AgGeorgia refunds $10 million in 2014
AgGeorgia Farm Credit, a lending cooperative owned by its member-borrowers, recently mailed out $7.5 million to its members, including $435,163 to members of the Chatsworth and Lafayette branches in Northwest Georgia, based upon the coop's surplus earnings during in previous years. Statewide, the new payments bring the amount of tax-free payments sent back to AgGeorgia members this year to $10 million.
"Unlike other lenders, Farm Credit returns its profits to its patrons, thereby reducing their effective cost of borrowing," said AgGeorgia President Jack Drew.
AgGeorgia Farm Credit has 20 branches serving 79 counties in Georgia. It is part of the Farm Credit system, a network of financial cooperatives established in 1916.
Georgia revenues jump 11.5 percent
Georgia's tax collections for June were up 11.5 percent from a year ago to $1.76 billion, reflecting an 11.9 pecent jump in individual income tax collections last month and a 6 percent gain in taxable sales as the economy continues to improve.
In the first half of 2014, Georgia tax revenue collections totaled nearly $17.9 billion for an increase of roughly $879.25 million, or 5.2 percent.
Georgia's employment growth in the past year has been nearly double the pace of job gains nationwide, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.