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PTC lone holdout onurging SPLOST OK

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@thecitizennews.com

Peachtree City remains the only one of Fayette County’s four largest municipalities to not urge passage of a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax to fund road construction.

Last week, the town councils in both Brooks and Tyrone signed off on resolutions encouraging residents to approve the SPLOST, which appears on Tuesday’s ballot.

If approved, the one-cent tax would raise an estimated $116 million over five years to help fund a host of roadway improvements throughout Fayette County.

Earlier this month, Fayetteville council members voted to endorse the SPLOST as well, following the lead of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce.

At a meeting of the Association of Fayette County Governments on Oct. 12, Fayetteville Mayor Kenneth Steele urged the leaders of the other cities to follow suit.

“I think it’s incumbent upon us to work together for the good of the community,” said Steele.

But Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown said his city’s attorney, Ted Meeker, had advised against the city taking a stand on the SPLOST, citing laws that say governments aren’t supposed to spend time or resources showing support for or against any ballot initiative.

Interestingly, the same law firm of Sanders, Haugen, Sears & Meeker represents both Peachtree City and Tyrone, which did pass a resolution in support of the SPLOST.

Brown has been vocal in his opposition to the way the county intends to divide up 30 percent of the SPLOST revenue among the cities, contending that the split should be based on share of population.

With about 35 percent of the county’s total population living within Peachtree City, Brown claims the city should get a bigger slice of the pie.

With just days before voters decide the issue, Brown re-ignited his charge that the county commission is violating the rules laid out in House Bill 709, passed by the legislature last session.

The new law requires that SPLOST revenue be distributed based on population when counties and cities can’t reach a compromise otherwise.

But the Fayette County Commission contends it isn’t bound by the law because if finalized details for November’s referendum on the SPLOST before the law went into effect on July 1.

Last week, Brown distributed a press release citing sources at the Georgia Municipal Association confirming that Fayette County was the only one of the governments in metro Atlanta that is choosing not to abide by the new law.

“The county’s actions are really disturbing because the county’s own legislative association approved of the new law that allows the local elected officials in the cities to have a greater ability to solve their infrastructure problems, and our county government proved that they did not want that to happen,” Brown charged.

But Steele disputed that.

“The intent of the (law) was not to force a split by population, but to be the baseball bat to use in case of stalemates over SPLOST distribution,” he said. “If there was a hang-up in the negotiations, then you’d divide it by population.”

Steele said the various governments involved have always been “very successful” in the past negotiating SPLOST distribution.

Meanwhile, turnout was light last week for the third and final public forum on the SPLOST hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.

Fewer than a dozen persons turned out for the meeting at Sams Auditorium in Fayetteville.

Officials say they have little indication how voters will decide on the issue, which has been mostly overshadowed by the tight presidential election.