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SPLOST now a go in Fayette

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

and JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@theCitizenNews.com

Fayette Countians will see hundreds of millions of dollars in new road construction and additions to existing roads and bridges over the next 20 years after voters on Tuesday narrowly passed a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax initiative to fund a countywide transportation plan.

With all precincts counted Tuesday night, the measure passed with just 51 percent of the vote, or by 1,278 votes.

In early vote tallies Tuesday, the SPLOST was losing by an equally tight margin — until, ironically, the Peachtree City precincts began coming in after 8 p.m.

Some political observers thought Peachtree City voters might doom the SPLOST. That’s because in recent months, Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown had campaigned nearly non-stop against the 70/30 revenue distribution plan for the SPLOST.

Late last week, he taped a five-minute message as a “private citizen” that aired twice daily on Comcast Cable, refuting the County Commission’s plan to split then nearly $116 million in SPLOST revenue by 70/30.

Under the agreement, Peachtree City will get about $11 million from the SPLOST, Brown said.

Brown lobbied hard for passage in the Legislature of House Bill 709, which encouraged counties and cities to divvy up money raised by SPLOST based on population. If that law had been applied to the Fayette SPLOST, Peachtree City could have gotten as much as $40 million.

But Brown’s efforts apparently didn’t sway enough of his constituents to turn the one-cent sales tax down. It passed in 11 of 13 Peachtree City precincts, including Windgate which serves Steve Brown’s neighorhood, Planterra Ridge.

During Wednesdays’ County Commission meeting, the commissioners were downright happy with Tuesday’s results.

“I wish it would have passed by a bigger margin, but this is really going to help our transportation needs,” said Commissioner Herb Frady.

Chairman Greg Dunn was also pleased with the results and said residents will see how helpful the extra penny is when the county already has its money in place to match funds from the federal government.

The commission also dismissed any notions of getting any type of “bridge loan until the funds start rolling in next May. The tax starts January 1.

“One of the hardest things you can do is to get people to vote a tx on themselves. But the residents knew how important our transportation plan is,” Dunn said.

On Wednesday, Brown dismissed any notion that passage of the SPLOST was a statement on his political influence.

Instead, he said the narrow vote tallies — just two percent — shows that Fayette Countians are concerned about fair tax equity distribution.

“The very fact that the school bonds won by an overwhelming margin of over 18,000 votes and the SPLOST won by a mere 1,200 votes is a clear indication that the voting public is uncomfortable with the leadership of the Fayette County Commission and that district representation and tax equity are going to be strong issues in the future,” said Brown.

Brown has joined State Rep. Virgil Fludd in calling for district voting in Fayette County as a way to ensure equal representation and taxation for all areas within the county.

Brown expressed disappointment that all of the city’s former living mayors signed onto an ad last week urging passage of the SPLOST.

“I was shocked they would take a position oppositie the position of their own city,” Brown said. While all of the other city councils in the county passed resolutions of support in some fashion for the SPLOST, Peachtree City — on the advice of its attorney — did not.

“None of the former mayors consulted with the present city administration about why the city was taking the position it did,” Brown said.

Even though the SPLOST argument is finally settled, Brown refused to declare a truce with the county or Commission Chairman Greg Dunn.

“We've always been willing to work with the county on any projects, especially roads,” said Brown of the city. “Our problem has always been, and will continue to be, tax equity.”