The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

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January 27, 2012

ESPLOST should be limited

Dalton Daily Citizen

The Whitfield County Board of Education and the Dalton Board of Education have made it clear they plan to ask for a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) later this year or early next year.

Last November, Whitfield County voters soundly rejected a general government SPLOST. By a whopping 60 percent to 40 percent, voters showed they are in no mood for an expansive, multi-year tax increase. And with local unemployment still the highest in the state, gasoline and food prices spiking, and few signs of an economic turnaround on the horizon, local voters aren’t likely to be more inclined to impose more taxes on themselves any time soon.

If school board members haven’t been reflecting on last year’s SPLOST vote, they should. If they do, we think they will draw two key lessons.

First, if they truly think they must vote for a SPLOST, they should tailor it as narrowly as possible. It should not only be things they believe they absolutely need, it should be a narrow list of items that voters can easily digest and judge for themselves whether they think the schools deserve. Voters turned down the general SPLOST last year, in part, because it seemed like the Board of Commissioners and officials in the various cities had just put together a grab bag of items they wanted.

Second, the SPLOST should last as few years as possible. Again, voters just aren’t in the mood for a multi-year commitment when the future is so uncertain.

Our suggestion is that the boards ask for a one-year SPLOST that will do nothing other than pay down the estimated $35.7 million that Whitfield County Schools owes on previously approved projects and the $2.5 million that Dalton Public Schools owes. That’s it.

That money has to be paid back, and voters would likely approve a SPLOST to do that if the boards agree not to increase property taxes, which is how the money would have to be paid back without a SPLOST.

If a one-year SPLOST isn’t enough to pay down that debt, they can come back after it has expired and ask voters to approve a second SPLOST to pay down some more of the debt.

How many businesses in Whitfield County are planning major new expansions? How many families are planning to make expensive new purchases? How many of those businesses and families are struggling just to pay off their own debts?

School board members should think very carefully over the next few weeks. If they ask for too much, they may not get anything at all.

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