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Many reasons to reject T-SPLOST

Posted by
Walter Geiger
in Opinion
Friday, June 29. 2012
Comments (3)
By Elliott Brack

The current Georgia Legislature is abrogating its responsibility to lead.

There is no better example than the ill-conceived effort for Georgians to add another penny sales tax to themselves with the vote by regions about transportation. It is commonly referred to as the T-SPLOST referendum, which will be voted on statewide on July 31.

Simply put, the Legislature should have solved this problem itself 18 months ago with a plan for improving transportation.

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#1 gary bell on 07/02/12 at 03:00 PM
I beg to differ with Mr. Brack when he says that we send elected officials to resolve problems for us. That is exactly what is wrong with government in our country today! We do not elect officials to think for us and do what they think is best for us, rather we elect officials to represent us and decide on key issues the way the majority of us feel. This is why the T-Splost vote is exactly what we need to do in deciding this important issue. WE will be deciding this issue when we vote, not relying on elected officials and lobbyists!
#1.1 Yeu Kno Hu on 07/02/12 at 08:45 PM
You are right on this, Gary. Yes, we do elect people to represent us, but on issues that effect all persons within a given zone, county, region, etc., the power (and the vote) should go back to the people. If we reject T-SPLOST it should be because we are tired of being taxed, not because we are to busy to think for ourselves. I think more issues should be decided at the individual voter level rather than at the government level. Turning over our decision making right on virtually all issues impacting our lives to elected and appointed officials is a huge chunk of the problems in out nation right now.
#2 tom rauch on 07/02/12 at 09:54 PM
Highways and roads should be paid in proportion to who benefits most from those highways or roads. It should proportionally be a vehicle weight tax, fuel tax, and local tax, depending on road use. It is just as wrong for cars to fund repairs and upgrades necessitated by trucks, as it is to have someone barely scraping-by, who mostly walks, pay the same rate for roads based on clothing, food, and other non-disposable income as someone using the roads to haul logs.

The state should fund state roads and highways along with local communities, based on who uses or benefits from the road or highway.

A local sales tax is a silly, unfair way to fund highway improvements. It is a good way to fund local streets and roads used by local residents, but not state routes.
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