SPLOST vote update from Lee Becker and Tony Glenn

Lee and Tony are good people and their opinions should be held in high esteem and regard.

Woven brightly,
Daniel J. Matthews, Jr.






Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:22:49 -0700
From: southoconee@yahoo.com
Subject: SPLOST vote
To: aglenn@uga.edu

I'm chiming in with some others to remind everyone to vote on the SPLOST referendum.  If you haven't voted already, please do so tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17th.
 
If you want to review some details associated with the SPLOST, I point you to Lee Becker's blog:

http://www.oconeecountyobservations..blogspot.com/.  Lee references other sources of info as well.
 
Here are some relevant details I've taken from Lee's posting on this issue.
 
-  County voters first approved SPLOST taxes in 1985, after the Georgia General Assembly authorized the tax that year, and they have approved renewal taxes in 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, and 2003.
 
-  These monies have been used for Heritage Park on U.S. 441 in the south of the county, for the Civic Center on Hog Mountain Road, for courthouse expansion and renovation, for fire stations, and for library expansion. SPLOST has funded road, water and sewage projects.

-  SPLOST also has helped with two jail expansions and with the huge new Veterans Memorial Park still under construction on Hog Mountain Road.
-  Another argument in favor of the current SPLOST is that it involves the four cities in the county as recipient of SPLOST funds directly. [TG: If my understanding is correct, previous SPLOST did not allocate funds for the cities, so the new SPLOST, if approved, will be of great value to those living within Watkinsville, Bogart, Bishop, and North High Shoals.]

-  Streets, roads and bridges make up about $11.4 million, or more than a quarter, of the total amount of the SPLOST on the ballot on Tuesday, if the projects of the county and the four cities are combined. (Bogart combines streets and sewers in its single project of $1.6 million, making it impossible to calculate the figure precisely.)

-  Perhaps the most convincing argument in favor of the SPLOST is that the projects covered are basics, and the county is going to have to have them even if SPLOST is not passed. By passing SPLOST, Oconee Counties are paying for some projects through sales taxes that would otherwise have to be paid for by other sources, such as property taxes.
 
For more, see Lee's blog.
 
See you at the voting precinct,
Tony

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