Friday, March 8, 2002
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Friday, March 8, 2002 |
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Leaders still divided on SPLOST
By JOHN
THOMPSON
With less than two weeks to go until election day, many of Fulton County's leaders are still divided on supporting the extension of a special sales tax for the Fulton County School System. Earlier this year, the Fulton County Commission approved a resolution supporting the extension of a 1 percent tax to help improve Fulton County and Atlanta public schools. The board is urging the county's 10 cities to pass similar legislation. County and city of Atlanta voters will decide in a March 19 referendum whether to extend the five-year-old educational purpose tax, which would otherwise expire this year. Sponsored by Chairman Mike Kenn and Vice Chairman Karen Elaine Webster at the Wednesday, Jan. 16 meeting, the resolution received a unanimous vote. The extended 1 percent sales tax would raise an estimated $1.2 billion to renovate existing schools and construct new buildings to meet projected growth of student populations in both school systems. Of that total, the Fulton County School System would receive approximately $670 million and the Atlanta School System would receive about $521 million. Some municipalities such as Alpharetta have signed on to the resolution, but in South Fulton, the Fairburn City Council decided last month not to support the proposal. Mayor Betty Hannah said she had received four requests for the council from the Fulton County Commission to pass a resolution in favor of the proposal to bring more than $800 million to the school system's coffers through a special purpose local option sales tax. "I would rather everybody pay for this than just the property owners," Hannah said. But Councilman Harvey Melear said he planned to vote on the issue March 19, and a resolution would reveal his position on the issue. Councilman Glenn Higgins also had difficulty supporting the idea. "What's the guarantee for these South Fulton projects?" he said. Both City Administrator Tony Cox and City Attorney Brad Sears said if projects were listed in the SPLOST vote, they are required to be completed by law. Councilman Gene Wiggins brought another perspective to the table. "I don't think it takes a panel to tell people how to vote," he said. Hannah said some municipalities in north Fulton County had already passed resolutions of support for the sales tax extension. Voters head to the polls March 19.
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