Told Ya So...

As published by the Henry Daily Herald September 09, 2007, Guest Column by Larry Stanley

More accountability needed in proposed SPLOST

I do not oppose the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. It was an honor to serve on the Oversight Committee. For three months, the process of gathering information and sorting project requests led committee members to labor over the law, flaws in past programs, and ways to ensure accountability.

The Henry Daily Herald (“BOC approves SPLOST ballot question” by Jaya Franklin) again told us the SPLOST ballot question would not specifically list designated projects.

At the Henry County Republican Party meeting on Sept. 4, Henry County Commission Chairman Jason Harper said the list will be included by reference.In an e-mail on Aug. 30, Chairman Harper told me, “We are going to adopt a complete list of projects and prioritize them. The [first Herald] article was not entirely accurate. The ballot specifies what kind of projects we will do and the monetary amount. We actually adopted the ballot language yesterday.”

Accountability requires the program must be important enough to spend the time, develop a real plan and do it right. The Board of Commissioners naturally wants ultimate flexibility, and will tell us that priorities change over time. They want to follow the Transportation Plan, but have not adopted it into the SPLOST program. My concern is that state law does not allow cherry picking which projects will be done, and which ones will eventually be abandoned.

State law defines an intergovernmental agreement, that allows for a six-year program, as project specific. Only Hampton provided a detailed project list, and the county adopted a population-based formula to grant 25 percent of revenues to the cities. I always thought this political option was inconsistent and too vague.The ballot must “place the electorate on fair notice of the projects to which the tax will be devoted,” (Attorney General decision, 1990.)

The ballot is the only binding approval process. Commissioners, Elizabeth “BJ” Mathis and Warren Holder, are correct that nobody will vote for a blank check. The approach is legal, but it was also a major factor in the initial defeat of SPLOST II five years ago. Officials said a list of the projects will be publicized later, but Mathis is concerned that some may not see the information. And she is correct. As approved, the ballot question does not include, even by reference, exactly what we are expected to approve. As such, there is at least disagreement, and at worst, a serious lack of accountability.

I expect the BOC to clearly communicate exactly what projects the revenue will be applied to, establish a timeline for completion of defined top-tier projects, and create a prioritized list of additional projects for when the primary list of projects has been completed. Citizens will then be able to vote with a clear understanding of how revenue will be used, and they can check off the projects as they are completed.

SPLOST III is a six-year, $300 million tax program. If the commissioners do not agree, or the county’s legal organ cannot report the story correctly, or the Chairman says something different at a political meeting, then we have reason to be concerned.