Study the facts and history of SPLOST; think about it and then Vote!

AVOC

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March 14, 2009

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SPLOST will not lower Oconee Property Taxes – As recent history proves

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By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc

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Oconee County will be voting Tuesday on another and ambitious SPLOST.   It will pass with a sizable vote but little fanfare.   However, more folks are ‘wising up’ to the fact that some SPLOST projects play havoc with the property tax budget by leaving large facilities and projects requiring more personnel, maintenance and operations costs.

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At least the debt repayment ‘projects’ on the 2009 SPLOST will not carry permanent increases in maintenance and operations cost that are funded largely by the property tax payer. OCONEE SPLOST 2009 Project List.pdf x

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On November 14, 2007, AVOC published an article on the subject of rising property taxes in the Athens Banner-Herald.   This is an excerpt:

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The lack of (Property) tax relief shows the fallacy of the thinking that “Growth and Development” will diversify our Tax Base. The proliferation of sprawling subdivisions and strip shopping centers has not brought taxes down for the homeowner. In the 1980’s, I remember John Brannen, Hubert Wells, Choyce Johnson, Carlton Farmer, Bob Marable, Bill Wagner and others working on sales tax and industrial development. Much effort was made to get voter support in 1986 for a new jail- the first SPLOST Capital Project. That “New Jail” was demolished by the current administration after only 20 years………

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FOR THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK ON:

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AVOC.AB-H.Taxes.275065 6xf 11-14.07.Revenues.pdfx

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11-16-07 Increasing Revenues and Growing Tax Digest Do Not translate to Lower Taxes

http://www.avoc.info/info/article.php?article=3816&ENGINEsessID=220fb2ca0bbcd08418f22d00f6ee2672

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SPLOST has and can be good thing.However, like everything else, there should be priorities that address basic government functions.   The “spinners” notwithstanding, not all of us feel that is always the case.  

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Study the facts and history of SPLOST; think about it and then Vote!

3-2-09 Information about Oconee SPLOST Referendum on March 17, 2009 – Part 1

3-2-09 Oconee SPLOST Referendum on March 17, 2009 – Part 2

3-3-09 Oconee SPLOST Vote on March 17, 2009 – Courthouse Part 3

3-5-09 Oconee Declining Sales Tax Receipts – SPLOST Estimate Probably High

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3-5-09 Becker- Analysis - SPLOST & Lower Sales Tax Receipts

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Oconee County Observations

http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2009/03/oconee-splost-revenues-drop-sharply.html

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Oconee SPLOST Revenues Drop Sharply

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March 4, 2009

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Lee Becker

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Notes have been hung on the doors of the courthouse urging people to vote, and Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis has used two of his recent weekly columns in The Oconee Enterprise to promote the tax. The Enterprise also ran required legal advertisements about the election in its Feb. 12, 19 and 26 editions.

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The only negative public comments about the tax have come from the September Grand Jury, whose report appeared in the legal advertisement section of the Feb. 26 issue of the Enterprise.

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"Much concern was expressed by the members of the Grand Jury about the current use of SPLOST funds," the report said. "It is the strong recommendation of the Grand Jury that SPLOST expenditures should go back to the original concept of collections being spent on the designated, voter approved projects only." …………