The city says its daily population is greater than its nighttime population as being a reason for the city to get a larger share of the LOST and SPLOST.  If that is true I think the city should put a property tax on their businesses because they are the cause of the increased city daytime population.

If the city wants a fairgrounds, Mary Alice Park Commercial development, aquatic center, City Hall with an unused floor of space, increases in sewer service, annexation of shopping centers into the city, widening roads with less traffic than some county roads with greater needs, a playhouse, etc., the city should collect the money required over and above a population split of the sales taxes from city businesses and citizens.  I suspect that if the city was not getting ”free” money from the county the city residents would not tolerate all the city spending. 

The Mayor says county people use city roads (much of that road use in the City is on state roads, i.e. GA 9 and GA 20) as a justification for a greater share of the sales taxes.  Does that mean that because people from outside the County use County roads the state should give the county a larger share of state sales taxes? 

The county provides some services to city residents that the city does not provide, e.g. Superior Courts, Fire Protection Service, Library system County Jail, Senior Center, etc. 

The city brags about having no property taxes.  How can the city do that?  I think the city spends much more money per resident than the county does.  They can do that because they are receiving a huge unjustified share of the sales taxes.  Why shouldn’t city residents and businesses pay property taxes rather than the county paying for city services?  City folks presumably get special or better breaks and services by being part of a chartered city.

The city brags about its low price of water to its water customers, especially those inside the city limits.  This too, they could not do if the county was not purchasing a lot of water from the city at unjustifiably high wholesale water prices, and giving the city a more than deserved sales tax share.

The city says it needs a larger share of the sales taxes because a larger percentage of retail businesses are in the city.  If these businesses are such a burden to the city why did the city annex some shopping centers into the city?  Also, why do shopping centers want to be annexed into the city?

The FCN says consider that a disproportional share of the sales tax is collected inside the city.  Why not rather consider that the county residents outside the city pay more of the sales tax than their population percentage.  According to the 2000 census, median family income inside the city was $47,370 and median family income in the county was $74,003.  City per capita income was $16445 and county per capita income was 29,114.

If county citizens want an aquatic center why not keep the funds in the county and have it built and controlled by the county rather than by the city.

If county citizens need more parks why give money to the city to build a city park that is mostly for non-city county folks (Mayor said that only 3% of the current city park usage is by city residents)?  The county should satisfy its expenditures on, and keep control of, parks for its growing county park it needs.

In a presentation I saw last Saturday Rupert Sexton said the county pays the city $.03 per 1000 gallons impoundment fee to the city for its water – everything else is profit to the county except for reading the meters.  Obviously this is just another untrue statement by city leaders.  Does the city pay a $.03 per 1000 gallons impoundment fee to the Corps?

Rupert said County population is now 130,000 and City is 5,000.  The most recent U.S. census estimates the County population for mid-2006 to be about 150,000.

Rupert also said, in response to an audience comment about the Mary Alice Park project moving fast, and the lack of public participation in and exposure to the Mary Alice Park project, that the only city involvement in the Great Wolf project is handling the lease.  He said public participation is the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers. He denied that the City courted Great Wolf for the project.  Of course, having Mary Alice Park surrounded by non-city county residents might cause the city to be less responsive to these non-city voters.

Based on the county 2007 budget I estimate the city will receive about $2,000 per resident while the county will receive about  $400 per resident from the combination of the LOST and SPLOST (reference my website at http://www.ronseder.com/lost_splost.htm). There is no logical justification for this.  In a fantasy where the county would receive $2000 per county resident the county would receive $300 million this year, which would allow the county to eliminate property taxes, build a new jail and courthouse, accomplish its SPLOST projects and have millions of dollars to put aside for future operations and capital costs.  Also, I find it interesting that if the city population was 20% of county population, and the city received $2000 per resident, 100% of the LOST and SPLOST would be required to do that, leaving nothing for the county.