of fuel used by the state's power generating plants. This assures long-term continuity. If demand exceeds 900kw, any supplier can step in and offer service.

NATURAL GAS: Available in county but not in city.

WATER: Plant capacity: 122,400 gal/day. (Expansion to 190,000 gal/day in near future). Consumption: 85,000 gal/day average. Elevated storage capacity: 265,000 gal. Source: ground water.

SEWER: Plant Capacity: 99,000 gal/day; Plant Load: 54,000 gal/day; Activated sludge treatment. Primary and secondary treatment plant.