Gwinnett County taxpayers need to have confidence in elected officials when considering a SPLOST that will collect up to $889 million in a five-year cycle.
As originally envisioned, the special purpose local option sales tax was a good idea. Voters were told they could vote to tax themselves for special projects and, after paying for those projects, the tax would end. Over the last 28 years, though, SPLOSTs have morphed into a permanent tax in Gwinnett because as soon as one expired, a new one replaced it.
For each new SPLOST, elected officials and Chamber of Commerce leaders publicly fretted about the dire results should voters say “no.” Those same tactics were used when trying to sell T-SPLOST, but voters were not buying.
While I applaud commissioners for planning to devote 75 percent of proposed SPLOST funds to transportation, a “no” vote on the SPLOST in November does not mean a halt to transportation improvements in Gwinnett. It simply means delaying them until next year.
Before approving taxes for new projects, we need to ensure the projects are reasonable, and the cost is in line with what taxpayers can afford. By delaying approval, taxpayers can consider other ideas, such as supporting state legislation for a fractional SPLOST. This would let counties levy a sales tax of less than 1 cent, matching taxes to the true cost of needed projects, instead of projecting how much money can be collected and then creating a project list to spend that amount of money.
Does it make sense to approve a tax of up to $889 million, if it is determined the projects truly needed in Gwinnett could be completed for less than that amount?
Gwinnett taxpayers would be wise to hold off approving a SPLOST until next year. Perhaps by that time, elected officials will have lived up to their pledge to restore trust in local government by allowing the public to learn how tax dollars have been spent.
Taxpayers deserve to know why the county is leasing five acres on Sugarloaf Parkway, free of charge, to the Gwinnett Chamber, which built a $4.6 million headquarters there; why documents seem to contradict the assertion that no tax dollars were used to advocate for a tax increase, and why commissioners refuse to review the financial records showing how taxpayer money was used.
If commissioners provide a clear picture of how taxpayer money has been spent, it will go a long way toward making residents comfortable with their request for what could be close to a billion dollars in new expenditures.
It would be a step in the right direction if county commissioners and taxpayers worked together to encourage our state representatives to approve fractional SPLOSTs in the next legislative session. Taxpayers need assurances from elected officials that they are willing to consider new ideas to address complex problems like transportation funding.
Sabrina Smith is chairman of Gwinnett Citizens for Responsible Government.
