Fayette

County voters opposed to passage of a one cent special

local option sales tax and bond sale last week were

gratified when the measure lost. At the final count,

6,015 voters turned out to defeat the referendum which

was designed to fund four new schools and renovate and

improve existing schools over five years.

Two of the

most vocal opponents were Carl Avrit of Fayetteville, a

Delta pilot and father of three privately-schooled

children, and Claude Paquin of Fayetteville, a

semiretired actuary and consultant to insurance

companies.

Avrit takes

credit for the phone calls advising citizens to vote

against the SPLOST in the final days preceding the

referendum and distributing brochures which SPLOST

supporters say contained misinformation. On Sept. 7,

Avrit registered himself as an anti-sales tax political

action committee.

He said he

feels his efforts paid off. "A lot of people were

unaware of the SPLOST. It was my intention to turn-up the

turnout," he said. "If it (SPLOST) had been

passed, it never would have gone away." He said a

bond issue would have been more equitable and palatable

to voters. He claims the $90 SPLOST and bond package

would be like giving the school board "a blank

check."

Paquin came

up with an alternative plan to raise the $90 million,

which he believes is "friendlier to the

taxpayers," and amounts to "one quarter less

than what you're going to pay for a sales tax." He

suggests raising the school board's bond rate by two

mills. The millage rate for the school board's operating

budget is almost maxed out.

Paquin said

he sent copies of his proposal to the board members and

Superintendent Dr. John DeCotis, but said he did not

receive any feedback from them. If another SPLOST comes

forth next year, Paquin said, "We'll vote against

it."

Paquin is

also responsible for filing an ethics complaint against

the Fayette County Board of Education early this month

claiming the board made an indirect contribution to the

group called Fayette Citizens for Continued Excellence in

Education, who were working for passage of the SPLOST. He

said, by allowing Todd Barnes of A.G. Edwards to advise

them, they violated the state ethics code. The investment

firm was one of two the board agreed to pay for execution

of the sale of $50 million in bonds if the referendum had

passed.

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