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Politics & Government

Cobb commissioners delay decision on sales tax

Smyrna could get nearly $52 million for municipal improvements from the proposed 1-cent tax.

Voters will have to wait a few more weeks to find out if the Cobb County Board of Commissioners will put another six-year local sales tax measure on the March 15 ballot.

The commissioners were expected to vote Tuesday evening on the proposed 1 percent tax, known in government circles as a SPLOST. Instead, they ended up having yet another public meeting -- No. 23 -- on the proposed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Board members indicated they planned to vote on the issue Dec. 7.

"It sounds like it got delayed so they can dig into the projects a bit, get into their numbers and figure out what they want to do,'' said Smyrna City Administrator Eric Taylor.            

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Indeed, the board has said it needs more information on the tax, which is meant to fund improvements to parks, roads, traffic signs, libraries, senior centers and other facilities. Smyrna is scheduled to get almost $52 million for municipal improvements from the predicted $746.2 million the 1 percent sales tax is expected to raise.

Taylor said the sales tax would provide much needed funding for two projects in particular: the construction of Windy Hill Boulevard for $20.8 million, and the Concord Road widening and multi-use trail for $11.5 million.

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If voters don't pass the sales tax in 2011, Taylor said, "It would mean that we would need to come up with a lot of money for re-paving, not to mention the other two large scale projects that we would have to find funds for. The Windy Hill Boulevard concept is opening next year and that traffic is going to come and we need to figure how to manage that traffic. The project we have in (the upcoming) SPLOST is for managing that traffic."

Taylor added, "The other project is the Concord Road expansion. We've done all the engineering for the project, we've acquired a lot of properties necessary for expanding the roadway, now we just need to move forward with it. If SPLOST doesn't pass, we'll have to figure out what to do."

If it does pass, this would be the fifth special purpose sales tax approved since 1985. Officials estimate that the taxes have raised $1.6 billion in the past 25 years, in part on multi-million dollar construction projects. But the upcoming tax measure, which has been labeled "Preserving our Future'' by the county, would focus more on maintaining the roads, parks and facilities that are already built.

Some have vowed to fight the new tax. Last week, the Georgia Tea Party announced its opposition and promised to help defeat the measure if it's put on the ballot in March. The group claims Cobb County has more of a wish list than a needs list. It argues that citizens need to keep more money for themselves rather than handing it to the county during these challenging economic times.

The Cobb County Taxpayer Association and the Georgia Taxpayer Alliance also oppose the sales tax. The president of GTA, James Bell, questioned whether Cobb County commissioners would use the funds wisely.

"Where did our property tax money go?" Bell said. "Do we really need more asphalt and sidewalks? When you start spending hundreds and millions of dollars on roads and sidewalks, these are not needs. They are simply trying to plug projects into the dollar amounts."

The Cobb Commissioners are expected to vote Dec. 7 on whether to put the issue on the ballot and let the voters decide. "Putting it up for a vote is up to the county, and if I had to guess, I figure they will,'' Taylor said.

Troubled economic times make any increased tax burden unpopular, including a proposed 1% sales tax for local projects. Let us know what you think about this issue.

Editor Hunt Archbold contributed to this story.

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