The 2004 SPLOST ballot over the years has gotten a great deal of publicity for being unspecific. However, one thing that was specific was the language that appeared in it …”a special 1 percent sales and use tax to be imposed for road, street and bridge purposes in Fayette County.”
We are now faced with an $18 million liability of bringing up our storm drains, culvert, and related items to good repair status. Certainly not the billion-dollar storm sewer task facing the city of Atlanta, but nonetheless large to us.
This work has been neglected for years, and passed down to each succeeding set of county commissioners. In fact, in last year’s election campaign, then Commission Chairman Jack Smith declared a multimillion dollar surplus. Now, the current commissioners are preparing to impose a stormwater fee upon the citizens of this county to accompany our increasing tax bills.
In reviewing the SPLOST Guide for County Commissioners, Commissioner Allen McCarty has noted the following provisos relating to usage of SPLOST funds that he found in the SPLOST Guide for County Commissions:
Page 10, Stormwater and Drainage — “In addition, stormwater and drainage capital outlay as either a component of a road, street and bridge project, or as a general capital outlay project.
Page 31, Section 48-8-111(b) (1) provides, “If the resolution or ordinance calling for the imposition of the tax specified that the proceeds of the tax are to be used in whole or in part for capital outlay projects consisting of road street and bridge purposes, then authorized uses of the tax proceeds shall include;
Part (E) Improvement of surface-water drainage from roads, streets, bridges, sidewalks, and bicycle paths; and (F) Patching, leveling, milling, widening, shoulder preparation, culvert repair, and other repairs necessary for the preservation of roads, streets, bridges, sidewalks, and bicycle paths.
It’s simple. Since the 2004 SPLOST was dedicated to road, street and bridge purposes and culvert preservation and repair are included, then the 2004 SPLOST funds should be used to make the necessary repairs. Nobody seems to be opposing the need for Fayette County to keep its projects in good repair.
Certainly the feasibility of the West Bypass has not been documented by a thorough traffic analysis, just a study 80 percent paid for by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
We also currently have roads that emergency vehicles are not allowed to travel for safety reasons. It makes more sense to first take care of our primary responsibilities before turning our funding to political roads that have no public support.
Fayette Commission Chairman Herb Frady was recently quoted as saying that Fayette would be a donor county to the ARC’s 2012 regional SPLOST.
Will we ever get that third vote? That’s something to think about.
Steve Smithfield
Fayetteville, Ga.
