Friday, September 21, 2001
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Friday, September 21, 2001 |
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Voters approve SPLOST By JOHN
THOMPSON
Coweta voters gave a resounding yes to extending the county's special purpose local option sales tax Tuesday night. When all the ballots were counted, 3,279, or 58 percent of the voters, supported the extension, while 2,251, or 42 percent, voted against it. Voter turnout was pegged at 13 percent. As the results started trickling in, Coweta's government officials breathed a sigh of relief. Many of the officials worried that the SPLOST would be voted down, like the School System's effort was in March. But when the final vote total was posted, Coweta County public information officer Tom Corker came bounding into the room, scattering confetti in his trail to celebrate the victory. The county expects to collect nearly $98 million in revenue during the five-year term, and will use the money for everything from roads in Palmetto to a new county judicial complex in Newnan to a library in eastern Coweta County. While the vote was occurring Tuesday, the Coweta County Commission took time during its afternoon meeting to thank Corker and County Administrator Theron Gay for getting the message out to the residents about what previous SPLOSTs had built. The one item that Corker and Gay emphasized during their road show through the county was the new fairgrounds on Pine Road. Hundreds of people turned out two weeks ago for an open house at the new facility on Pine Road, and many officials are saying that's what sold the residents on extending the tax. After a long day at the commission meeting, Chairman Robert Wood stopped by the results rooms in the county administration complex to see the vote totals. When he saw the measure had passed, Wood broke out into a big smile. "Now I can go home and get a good night's sleep," he said.
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