I would like to respond to the volume of letters addressed to the citizens of Fayette County and to the Board of Education explaining the messages sent by the defeat of SPLOST.

It is not possible to address the points made by each letter writer. However, a few recurrent themes merit some public discussion.

If the message sent was that growth must be slowed, it is fair to ask the messengers why that message is sent to those who do not have the authority to change growth in our county.

Even without any rezoning, growth will continue as land is developed in accordance with its current zoning. However, to the extent it is possible to slow growth, the anti-development message must be sent to those who approve zoning requests, not to the Fayette County Board of Education, which is simply charged with educating children in the county.

Another theme of the letter writers was to argue the efficiencies of bonds backed by property taxes instead of sales tax. Although no one likes any tax, property taxes can impose a substantial burden on long-term residents in a county with high growth rates, because property values inflate faster than incomes. Therefore, property taxes as a share of income tend to be higher for long-term residents than for newcomers.

One final theme of a few letters was to chastise the superintendent and the board for “threats” of trailers, increased class size, split sessions, year-round school, or redistricting.

Given the defeat of SPLOST and the projected growth, the school system will have to accommodate as many as a thousand more students each year without building additional schools in the near future.

I can only think of a few ways to accomplish this: 1) Add temporary space (trailers); 2) Spread the use of existing space over more time (split sessions or year-round school); 3) Ensure that students are distributed optimally over all existing schools (redistricting); or 4) Add more students to each classroom.

It seems to me that the message sent by the SPLOST vote is that the board should implement some or all of these solutions in order to avoid taxing the citizens of Fayette County. Therefore, I can't understand why such proposals should be considered threats. If these changes occur, they will indicate that the BOE heard the message of the citizens, who rejected additional spending on facilities at this time.

We can and should continue a civil public debate about the fairness and efficiencies of each type of tax, the desire to impose impact fees (which would require a change in state law), or the level of services appropriate for public education. However, in the short run, the defeat of SPLOST means that changes such as those outlined above will be necessary.

Hopefully, those complaining loudest about such changes won't be the same individuals responsible for the defeat of SPLOST.

Pat Ketsche
Peachtree City

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