The City of Cumming has organized the “Vote No To SPLOST” Committee.  The committee has made several negative assertions about SPLOST VI, but the committee has not challenged the need for the totality of projects the county has identified for SPLOST VI.

Let’s review some of the misleading statements on the Committee Website (website assertions are bold and underlined).

The committee recommends that you vote NO to SPLOST VI and Bond
 and not raise our taxes

Do not allow the committee to combine the two and confuse the vote.  “SPLOST VI” and the “Park, Recreation and Green Space Bond” are two separate votes on the February 5th ballot.

SPLOST VI is an extension of the current SPLOST, and therefore will not raise our taxes.  A defeat of SPLOST VI will increase property taxes because the defeat would eliminate SPLOST revenue for needed projects.

The “Park, Recreation and Green Space Bond” will raise property taxes.

The committee is not just for the benefit of the City of Cumming.  It is for everyone in Cumming/Forsyth County.  Will not create a city vs. county campaign.

The Committee would not have been organized without city leadership and push.  A cochairman of the committee works for the City.  The city had no issues with SPLOST VI until the city discovered that the county commission was only going to give the city the SPLOST VI share it deserved (percentage of SPLOST VI matching the city’s portion of the county population).

SPLOST VI fails to respect the citizens.

I think it respects the citizens very well because projects have been thoughtfully selected to satisfy the most pressing citizen needs.

The ballot is written in such a way it can mislead the voter.

I think the ballot could have been better written to weaken opponent demagoguery of it.  The $160,000,000 bond, to be repaid with SPLOST VI revenues, allows the county to borrow money to speed up the implementation of SPLOST VI projects without a tax increase.

The ballot intent is clear to almost all voters.  There is absolutely no reason to believe that a majority of the county commissioners is trying to deceive county citizens.

The County Rushed to put SPLOST VI on the February 5th ballot.  

What rush?  The county prepared for the SPLOST VI extension proposal for several months during 2007.  As early as March 30, 2007, Mayor Gravitt talked about the upcoming SPLOST (SPLOST VI) considerations in a speech at a Chamber Breakfast.  

Projects have not been adequately identified.

The county commission has carefully and thoughtfully identified SPLOST VI projects with professional and citizen group assistance.

Details of SPLOST VI projects have been published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Forsyth County News, and with supporting documentation on the county website at http://www.forsythco.com/DeptPage.asp?DeptID=6&PageID=1003.

Past projects are not complete but the money is gone. Where did it go? 

A detailed SPLOST V project status has been published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in an article titled, “How Forsyth spent the last SPLOST”, on the web Click HERE and on the Forsyth County website Click HERE click on SPLOST V Update.

The county has an accounting of the use of, and continuing plans for, SPLOST V funds for SPLOST V projects.

Let me add just a couple more comments.

The committee says that the city deserves more of the SPLOST VI funds because 20 percent of the tax is generated in the city, but even if the 20 percent claim is factual it fails to recognize that city residents pay only 4 percent of the total SPLOST paid by county residents.

It appears that the committee (city) is trying to convey the idea that county commissioners who voted for SPLOST VI are secretive and not to be trusted.  I think the real evidence shows just the opposite.  One indication of this can be seen in a comparison of the county website to the city website.  There is much greater information openness on the county website including detailed project status reports and detailed financial reports.  There is no display of this information on the city website.

You may also want to review County Commissioner David Richard’s 1/25/2008 response to the “Vote No To SPLOST” Committee on his website at http://www.davidrichard.info/id3.html.