With two major races that look like they will come down to the wire, it’s easy to look past some of the other contests on the ballot. While the Attorney General’s and Lt. Governor’s races figure to be relatively easy wins for the (Republican) incumbents, the State School Superintendent’s race between Richard Woods (R) and Valerie Wilson (D) is being called by many the Democrats’ best opportunity to win a statewide campaign.
If you’re a Cobb County resident, though, you have another important vote to take notice of – the proposed six year extension of the Cobb SPLOST.
The county’s one percent sales tax levied by the SPLOST is used for road repairs and improvements, equipment purchases, and for upgrades to parks and recreation facilities. While certainly some of those projects are necessary, detractors argue that the SPLOST is unnecessary and wasteful.
Much like the T-SPLOST in 2012, which failed rather spectacularly, many believe that the 2014 edition of the Cobb SPLOST will meet a similar fate. With a set of commissioners who are already on thin ice thanks to the Braves stadium fiasco, it seems like a good bet.
Lance Lamberton, head of the Cobb Taxpayers Association, disagrees with the ballot measure for both practical and ideological reasons. Said Lamberton to the Marietta Daily Journal, “We need the type of leadership that’s going to look at the spending side of the ledger and not just the revenue side. Can you justify all of this spending? Can you incentivize to cut costs and reward county department heads and employees that come up with cost savings? I don’t see any of that happening. Until we get more fiscal responsibility, unless we get that kind of thing, it’s inappropriate to be asking us for more money with this SPLOST.”
When the SPLOST was first passed in Cobb a decade ago, it was marketed as a temporary tax to get through several special projects in the county. With many of those projects finished, many voters are wary of agreeing to give up so much money to their county commissioners, (and future commissioners who have yet to be elected) for a vague list of road widenings and sidewalk construction.
