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Regardless of opinion, cast your SPLOST ballot

Posted by
Walter Geiger
in Opinion
Sunday, March 13. 2011
Comments (8)
It seems to me that a yes vote on the upcoming SPLOST referendums in Lamar and Pike counties should be logical for property owners.

However, I see numerous signs on the roadside in front of farms and rural acreage opposing SPLOST – particularly in Pike County.

I don’t understand that sentiment but I am sure this column will trigger considerable input on the topic.

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#1 Anonymous on 03/13/11 at 08:46 PM
I will NOT vote for another SPLOST. If our local government cannot spend our tax dollars responsibly, I certainly can't justify giving them more. I've just had to pay another "tax" that I wasn't given a chance to vote for - the "fire and ambulance" tax. The ambulance service already had a contract with the county, for which they already got paid, and anybody who gets transported via ambulance gets billed for that service. (What that's really all about is bailing out the Water Authority; another job "well done" by the Matthews boys.) I'm not fool enough to believe that the passing of SPLOST would keep my property taxes from being raised.
#2 No Name on 03/13/11 at 10:50 PM
Maybe if they spent the money they collected in a sound fiscal manner, voting for SPLOST would be ok. When you seen wasted fuel, high salaried county, state, and local officials using government vehicles for personal use at our expense, wasting money on items not necessary for the government agency to function is why people are against the SPLOST. SPLOST is for special stuff only. In hard times, do away with the special stuff. Let's continue to vote for PLOST, but don't give the politicians Special money to waste away. I voted for a fire station 4 years ago, and the commissioners wasted all of that money or planned so poorly that they did not set enough money aside. They need to get their act together.
#3 H B on 03/14/11 at 08:37 AM
SPLOST, to me is a fair tax. I think it is better than property tax or school tax. Everyone gets the opportunity to pay it, if they purchase items in Barnesville/Lamar County GA, or Pike County GA. The Management of the funds is critical, for the County Commissioners, to follow the rules set down by the SPLOST voting. I feel the Commissioners should have personal responsibility, should they vote for spending these funds in a way other than the way it was approved by the voters.
#4 GM on 03/14/11 at 12:33 PM
The problem is not the SPLOST - it is the waste, abuse, and misuse of SPLOST. When leadership can't read and abide by a well written SPLOST guide written just for them in elementary language, budget problems and excess spending is just over the horizon.

A tax in any other name is still just a tax. It is like a tick. Vote for it and it latches on forever. The only way to get rid of it is to pick it apart and deprive it of the blood.
#5 Anonymous on 03/14/11 at 08:53 PM
SPLOST pays for extras. Extras that are maintained and kept up with property taxes. SPLOST is also NOT a supplement to property taxes or the regular tax digest. SPLOST can only be spent on items that are on the ballot. Not day to day operation of the county. Really Walter? I thought you of all people knew these things. The message most of us want to send is "Less government spending" and what better way than cut funding?
#6 Anonymous on 03/14/11 at 09:02 PM
Special Local Option Sales Tax. The key word is "special". The money can only be spent on items on the ballot. Example... If a new Football Stadium was on the ballot, then SPLOST could pay to build it. But! Our property taxes would pay the electricity,water,field maintenance, cleaning,etc.... (the day to day cost of operation) So SPLOST costs property owners in the long run. Especially in these tough economic times.
#7 Mark on 03/18/11 at 04:34 PM
The T at the end of SPLOST should tell you everything you need to know about whether or not to support it. That T stands for Tax. We Americans are taxed enough. The reason this matters, look at the Federal Government. They just passed their 6th continuing resolution to fund the Federal Government. Why do they need to keep passing all of these continuing resolutions? The previous Congress didn't present a budget, (at all, the entire year) that's why. We are so far in debt and the debt gets bigger every day. Politicians on both sides pat themselves on the back because they want to cut a few billion dollars out of the annual budget. We borrow more than that DAILY, just to pay the INTEREST on the debt we ALREADY OWE. America is in debt by 14 Trillion dollars. We are expected to run a deficit this year and next of about 1.6 Trillion dollars. That means, we are spending (borrowing) 1.6 trillion dollars more than we are taking in as revenue. This is economic child abuse. We are placing the burden of our inability to balance our budget and live within our means on our children and grandchildren. No, we don't need another tax. We need our elected representatives to do the will of their constituents. Not borrow more money and spend it against the will of the people (ie. Obamacare).
#8 Anonymous on 03/20/11 at 08:34 AM
The problem I have with SPLOST is that most of the people who buy groceries using an EBT card do not pay taxes. So how are they paying their share. When they have money on the card they withdraw it and where do they go to spend it at WALMART which we do not have in Lamar County. So they are not paying their fair share there either. The working man and woman has to foot the bill for the special things that the gov't wants then we pay for it to be maintained with our property taxes. While most of the time it is the welefare folks children who have the benefit without paying and if they destroy something they complain that it is not fixed but they don't have to worry about footing the bill.
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