End the 'death spiral'

There's a message for Augusta's leaders in the recently released updated census figures. Stopping the population slide - or, better yet, reversing it - should be the city's No. 1 priority.

While the state's population continues to explode, as does neighboring Columbia County, Richmond County is losing population. To be precise, between April 2000 and July 2003, Augusta's 195,182 population suffered a 1 percent drop - 1,866 fewer people.

During that same time period, Columbia County grew by 2,559 residents, or 2.7 percent, bringing its population to 97,505. Across the river, Aiken County grew by 2.8 percent to 146,736 residents. Georgia's population expanded by 140,710 to almost 8.7 million.

There's something terribly wrong when communities all around you are growing and yours is shrinking. It's not just residents who are fleeing. Commercial businesses are too. They're locating in the more affluent counties, Columbia and Aiken - where the money is.

The seriousness of the population decline can be seen in Augusta's tax digest, which dipped last year and, according to Richmond County tax appraiser Sonny Reece, is flat-lining this year. As Augustans are learning the hard way, the cost of local government services doesn't go down with the population; hence, the tax burden becomes heavier on those who don't leave.

Some call this phenomenon - population declines triggering higher taxes - a "death spiral." The question is how to pull out of it. The answer is by making Augusta a more attractive place to live. To be sure, this is easier said than done. But the point is, it can be done.

First, the city must become more business-friendly. Augusta is not going to keep, much less attract, more commercial businesses by raising taxes on them. Instead, the Augusta Commission must find ways to cut government costs without lessening the quality of services. For that, all they need do is brush the dust off some of those efficiency studies that were made in the 1990s.

The commission also can restructure the government to make it more efficient. Recall that it was just a few years ago that the business community implored the Richmond County legislative delegation to revamp the local government to give the mayor and/or the city administrator more authority.

Implacable opposition from commissioners themselves shot the plan down. So they should hardly be surprised now that revenue-rich commercial businesses are moving to more hospitable communities.

Finally, of course, the commission should set Sept. 21 to ask voters to approve the extended special local option sales tax referendum that could give this city an "extreme makeover," as has been done successfully in Columbus, Ga., and Charlotte, N.C. - communities that at one time also were headed into a death spiral.