The finances of the Tift County Development Authority are currently being studied by a task force assigned by TCDA members for that purpose: How much money does the TCDA have? Does it have enough money to fund certain projects? Where does the TCDA’s money come from? Does it need a regular, reliable funding source? Should it be able to levy taxes to further economic development?

“The development authority members required that the Financial Task Force do several things. One is that they gather community financial people together and develop a tool so that they can more clearly understand their financial picture,” said Brad Day, president and CEO of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce and TCDA executive director.

A result of some of the task force’s work is a spreadsheet entitled “Monthly Cash Flows” that allows TCDA members to tell at a glance the state of their finances.

When looking at the bottom line — or the “ending cash balance” column on the spreadsheet — Day said he characterizes it as “a lot of money that passes through the development authority, but very little of that is not committed money.”

Day described the TCDA as a “financial conduit that helps spur business growth.”

Day’s concern for the TCDA and its ability to foster economic growth in Tift County is summed up with his words, “I see no regular, dedicated source of income (for the TCDA).”

He explained that Tift County has two development authorities: A constitutional authority and a statutory authority, but both he characterizes as “being limited in power compared to other counties.”

Day cited Effingham County, which he said is similar to Tift County in many ways.

“They are about the same size; they have 48,000 population; and they are north of a metropolitan area,” he said. “But they have the power to leverage taxes and the Tift County Development Authority does not.”

Day said he has taken a good look at the law in that regard for Tift and said, “I see no power to levy taxes, but I will defer to our attorney.”

Bob Reinhardt said, “No, the TCDA does not have taxing powers.” He added that the county has the authority to levy a tax and give the proceeds to the TCDA for economic development.

“The county can levy up to two mills for the use of the authority but the authority has no taxing powers,” Reinhardt said.

Reinhardt said the TCDA does receive a percentage of SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax) funds for economic development.

“For a long time it was 15 percent but this year it is not that much,” Reinhardt said. “We get some of that every month.”

Reinhardt said of the Financial Task Force, “What they are doing is long-range planning. They want to be able to identify economic opportunities and plan ways to finance it.”