Councilman Wan urges residents to vote on sewer tax

Registered Georgia voters may cast a ballot for their preferred candidate for president in advance of the March 6 primary election.

Super Tuesday is only a few weeks away, and advanced voting has begun and will run Monday through Friday until March 2. Voters will also be able to cast their ballot on Saturday, Feb. 25.

In a press release, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp reminded voters to access the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page (MVP) voter education website. The site permits voters to view their sample ballot, find the in-person advance voting locations, times and dates in their county and more.

Georgia is the state with the most delegates - 76 - of the 10 states holding primaries or caucuses on Super Tuesday. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Newt Gingrich led in a poll of likely GOP voters conducted last week for the newspaper and the Georgia Newspaper Partnership. Mitt Romney came in second, followed by Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. The poll revealed the economy is the number one issue for voters of all demographics, the newspaper reported.

There are nine names on the ballot of the Republican party, though only four candidates remain in the race. Barack Obama is the only name that appears on the ballot of the Democratic party.

Atlantans will also be voting whether to renew a 1-percent Municipal Option Sales Tax (MOST) to allow visitors and businesspeople who use the city’s water and sewer infrastructure, but do not pay city water/sewer bills, to help pay for upgrading and maintenance of the infrastructure. According to city officials, the tax would raise between $400 million and $440 million by 2016, and would help keep Atlanta’s in-city tax rate at its current level of 8 percent, which is already among the nation’s highest combined rates.

The tax was originally approved by Atlanta voters in 2004 and has been renewed once since. The city estimates that the water/sewer rates would need to increase by 25- to 30-percent without the sales tax. District 6 Councilman Alex Wan reminded residents to be aware of the coming vote at last week’s Neighborhood Planning Unit-E meeting.

“If this doesn’t pass - and I can’t campaign one way or another, but I can give information – but if it doesn’t pass there’s going to be a $115 million deficit with the (Atlanta Department of) Watershed Management budget,'' he said. "Just be aware of the issues and make sure to go out and vote."

Read more about the sales tax and the coming vote here.