Linchpin of democracy

I-85 toll may not free up traffic

Nov. 15, 2011

$1 billion project adds little or no relief

● How we got the story: Documents obtained by staff writer Ariel Hart helped her to determine that the new I-85 HOT lanes in Gwinnett County might actually slow traffic in the regular lanes, rather than speed it up. Later, she found that a $1 billion HOT lanes project for Cobb and Cherokee counties might make traffic there even worse for many drivers.

● Impact: After Hart’s November story, the state decided to call off bidding on the project and junked its plan for a public-private partnership to pay for it. The project will proceed, but without any private involvement.

HEALTH CARE

June 12, 2011

Going to the hospital can make you well or ill

● How we got the story: Staff writer Carrie Teegardin analyzed thousands of records of “hospital-acquired conditions” — data issued by the federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid — comparing rates at Atlanta hospitals with one another and those of thousands of hospitals nationwide. She found that one Atlanta hospital posted the highest rate in the state — and one of the highest in the nation — of “central line infections,” a potentially deadly catheter-related bloodstream infection.

Feb. 14, 2012

Four metro hospitals miss mark

● How we got the story: Teegardin obtained new data issued by the federal government showing that four metro Atlanta hospitals did not meet a national benchmark on the rate of central line infections. One in four patients who contracts a central-line infection will die from it.

● Impact: Experts said that patients may not want to make health-care decisions based on the HAC data. But they noted that patients could use it to ask hospitals and doctors about their own infection rates. The release of the data also was important for consumers in Georgia. Unlike many other states, Georgia does not require public disclosure of hospital infection rates.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Aug. 5, 2011

Jobs paid for vs. jobs delivered

● How we got the story: Georgia spends hundreds of millions of dollars to persuade companies to locate here or, for companies already here, to add jobs. Staff writer Dan Chapman examined hundreds of incentive packages offered to companies and found that recipients often didn’t create as many jobs as promised, while others either went out of business or scaled back operations. In any event, Chapman learned, it’s often difficult to tell whether the programs work because much of the information about them is kept secret by the state.

● Impact: From 2003 to 2009, Chapman found, state and local governments doled out more than $460 million in tax breaks, grants and loans to entice companies either to come to Georgia or to stay here.

Jan. 15, 2012

Millions lost on ethanol play

● How we got the story: Chapman reviewed SEC filings and other government reports to find that the federal and state governments had committed $600 million in subsidies to a group of companies controlled by the same billionaire entrepreneur. The companies were to have used the subsidies to produce “cellulosic ethanol,” or fuel largely from trees, at a new plant in Soperton. The companies did not deliver a drop of commercially viable fuel.

● Impact: “Their technology did not work,” said Sam Shelton, research director for Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute who had long questioned the company’s scientific claims. Reporter Chapman found that much of the $162 million in local, state and federal subsidies that was actually committed to the project is lost and not easily recoverable.

PUBLIC PROJECTS

Sept. 2, 2011

Gwinnett stadium out at home?

● How we got the story: Staff writer David Wickert reviewed budget documents, contracts, audits, bond documents and meeting minutes to determine that Coolray Field in Gwinnett County had fallen far short of revenue projections and that Gwinnett leaders were planning to divert the county’s hotel-motel tax to help cover the shortfall.

● Impact: This was the first detailed public disclosure of the stadium’s finances and the first mention that the county wants to divert hotel-motel taxes to cover the shortfall.

TAXES

Dec. 18, 2011

Still paying too much in property taxes?

● How we got it: Staff writer David Wickert gathered and analyzed hundreds of thousands of property tax and sales records, finding that many metro Atlanta homeowners are still paying more in property taxes than they should be, three years into the collapse of Atlanta’s real estate market. Wickert’s analysis built on two years of similar analysis by the AJC showing that property taxes have failed to keep pace with declining property values.

● Impact: As homeowners have become more aware of the disparities, thousands more have filed appeals of their taxes. State lawmakers also are considering additional legislation to ensure assessments are done fairly.

April 30, 2011

Tax commissioner in Fulton paid $342,000

● How we got the story: Fulton County documents obtained by staff writers M.B. Pell and Johnny Edwards showed that Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand had been charging three cities in Fulton County a dollar a parcel to collect their taxes — and pocketing the money. The payments, including more than $150,000 a year from the city of Atlanta alone, make Ferdinand the highest-paid elected official in Georgia. The reporters also learned that, across Georgia, more county tax commissioners than not charge cities a personal fee for collections.

● Impact: Six Fulton County legislators sponsored a bill this legislative session that would end the personal payments by removing Ferdinand and all Georgia tax commissioners from negotiating tables when cities want county governments to handle their tax bills.

ETHICS

Feb. 12, 2012

Watchdog at the Wild Hog

● How we got the story: For 50 years state legislators, lobbyists and many others have chowed down at The Wild Hog Supper on the eve of each year’s legislative session. At one time, the cost was covered by the state Agriculture Department. Now, however, the event has been taken over by a group called the Friends of Agriculture Foundation.

Staff writer Chris Joyner examined bill records obtained from a state contractor to determine the full cost of the dinner. Then he learned through state incorporation records that each member of the Friends of Agriculture board is a lobbyist. Finally, checking lobbyist disclosure reports filed after the Wild Hog, he determined that the group failed to disclose more than half the cost of the giant feed.

