With two weeks to go before the big day, polls show that the vast majority

of Americans have already made up their minds about who'll they vote

for in the presidential race. But no polls have been conducted to measure

support for or against a couple of local issues that will also appear on

the ballot.

One is a $65 million bond referendum to fund school construction. As far

as I know, Fayette County voters have never defeated a school bond referendum.

They have twice voted down Special Purpose Local Option Tax (SPLOST) initiatives

for schools, but history shows that both times the defeats were victims of

bad politics, not a lack of concern for crowded classrooms.

Voters will likely support this 2004 bond issue as well. It won't raise

taxes because payments won't be due until the current bond indebtedness

is paid off.

And it offers a "line of credit" approach to construction funding

that allows the Board of Education to tap into it as building needs arise.

It's anybody's guess how Fayette voters will support the SPLOST

initiative for road construction, however.

Should voters approve, an extra one-cent sales tax will be added to most

retail purchases in Fayette County. A conservative estimate is that at least

$116 million will be raised over the five-year life of the tax.

As agreed to by the County Commission, 70 percent of those funds would be

used as up-front money to apply for federal and state grants to develop the

county's proposed $400 million transportation plan.

Think of it as a down payment on the purchase of a house.

The remaining 30 percent would be distributed among the cities and county

to spend however they like on their own localized road projects.

If you've been paying attention, you know that Peachtree City Mayor

Steve Brown is opposed to that split in revenue.

Brown argues that because the city is home to roughly a third of the county's

population, it is entitled to a third of all the money the sales tax might

bring in. Brown argues that by denying the city its "fair" share,

the county is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

He has done a good job of raising suspicion among his constituents that

they won't get anything from the tax.

Truth is, Peachtree City is in line to get the lion's share of the

30 percent, or about $16 million.

If the SPLOST fails, Peachtree City and the rest of Fayette County will

get nothing.

One of Brown's common refrains is that none of the improvement projects

at the top of the county's list will benefit Peachtree City. He whines

that it's not fair a Fayetteville bypass is the top priority.

This argument might hold water if Peachtree City weren't part of Fayette

County, and if the people who live in Peachtree City never went anywhere.

But I believe they do.

In fact, many people who live in Peachtree City actually go to Fayetteville

from time to time, though a Peachtree City councilman earlier this year confided

in me that he didn't know why any of them would.

"They all shop in Buckhead," he sniffed. (This is the same councilman

who in a public meeting a year ago called folks who live in Coweta County "riffraff," so

consider the source.)

Anyway, only a numbskull wouldn't know by now that Fayetteville is

the center of retail trade in Fayette County. It has the county's only

auto dealership, bowling alley and movie theaters.

Peachtree City has three big-box stores. Fayetteville probably has a dozen.

I bet all the commercial space in Peachtree City combined wouldn't

add up to the square footage in the Fayette Pavilion, which we remind you

once again is THE LARGEST SHOPPING CENTER IN ALL OF GEORGIA.

But Fayetteville officials aren't griping that they deserve more. Instead,

they've signed a resolution supporting the SPLOST.

The reality is that all of Fayette County bears a burden from the thousands

of outsiders who come here every day to work, shop and eat.

People who don't live here will be paying the majority of that extra

cent on the dollar tax. Put in that context, it would be foolish for anyone

NOT to advocate passage of the SPLOST.

Is it in Peachtree City's best interest that commuters who now clog

the streets around the Courthouse Square in Fayetteville find alternate routes

to get to their destinations?

Absolutely.

Should residents of Fayetteville be concerned that people who live in Coweta

can't get to to their jobs in Peachtree City's industrial park?

Of course.

That's the way a "community" approaches its challenges. Perhaps

Steve Brown has forgotten that Peachtree City IS part of the broader community

known as Fayette County, a point emphasized by former Mayor Fred Brown in

a Chamber of Commerce forum on the SPLOST last month.

The elder Brown recalled a time when the county and cities shared a much

more uniformed vision of the future.

"We should not be thinking of individual jurisdictions," Fred

Brown said on Sept. 14. "We're a county first; we're all part

of Fayette County."

When voters go to the polls Nov. 2, they'll consider the school bond

referendum not as an "us vs. them" issue, but as a "we" issue.

Hopefully, they'll do the same with the SPLOST decision.