We deserve a raise

Published 10:02 pm Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A raise is possible for you and your family if you vote NO on the SPLOST VI referendum on the May 20th Primary election ballot..
Your NO vote would reduce our local sales tax to 2 cents on all the dollars the 3 cents applies to now, including food and utilities. This is the 6th time around and follows 25 straight years our local governments have had our pennies for “capital outlay improvement projects.”
When will these updates and expansions end?
Do you remember T-SPLOST (transportation) on our 2010 ballot when Decatur County voters rejected, along with a majority of statewide voters, turning down their listed projects as not being worth a new one percent or a total of an eight percent sales tax? We can beat and defeat the SPLOST’s VI continuing tax too.
Now is the time to stop our local governments from claiming more of our income for their so-called necessary projects.
The power of our pennies over SPLOST V’s 5-year term was estimated to generate approximately $36.8 Million. SPLOST VI is estimated to generate $34.5 Million. You may recall Decatur County and our 4 cities within, spent countless hours and undisclosed taxpayer dollars on attorney fees fighting over what each desired as their “piece of the pie” or our tax dollars of SPLOST V’s revenue.
Just this past late February they agreed on percentages for each, without revealing what their percentage equaled in netted dollars.
Quoting one wise Georgian voter, “As long as there is a tax that can be levied, government will find a way to spend it.”
Vote NO on Tuesday, May 20 to lower our total sales tax to 6 percent for the next 5 years.

Kelly Godwin, Bainbridge

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