AJC Re-Run
On March 13, AJC reporter Dan Chapman filed a story that is nothing more than a re-hash of events that have already taken place and of information that has already be cleared up. Mr. Chapman was sent complete information that explains the accounting issue, along with letters from the State Auditor and reports from the Attorney General that show that the claims against the Jekyll Island State Park Authority are not true. Below are a few points to consider as you read this article:
1. The headline is remarkably similar to that used by Sen. Chapman in his discredited press release.
2. The writer refers to Sen. Chapman as the “region’s top legislator…” One must recognize House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons), Senator Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) and Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons). No disrespect to Sen. Chapman, but Rep. Cecily Hill (R-Kingsland) and Rep. Roger Lane (R-Darien) also appear to have more legislation and more committee appointments.
3. The State Auditor is Russell Hinton, and he has sent letters acknowledging that Jekyll Island Authority’s numbers do add up! Mr. Thornton is a staff person in the Department of Audits. We have talked to Mr. Hinton, and so have many legislators that wanted to get a direct an explanation.
4. Dan Chapman, along with Sen. Chapman play with words with respect to the 2006 Annual Report. It shows a net loss, after depreciation! Most people know that depreciation is a non-cash expense, so yes the Earnings Statement shows a loss. But when you convert it to cash flow, the Jekyll Island Authority did not lose money. We are not allowed to by statute, we must be financially self-supporting. And of course when you add Grant Funds, you have even more money. But then you also have to look at the expense side of those, and all that money was spent on specific capital improvement projects.
5. The words “local sales tax revenues used for sewer projects…” refers to SPLOST projects on Jekyll Island that were approved by voters of Glynn County. Just like Grants that do not have to be repaid, SPLOST funds go directly on the balance sheet against the specific capital improvement project. We think it would be more misleading to include that on an Earnings Statement.
6. Dan Chapman repeats a quote from Sen. Chapman that the Jekyll Island Authority is “crying wolf.” I asked Dan Chapman to look at our Annual Reports or any other communication that the Jekyll Island Authority has put out, and honestly determine if we do anything of the sort. All of our communication is about positive accomplishments. The simple fact is that we identified the clear downward trend in visitation and started talking about how to solve it many years ago. That is the basis we have used for the initiative to revitalize Jekyll Island. We have not pointed to year-to-year variations in statistics, but the long-term downward trend and how to reverse it.
Even if you want to acknowledge Mr. Egan’s assertion that visitation is down only 15%, it is still accurate to say that the trend is downward, that it is “lagging” as it is counter to the tremendous growth in the region both in terms of population and tourism.
7. Dan Chapman failed to mention that Sen. Chapman’s concern over the Trammell Crow agreement was reviewed by the Attorney General and he found no problems with it, and that it is incorrect to call it a tax abatement nor does it violate the gratuities law. The Attorney General determined it is a standard property lease.
8. I understand the local radio talk show host took particular offense to my quote at the end of the article. That quote was pulled from my statement to Dan Chapman specific to the question over the traffic data between 1996-1997, not financial information. I was trying to explain the purpose of compiling these visitation numbers, and that the focus of our analysis will be to determine the optimum amount of visitation for the experience we want guests to have on Jekyll Island. We are looking forward, and want to have expert analysis help answer this important question.
9. Lastly, the chart again only chooses to show the revenue differences. As we have shown, there are also expense differences that net out to basically reflect the fact that we put Grants right onto our balance sheet as an asset, and the Audit Department converts them to revenue to incorporate into their CAFR. So they have only shown half of the story.
Chairman Porter responds:
“Mr. Chapman is consistent. He consistently tells half of the story, and doesn’t bother to check sources and learn the other half. As usual, his story today contains partial, incorrect information intended to mislead the public.”
Tags: atlanta journal constitution, Dan Chapman, Jeff Chapman, jekyll island authority
