This is an enormous new tax: $8.5 billion from the residents of just 10 counties in metro Atlanta. Compare it to the entire state’s 2011 revenue from all individual income taxes, which was less than $7.5 billion. Georgia’s total projected sales taxes for 2012 is only $5.4 billion dollars. While those are annual numbers, Georgia’s total tax revenues from gasoline and other fuel taxes during the last 10 years was only $8.5 billion. So this tax will double that revenue stream by imposing a sales tax on only half the population.
Second, the underlying fallacy of the referendum is that the construction of new roads, increasing the number of lanes and better traffic control devices can ever resolve Atlanta’s traffic issues. In huge metropolitan areas, the natives understand that you cannot live on one side of town, work or go to school on the other, and try to drive back and forth on a daily basis.
While Atlanta does not yet have these cities’ total population, distance is the key commuting issue because it is traveled over time, and rush hour commuters slow traffic, resulting in greatly expanded commute times. The only real solution in the mega-cities is to reduce daily commute distances by living close to work and school and shopping locally. This is what we did in the days of the horse and buggy, when no one would consider living in one county and working two or three counties away.
The benefits of a shorter commute are many: reduced commute times, fuel consumption, wear and tear on vehicles and improved air quality. But this means changing people’s expectations, habits and patterns, which is much more difficult but infinitely less expensive and more productive than raising taxes to pour more cement.
With all due respect, some voters no longer “trust” our government and even our best-intended politicians. Money will be handled by the Atlanta Regional Commission, a whole new layer of government that’s essentially removed from voter control and supervision. The potential for mischief and temptation appears to be as large as the total dollars. Voters need to fundamentally question whether government can solve all our problems. Those who recognize that governments love to promise what they cannot deliver will vote no. Citizens who oppose new taxes should recognize this for what it is, a huge new tax, and “just vote no.”
L. Matt Wilson is an attorney in Atlanta.
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