Responding to organized parental opposition, Gwinnett County school board members on Thursday nightdefended the district’s $876 million plan to build new classrooms for students in trailers and upgrade technology using a penny sales tax.
The education SPLOST, or special purpose local option sales tax, has funded improvements in the district for 15 years. Approved three times previously by Gwinnett voters, the initiative facesorganized opposition, from the Citizens of Gwinnett County Action Alliance, for the first time in years.
School board chairman Robert McClure, at a public forum, said Gwinnett would not have been able to build 46 schools since 1997 with enough classrooms to house 15,000 students without SPLOST. The current SPLOST passed a state-required audit that reported it was efficiently managed, board members said.
“If the E-SPLOST doesn’t pass, there are things that will end up having to be paid for out of the general fund budget,” McClure said. “I stand quite ready to proudly defend what we have done with it.”
On Nov. 8, Gwinnett residents will vote on a referendum to enable the district to continue the initiative, which could bring $17.1 million to Buford City schools and $858.9 to Gwinnett schools for improvements. The initiative, if passed, would outfit schools with an improved computer network to access more digital content and permit students to bring their laptops from home.
A representative of Citizens of Gwinnett County Action Alliance, speaking at the public forum, said the group had concerns about the tax, and in pairing it with short-term obligation bonds. The district plans to use the bonds to borrow $275 million before sales tax proceeds are collected.
Alliance members said the cash advance is a waste of tax dollars, resulting in an interest bill the district can’t afford. A $425 million companion bond to the current SPLOST now has the district paying $92.3 million in interest.
Alliance members said their SPLOST opinions, while welcomed by board members, had not changed.
“There was no answer given to the interest, the cost that is associated with the bond," said Annette Rogers, who has a senior student in Gwinnett schools. "There was no confirmation that the specific projects proposed were binding. The projects all will add significantly to the ongoing operating budget of the schools.’’
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