Candidate For District 1 Commissioner Demetrius Rucker says Small Acts Lead To Major Impacts

written By Chilton Stewart

Demetrius Rucker is running for District 1 Henry County City Council and believes that small acts can have a major impact. His desire to see Henry County grow in a way that relieves the taxes levied on its citizens is a major focus of his and one he loves to speak about.

“We should be going in the right direction but right now currently we are not. There are a lot of people as I speak to those in Henry County, especially in district one. They talk about having more of a variety of things to do in our county. As you know a lot of the things we have to do to enjoy ourselves we have to get on 75 maybe go to Atlanta or Buck Head or Decatur.”

Changing the distance a Henry County resident travels for dining and entertainment serves two purposes. Not the least of which is making sure money stays in Henry County and provides more jobs in the area. The other major accomplishment of this Initiative is it can help drastically lower the tax base.

“Our quality of life needs some work. Let’s take for instance fine dining. Let’s look at a restaurant like the CheeseCake Factory. Where as you know. The CheeseCake Factory when they look at different segments on how they want to build in a specific county they look at medium income and they also look at population. Right now we don’t kind of meet the mediums income because our medium income in Henry County is right around 77 - 78 thousand [dollars]. But we can reach it if we develop. If we have a good balanced development plan in Henry County, especially District 1.” He continues “A Great Wolf Lodge would be a great addition to our county down in this area. It would bring a certain level of revenue to the county as well because you can have companies that would come and do team building and conferences.”

Mr. Rucker’s dream of Henry County is expansive and includes bringing in more businesses as well as better parks and recreational centers.

“Things we can control like internally. Investing more in our parks and rec. Investing in our walking trials, in our bike lanes and our parks. Some of our parks need our investment in them and we also need a new park, a new recreation center maybe closer to the Hampton area. So that we can have activities there that people can enjoy not just for the oldest person in Henry County but down to the youngest person in Henry County” On economic development in general he states. “Economic Development includes jobs and business. We have a lot of industrial warehouses in the area. We want to make sure those businesses stay. So there’s an Initiative that is going towards a pilot that I would definitely approve of and I would definitely get on track to partner up with the local colleges in the area so we can make sure that people that are here are educated, trained and are employed in this area so that we can keep those jobs here. The younger generation, they want to, almost walk to work if they could. So developing those rooftops and if they can walk to work or even bike to work..There’s two parts of our population growth. If you look, Henry County is getting a lot younger. Our elderly are becoming a smaller segment when you look at the population percentage. As a matter of fact the median average age in Henry County is like thirty seven years old.

What I plan to do is bring more things here that that segment enjoys because that’s going to be your next homeowner, that’s going to be your person, that's going to be your next shopper here.”

The issue of county taxes is one that hits home to Mr. Rucker. He is indeed as of the writing of this article trying to find new and innovative ways to reduce property taxes in Henry County in general, District One in particular. “I firmly believe in improving our tax base. We are going to have to do some development to improve our tax base. They’re looking at expanding the land strip (at the airport) so we can bring not only single engine but smaller commercial airplanes in here. Whatever I can do to increase the tax base especially in district one. I am going to do it.

He also sharply reminds any and everyone that. “The same pain you’re feeling on taxes, is the same thing I’m feeling on taxes. I don’t get a tax break because I am running for commissioner or because I am commissioner. I look at it as an investment into the county and the district. It is an investment in the county. Over fifty percent of our taxes goes to services provided to the county. I definitely will look towards any way to increase our tax base to get more revenue to come to the county so we can relieve some of that pressure on our citizens.