SPLOST

(special local option sales tax) supporters are

turning up the heat this week in their campaign

to pass a $90 million combined sales tax and bond

referendum on Sept. 21.

According

to Don Apking, who with Janet Smola is heading up

the group called Fayette Citizens for Continued

Excellence in Education, 1,500 pro-SPLOST yard

signs will be distributed this week to citizens

who favor the spending package for more

classrooms, improved technology and security

devices in Fayette County schools.

"We

have a bunch more talks scheduled right up to the

21st," Apking said. He and Smola are

addressing parent groups at school open houses

and civic organizations like the Kiwanis Club to

lay out the facts and answer questions about the

need for a SPLOST. Apking, parent of a Fayette

County High School graduate, also heads up the

school's athletic booster club. Smola is a parent

and fund-raiser for the Joseph Sams School.

Apking

said he hopes the information sessions will help

the public "understand the facts that are

out there" and the reason why this is

happening. He can sum it up in one word,

"growth."

The

SPLOST steering committee is being guided by Todd

Barnes of A.G. Edwards financial group, one of

the bond advisors working with the board of

education on the SPLOST/bond initiative. The

overwhelming feeling of the group is that the

facts are so positive, that any negative aspects

of the referendum will be overshadowed.

Early

in the campaign, Barnes estimated that for a 60

percent or better "yes" vote, slightly

more than 7,500 votes would be needed. As of

Tuesday, there were 53,503 voters registered in

Fayette County. Barnes said historically, there

is a 15 to 20 percent turnout for a special

referendum, based on statewide observations.

"In Fayette County, you can expect a

slightly higher turnout," he said. A 25

percent voter turnout would bring in more than

12,600 voters.

The

SPLOST calls for a one-cent sales tax to be

levied starting Jan. 1, 2000, and the sale of $50

million in bonds to provide the funds to begin

proposed projects immediately. The bonds will be

repaid through the money generated by the sales

tax. The sales tax ends in five years, or when

the school board collects $90 million, whichever

happens first.

Passage

of the tax would provide 300 classrooms or space

for 5,000 additional students, property and

buildings for two elementary schools, one middle

school and one high school, playground

improvements, electrical and technology upgrades

at existing schools, a new auditorium for Sandy

Creek High School, stadium improvements at

Fayette County High School, concession stand,

lockers and bleachers, plus rest rooms at Starr's

Mill and major renovations at McIntosh, including

a new physical education building and upgrades to

the existing stadium.