● Impact: Some of the lobbyists on the foundation board publicly disclosed their expenses in paying for the dinner; others argued that the foundation, and not lobbyists, covered the dinner and so weren’t subject to disclosure requirements. The story shed further light on how loopholes are exploited in Georgia’s lobbyist disclosure laws, while at the same time lawmakers defend the system as “transparent” to the taxpayer.

Sept. 18, 2011

Dozens of legislators with tax liens

● How we got the story: Staff writers Chris Joyner and James Salzer found that dozens of sitting legislators had incurred tax liens in the past at the federal, state or local levels. Most had paid off the liens, but several were still outstanding. The two pored over financial disclosure statements by legislators and the statewide database of liens maintained by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority. One of the few legislators to incur liens at all three levels of government was House Speaker David Ralston, who piled up more than $433,000 in federal liens alone (and paid them off) from 1996 to 2006.

● Impact: Voters now know whether their elected officials are paying their fair share or whether they are tax dodgers. The story followed an effort by many in the General Assembly to rewrite the state tax code, which would have lowered the corporate tax rate while hitting many families with new sales taxes.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

March 6, 2011

Making a million on land flips

● How we got the story: Using records obtained from the Gwinnett school district and county tax assessors, staff writer Tim Eberly determined that two developers made more than $1 million in a day by buying land and then immediately selling it to the county school system. Eberly found that two other same-day sales netted $840,000 and $340,000, respectively, for a third developer.

● Impact: Eberly’s continuing investigation prompted school officials to hire an independent investigator to examine the land transactions that Eberly’s reporting brought to light. The investigator advised the district to overhaul its procedures for land purchases.

Sept. 13, 2011

Throwing money at homeland security

● How we got the story: In the years after 9/11, the United States spent many billions of dollars to prevent similar attacks. Hundreds of millions of those dollars landed in Georgia, and staff writer Chris Joyner examined the in-flow of money as well as the outcome of programs. He found a $100 million emergency communications system that doesn’t get much use, night-vision goggles for rural police departments, hazmat suits for a city of 5,150, and new bomb-sniffing canine units at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.

● Impact: This story provided a comprehensive review of more than $300 million in homeland security grants sent to Georgia. The story’s critical eye on spending gave AJC readers the most up-to-date picture on the disaster readiness of communities across the state and the fiscal stewardship of the tax money at play.

Nov. 6, 2011

Deal creates jobs — for legislators

● How we got the story: Staff writer James Salzer obtained state records showing that Gov. Nathan Deal had appointed at least seven current or former legislators to six-figure positions in state government. Salzer also determined that Deal’s team had hired at least three lobbyists to run key state agencies.

● Impact: One critic said Deal’s appointments were evidence that the governor was “putting together an insider administration.” Debbie Dooley, state coordinator of the Georgia Tea Party Patriots, said: “I think it’s continuing the same good ol’ boy club system.”

EDUCATION

Sept. 18, 2011

Can Georgia weed out bad teachers?

● How we got the story: Staff writers Nancy Badertscher, Laura Diamond and Jaime Sarrio spent a month examining the state’s system for evaluating teachers and found several shocking statistics, chief among them: in 2011, just 628 teachers of the 114,248 public school teachers statewide received unsatisfactory job evaluations. The three also found that the state has paid its teachers nearly $1 billion a year for receiving advanced degrees without any evidence of better performance or student improvement.

● Impact: The story made clear that the state must replace its teacher evaluation system and found that officials rarely do a critical, data-based analysis to see whether a program is working, even if taxpayers are putting millions of dollars into it annually.

May 15, 2011

Paying big shots long after they’re gone

● How we got the story: Staff writer James Salzer filed an open records request with the University System for all post-retirement state payments to former chancellors and college presidents during the past decade. He also reviewed a decade of state Department of Audits reports to piece together payments to former chancellors and presidents. Salzer found that former Chancellor Stephen Portch collected $823,000 for nine years after he retired from the system; among others, a former Georgia State president got more than $365,000 the year after he left, and a former Albany State president got more than $197,000 for two years after retiring.

● Impact: Notified of the payments, state Rep. Bill Hembree said they illustrated the reason there is a rift between the University System and the Legislature. “As a taxpayer and a member of the General Assembly, I am outraged,” Hembree said.

Jan. 22, 2012

A little-known day care rating system

● How we got the story: The state Department of Early Care and Learning, or DECAL, which regulates the day care industry in Georgia, rated day cares for health and safety for four years without ever sharing the information with the public. Staff writer Tim Eberly obtained thousands of records of the ratings and demonstrated that hundreds of centers had been ruled “noncompliant” — that is, incurring too many violations of health and safety rules — for two or more of the past four years. Twenty-nine were found to be noncompliant four years in a row.

● Impact: The commissioner of DECAL said last week he is planning to review day care programs that have been repeatedly noncompliant to determine whether they should lose their licenses or any government grants or subsidies they receive.

Feb. 19, 2012

A better shot at scholarships

● How we got the story: Staff writers Kristina Torres and Laura Diamond set out to determine who gets the Zell Miller Scholarship, the full-tuition award that goes to the state’s best students. They analyzed admissions, eligibility and enrollment data and found that the scholarship favors kids in the suburbs ringing Atlanta; in other words, those who can best afford college without state financial assistance are the ones most likely to get the Miller Scholarship.

● Impact: One critic referred to the scholarship as “middle- and upper-class entitlements” and asked: “How much of the limited lottery funds should go to the wealthiest families in the state?” But the scholarship also has fierce defenders who say it helps to keep Georgia’s brightest students in the state.