Some East Cobb citizens who’ve been demanding greater Cobb government SPLOST accountability made their arguments public at a town hall meeting last week.
The informal group, led by Jan Barton and Debbie Fisher, has been critical not only of how the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Money has been spent, but also pointed out that was initially designed to be a finite tax has turned into what’s been called a “never-ending slush fund.”
The SPLOST collections, which are a penny on the dollar, go to funding road, facilities and technology improvements, among other things, with a specific project list that is approved by voters in a referendum.
The county SPLOST is separate from the Education SPLOST, also a penny, that is collected for Cobb and Marietta schools.
The school SPLOST wasn’t part of the town hall, and isn’t included in the Cobb SPLOST critics’ arguments with the county.
In December, Barton and Fisher and their group had former state legislator Josh McKoon, an attorney, send an “ante litem” letter (meaning “before litigation”) to Cobb government officials, alleging that some of the items on the most recent SPLOST project lists didn’t include proper descriptions, and that the county hasn’t acknowledged surplus amounts of SPLOST funds from previous collection periods.
At an East Cobb budget town hall meeting last summer, Fisher claimed the county had more than $100 million in extra SPLOST funds, but Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce told her that “there’s nothing left.”
In his letter to Boyce and the other Cobb commissioners, McKoon attached a list of Cobb DOT projects his clients are claiming weren’t properly authorized by Cobb voters. They include road improvements on Sewell Mill Road between Johnson Ferry Road and Pine Road, and on Hembree Road at Pope High School.
In January, Cobb County Attorney Deborah Dance responded to McKoon by saying the county “properly funded the projects identified in your correspondence” and that “mandatory SPLOST reporting by the Georgia law has been satisfied.”
Dance said that each project was either specifically included on a list for the referendum or “fit within a category approved by the electorate for each SPLOST.” Finally, Dance replied to McKoon that “Given the County’s compliance with Georgia law . . . and prior efforts to provide your clients with information concerning that compliance, the County is not aware of any additional information or actions that will serve to satisfy your clients’ concerns.”
Barton told East Cobb News after the town hall meeting her group hadn’t decided on any specific next steps, and that litigation is still a possibility.
Below is a Power Point that was unveiled at the town hall meeting, as well as a full video of the meeting that lasts around an hour and a half.
(SPLOST Town Hall Presentation.)
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Hats off to Debbie Fisher and Jan Barton. Please keep fighting this. A few years ago there was a “poorly” announced election that had only one item on the ballot – the SPLOST. There were only about 200 total votes, and it passed by just a handful of votes. They snuck it in. They need to be accountable for the money.
Just like GA-400, that promised the tolls would be used to pay off the bonds for GA-400 in about 20 years. Once that happened, the state just “happened” to keep collecting tolls and spending the money elsewhere – until public outcry made them stop it.
Same thing here. If we need additional taxes, let them make the case. Sneaking things thru isn’t the way things should be run.
It’s pretty sleazy that they hold the SPLOT votes at odd dates and keep very quite about it. Cobb voters used to vote no against such pork.