The chickens are coming

home to roost, and unfortunately it is the county

taxpayer who will be the one getting barbecued. Thanks to

the action (or in some cases inaction) of our elected

officials in the county and our cities, runaway growth

will end up costing us all.

I won't debate the merits

of a new jail complex as I believe the vast majority of

county residents oppose this project, though it appears

our county commissioners will force this upon us, like it

or not. With several financing options available to them

that don't require a vote of the taxpayers, they can

force this through and obligate the taxpayers to foot the

bill. Taxpayers may not have much of a voice in this

project, but they will be the ones on the hook for

millions in debt.

Proposals for the

Fayetteville bypass road, and the road widening needed

for Ga. highways 54 and 74 are needed mainly because of

unrestrained growth, both residential and commercial.

Elected officials love to tout any new business they

bring to the county, but they often fail to mention the

cost.

Sure, new businesses bring

new jobs, but how many of those jobs are filled by our

county residents? Instead, the workforce these businesses

need often commutes from other counties, helping to tie

up our roads and the end result is that we need more and

wider roads to meet the demands these new commuters

bring. When we end up spending millions to do roadwork, I

would guess that any additional tax revenues these

businesses bring is lost.

Peachtree City residents

are the lucky owners of a sewer system that seems to have

continual problems keeping the sewerage and waste out of

our drinking water supply. How many more millions will be

spent on this white elephant to make it work properly, or

will we continue to face the risk of contaminated

drinking water? Now we hear that we may be forced to

treat storm water runoff as sewage, and build facilities

to treat it as such. I shudder to think what that will

cost us.

When will government, be it

county or city, learn to live within their means? When

will they stop allowing unrestrained growth without

worrying about who is going to pay for the costs of

additional infrastructure? With several means of

financing which bypass a vote by the taxpayers, it

appears we better all plan on working harder to help foot

their bills.

Steve Fodor

Peachtree City