A bill to help Cherokee County address transportation improvements will be back on the table during the 2010 session of the Georgia General Assembly.

Transportation funding was a hot issue during the Cherokee County state legislative delegation's annual all-day meeting with local leaders on Thursday.

The delegation to prepare for the upcoming session met at the Historic Canton High School school board auditorium with county boards, commissions and agencies.

Last year, a bill that would have allowed the county the opportunity to institute its own one-penny transportation special purpose local option sales tax (TSPLOST) failed to pass in last year's session.

The bill was "caught up in last-second political nonsense," said state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock). "We will not allow that to happen this year."

The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners and school board during their meetings complained about the number of unfunded or underfunded mandates from the state.

The board of commissioners provided a list of state-mandated and discretionary services the county government must provide or subsidize. It includes $800,000 for superior court, $1.8 million for the district attorney's office, $2 million for indigent defense and $1.2 million for the Adult Detention Center.

Rogers also asked to see a list from the school district.

"Tell me what they are and I will be against every one of them," Rogers said of the mandates.

According to the school district, in 2010 it will experience an $85.4 million education funding gap, which represents the difference between what the state government dictates the county should receive and what actually is allocated from the state.

The school district listed the creation and full funding of a state education funding formula that adequately addresses critical local school district needs. The district reported a $22 million shortfall in state and local funding for this year, which forced cuts in teacher hiring, with 160 paraprofessionals not appointed or reappointed and 144 teacher job share positions being eliminated.

State Sen. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming) said the General Assembly is "definitely looking at the (quality basic education) QBE formula."

School board member Mike Chapman said the school district now has a millage rate of 18.85 mills and can increase it to 20 mills, but said raising it is "not enough to solve the problem."

"I'm not going to raise taxes while people are hurting out there," he said.

Rogers said the school board could go over 20 mills if it can make a "compelling argument" to the voters to raise the rate, mentioning the residents' approval of previous SPLOST referendums. He said the state would have to increase taxes if it considered suggestions from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institution and Fiscal Research Center from Georgia State University such as revisiting the amount of sales tax exemptions offered by the state.

The board of commissioners also expressed its support to reform the property tax system.

"It is the biggest complaint we hear," Commissioner Karen Bosch said about property tax assessments.

Woodstock officials during their meeting talked about changing the impact fee law to allow more flexibility with the fees for roads. They also want the legislators to amend the law on the establishment of Urban Redevelopment Authorities (URA) to provide the option for the mayor and council to serve as the URA board.

Ball Ground Mayor Rick Roberts and City Manager Eric Wilmarth during their meeting talked about amending legislation so traffic tickets written on Interstate 575 in Ball Ground go to the city municipal court instead of the county.

The Development Authority of Cherokee County announced that prospect activity has been good and that ProCom, which produces heaters and hearth products, is moving to Cherokee County to the former Williamson Brothers building in the Canton-Cherokee Industrial Park.

Members of the county's Department of Family and Children Services informed the delegation of growth in its food stamp program.

Members of the Cherokee County Water and Sewerage Authority gave an update on litigation challenging the U.S. Corps of Engineers authority to operate Lake Lanier for water supply and recreation. A judge ruled that Lake Lanier is not built for water supply and reallocation of storage in the Lanier for water supply is not allowed without congressional approval. Authority General Manager Tom Heard said the same ruling could happen for Lake Allatoona, which would affect Cobb County.