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Health & Fitness

$8.5 Billion Transpostation Tax: I'm Voting "NO" !

Will $8.5 billion in new taxes do anything to speed up commute time? GDOT/ARC says "NO".

 

I attended the Transportation Investment Act (TIA) information meeting May 17 at the courthouse to see what grand plan was being push this time. The TIA, aka T-SPLOST, question will be on the July 31, 2012 Democrat and Republican Primary ballots. Voters in the 10 county metro-Atlanta region, including Douglas County, will vote on an $8.5 billion, ten-year, 1 percent sales tax for transportation related projects. The outcome of the vote will be determined by the tally of the votes in 10 counties.

Douglas County and Douglasville officials put on display a list of local “discretionary” projects that is estimated to cost $43.6 million over the 10 years of the tax.

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Consider this, Douglas County is expected to generate over $240 million with a 1 percent tax over 10 years. This mean nearly $200 million of our money will go to regional projects, some outside of Douglas County. This was the biggest concern of the citizens I spoke with at the meeting. The concept of Douglas County taxpayers funding state and federal highway projects is a difficult concept for most to grasp. The concept of “regionalization” will be difficult to sell to voters.

The 8 regional projects submitted by Douglas County and Douglasville are estimated to cost $302 million. There is no funding to cover the cost of maintenance and operation of the proposed projects. It is not clear who will foot the bill on that.

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The numbers just don’t seem to add up. It leaves the public concerned and confused that after 10-years of taxation, many of the proposed projects may not have sufficient funds to start the projects or complete them. The Atlanta Regional Commission admitted upfront that this transportation plan is really a 30-year plan. This means if the tax passes they will be back in 10-years begging for another $8.5 billion to complete the regional projects.

I would recommend voters reject this tax scheme and consider a Plan B. The TIA law allows, if the referendum fails, to bring the issue up again in 2-years with a new plan and project list after a comprehensive study has been conducted to determine actually transportation needs.

Another plan would be for Douglas County to consider a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for 5-years or less dedicated to local transportation projects. Douglas County would keep 100 percent of this tax ($120 million) and have local control.

Will regionalization of taxes be accepted by voters? Will voters even care enough to go to the polls? Will the project list actually improve the transportation system?

These are the question voters must consider. I hope you will take time to learn more about it and vote on this important question. Your vote will count. Mine will... I'm voting "NO".

For more information visit: www.traffictruth.net or www.tsplost.info

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