The Fayette County Commission has decreed that the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) will be a six-year tax rather than a five-year tax. If the SPLOST passes this fall, Peachtree City’s share of the revenue is expected to be $45.5 million. That’s $8 million more than the $37.5 million in the five-year SPLOST previously vetted by the PTC City Council.
The council allocated the $37.5 million of the five-year SPLOST to Tier 1 infrastructure needs, projects that must be done before spending money on less essential Tier 2 projects. I concur with most of the allocation.
Now that an additional $8 million is proposed to be added to the mix, I hope council will address the long-term need for continuous road and cart path maintenance and not simply spend this windfall on less important Tier 2 projects.
The smart thing to do would be to allocate the entire $8 million using the same percentage they allocated the five-year SPLOST. That is, 75 percent ($6 million) to roads and 25 percent ($2 million) to cart paths.
The council’s allocation of SPLOST funds is critical to the city’s infrastructure. Diverting this money to the former Tier 2 projects or to new projects would be typical of politicians with too much money on their hands spending it on things they believe will garner votes in future elections.
I was extremely distressed that the council put $2.5 million into the SPLOST for an arts center even though the council had only marginal information about this project. This is an example of why we need to pay attention to our elected officials.
Noisy special interests and the “bandwagon effect” are largely responsible for the inclusion of an arts center in the city’s plan. In this case, the County Commission recognized the lack of details and removed this project.
I would support an arts center if the project were properly vetted, if there were full disclosure, and if the financials made sense. Not one of those things was done before the PTC Council allocated $2.5 million of taxpayers’ money to this project.
We all must judiciously watch council when the six-year SPLOST reassessment is made. It will be done within the next few weeks. Council is under pressure to present their final input to the county next month in order to get the information on the November ballot. Will they be led by special interests rather than reason and logic or will they do the smart thing and ensure the future of our road and cart path infrastructure?
Eric Imker
Peachtree City, Ga.
