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Anti-SPLOST areas easy to define

Voters in Brooks, Tyrone lead charge against sales tax

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown appears to have more political clout with the people of Tyrone than the constituents who elected him.

An analysis of precinct-by-precinct results from last month’s SPLOST referendum shows that the measure passsed in every Peachtree City precinct but one, Windgate.

The one-cent sales tax was approved by voters in Peachtree City’s 11 other precincts, despite Brown’s efforts to convince residents that the city would be shortchanged by the County Commission’s plan to distribute the funds.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Brown argued that setting aside just 30 percent of the anticipated $116 million in revenue for the cities was “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” at least as far as Peachtree City was concerned.

The measure was ultimately passed by voters countywide, though only by about 1,200 votes. However, in absentee voting, which accounted for more than 25 percent of all ballots cast on Nov. 2, the SPLOST failed by about 400 votes.

Of the eight precincts where voters rejected the extra penny tax, six were clustered along the county’s northern edge, roughly following the attendance lines for Sandy Creek High School.

And nobody seems to have a good explanation why.

Tyrone Mayor Sheryl Lee can offer a host of reasons why she believes voters in her town saw fit to return her to office for a third term Nov. 2, when she ousted challenger Grace Caldwell. But she has no idea why Tyrone voters led the county in opposing the SPLOST, especially since the Town Council had passed a resolution in October declaring its support for the transportation plan.

Early discussions about the county’s future road network included talk of building a connector along pristine Trickum Creek Road, which angered many residents. But those plans were dropped long ago, Lee said.

County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn had his own theory.

“I can tell you there are an awful lot of new people in that part of the county, and voters there may not have been very privy to what’s going on elsewhere in the county,” he said.

Some northern residents have long felt isolated from the rest of the county, and that might have played into the vote as well, Dunn said.

SPLOST referendums have traditionally fared poorly in Fayette County anyway, Dunn pointed out. Two attempts by the Board of Education to pass SPLOSTS failed in the late ‘90s.

Even though the majority in Tyrone and northern Fayette voted against the SPLOST, they’ll still reap rewards from the one-cent sales tax.

“Each jurisidiction in the county has a pot of money coming from the SPLOST, no matter where you live,” said Dunn. “And that money will start rolling in in June.”