The difference between honesty and dishonesty should be readily apparent to honest folks, and with all the churches in Fayette County, one might think folks would spot, and denounce, dishonesty as soon as they see it.

That, unfortunately, does not seem to be the case.

There are school systems in this state that want to raise taxes, namely the sales tax, so they can have more money to spend. Then, there are investment banking firms in this state, the type that can arrange for bonds to be issued by school systems, that want to make money by issuing bonds.

The school boards know the public is not too keen on raising taxes, but they know from having run for office themselves that campaigning can influence election outcomes. However, the Georgia Ethics in Government Act forbids them from helping any SPLOST campaign directly or indirectly.

That's where the snake comes in with the apple. An investment banking firm comes in with the following proposition: (1) agree to issue bonds, which you can justify by saying you want an early start for the projects to be financed by your sales tax, and (2) promise to hire us and pay our fee for the issuance of these bonds if a Yes vote comes in on your SPLOST, and, in exchange, we'll provide the talent to get the SPLOST campaign going and help it win.

What's the problem there? Unless the bond fee is the absolute lowest fee that honest, competitive bidding would produce, it includes a hidden charge for the campaign organizing services, and that charge is paid for by the taxpayers out of public funds. That is dishonest. It violates the law. It shuts out those honest investment bankers who would charge a lower price to issue bonds and abstain from the campaigning the school board is forbidden to engage in.

There is more to this. If the bonds are not really needed — and chances are they aren't — the whole arrangement saddles the taxpayers with two sets of fees. For collecting the sales tax, the state receives 1 percent and the merchants a little over 1/2 percent, so 1 1/2 percent of it never reaches the schools. Then the investment banker gets its fee for the bonds, for a double set of fees.

So why isn't the public up in arms about this? Why aren't members of the press sounding the alarm? (This has been going on all over the state and has just now reached Fayette County.) It's hard to say. Everybody's asleep during the sermons, I guess. Here, Adam and Eve, have another bite of this apple, it'll make you wiser. But sorrier.

If the most essential part of education is to instill good moral character in our young people, by their example leaders without integrity rob our educational process of the better part of its value, no matter how much money they raise. The end still does not justify the means.

Claude Y. Paquin
cypaquin@msn.com
Fayette County

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