The Citizen reported, regarding Georgia House Bill (HB) 170, that “[Fayette County Commissioner Steve] Brown’s proposed referendum states that the state’s current transportation crisis ‘is not as much about funding as it is about how the funding is spent, and vague proposals with no specifics about what constitutes the state’s ‘full universe of transportation needs’ is a drawback.’” [The Citizen, on line, posted 2015-02-25 by Roark]
That sounds very much like one of my principal objections to the stormwater SPLOST that Mr. Brown proposed for Fayette County, and which was defeated.
What’s the adage? “Follow the money.” The T-SPLOST that Mr. Brown opposed and HB 170 that he opposes would raise money to be allocated and spent by state legislators.
The stormwater SPLOST that he proposed would have raised money to be spent by Mr. Brown and his fellow county commissioners. Although I cannot imagine anyone on the Fayette County Commission being so shortsighted and petty as to think that way, it’s an interesting coincidence.
As far as the assertion that 64 percent of respondents to a recent poll would not support an increase in gasoline taxes, my first question is about the validity of the poll (e.g., directed or self-selected, margin of error, demographics).
That, however, pales when I note first, that more than 64 percent of eligible voters haven’t voted in any recent election (although they came close in the “liquor-sales-on-Sunday” vote) and second, that polls by Pew Research and Gallup suggest that the portion of the population that believes in nonsense approaches and may exceed 64 percent. (It’s the, “I saw it on TV so it must be true” crowd.)
There is something to be said for local money being spent locally. However, that is not always best for our society. Whether we want to face it or not, the principal purpose of the old T-SPLOST and now of HB 170 is to redistribute wealth from counties outside the Atlanta metro area to the impoverished Atlanta area. Whether we want to face it or not, that’s becoming necessary.
The only other option seems to be to allow Atlanta to poison itself in its own traffic and other problems with crumbling infrastructure such as water, sewerage, and schools, much like a bacterial colony in a Petri dish will poison itself in its own waste.
Paul Lentz
Peachtree City, Ga.
