Special house vote is Feb. 15
Voters in Lamar's Redbone district will go to the polls Feb. 15 to cast ballots in a special election to fill the seat of Rep. Tony Sellier who died last year.
Comments
Tue, May 21, 2013 - 07:07 PM
Wow...what an angry little tirade you went on there. I see alcohol has not made you [...]
Tue, May 21, 2013 - 06:04 PM
Julia, is there anything going on here that you in particular actually do not think [...]
Tue, May 21, 2013 - 05:57 PM
Seriously, what difference does it make if it is allowed to be purchased every day o [...]
Tue, May 21, 2013 - 04:42 PM
Hi Carol,
In poking around, I came across the Quarter Horse Assn and they have so [...]
Tue, May 21, 2013 - 02:02 PM
Renting a movie or taking kids to the movies doesn't compare to buying alcohol. If 6 [...]
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What is SPLOST going to do for you and this county? And how will it do it?
A prime example of our problems. People voting on something that they have no idea what it is.
Snacks for the kids to eat? Let Baby's Mama and Daddy buy their kids snacks. And give them to their kids at home. EBT cards should not pay for anything that is processed to eat. Carrots, apples, raisins, etc.(yes) NO JUNK. That is why our kids are too fat to frolic and play in the yard now. Keep on with your junk foods, when their little fat fingers cannot wrap around their free cell phones...who is going to call 911 when they have their little adolescent heart attacks?
Here is what we really need until citizens can become more responsible with our taxpayers money.
VEGETABLE Soup kitchens and no EBT cards.
FREE-LOADING people are disgusting.
SPLOST is an acronym for: special-purpose local-option sales tax. (SPLOST) can be levied by any county, for the purpose of funding the building and maintenance of parks, schools, roads, and other public facilities. Georgia's state sales tax is currently 4% (groceries and prescription drugs exempted), with the counties allowed to add up to 2% more for SPLOST. A SPLOST is passed by a county commission and voted up or down by residents in a referendum, usually during the next scheduled election. A SPLOST only lasts five years. At that time, if the funds are still needed, it must be voted upon again. All expenditures of SPLOST funds must be in compliance with Article VIII, Section VI, Paragraph IV of the Georgia Constitution, and Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) Section 48-8-141.
* One SPLOST (1%) may be used to increase the homestead exemption for property taxes.
* A SPLOST is not required to exempt groceries, but still cannot be applied to prescriptions.
* Cities are normally not allowed to levy sales taxes, they instead share proportionately with their county.Cities can have a separate tax if the county does not participate.
Counties and school systems are required to provide an independent accountants' report, examining the way the funds were allocated and attesting to the fact that the system receiving funds managed those funds appropriately.
(Good luck with that last paragraph.)
Too bad we cannot vote to cancel the programs and expenditures so we could be certain property taxes would not be used to fill the gap.
We own property. I would prefer to vote against both SPLOSTs to try to send a message to our elected officials they should cut some of their pie in the sky programs. I bet the school board didn't say anything about needing a new SPLOST to keep up the Fine Arts Center and Football field when they went to citizens for the previous SPLOST.
Unfortunately since it is obvious for the county commission's recent actions they are going to spend the money they want to regardless of what the taxpayers say, I am pretty much forced to support their lack of fiscal responsibility by voting for the SPLOST. Otherwise, we and other property owners will just foot the entire bill rather than all the other users who pay little or nothing. My only consolation is I have the ability to avoid shopping in Barnesville/Lamar County and will do so at every opportunity.
The Lamar County Board of Assessors are canvassing Lamar County as I type looking to increase the size of their coffers. Property values will be elevated and a higher mill rate will be ordered later. This is a double whammy. It is with surety, YOUR PROPERTY TAXES WILL BE RAISED REGARDLESS OF THE SPLOST VOTE RESULTS! Take away the ability to spend ANY more of our money. No one in government knows the meaning of spending restraint. It is SPEND! SPEND! SPEND! SPLOST projects can WAIT!
A 2 year spending moratorium needs to be put in place along with a 25% across the board budget cut. Outside of absolutely necessary expenditures, not a dime should be spent. Lamar County needs a breather.
You can vote No on SPLOST. Pay that bill. Big Taxes. But why?