TSPLOST Comes Under Microscope in Sandy Springs

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- With two weeks before Election Day, local leaders and stakeholders realize it's crunch time in their efforts to inform residents about an important question they will see on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Leadership Sandy Springs on Wednesday hosted a luncheon that allowed its members and residents to learn more about the proposed Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax question voters will consider.

The panel discussion, which was moderated by Atlanta Business Chronicle Publisher David Rubinger, included Todd Long, Fulton County's chief operating officer, Sandy Springs City Manager John McDonough and Georgia Public Policy Foundation Vice President Benita Dodd.

On Nov. 8, Fulton voters residing outside the city of Atlanta will consider a $.75 sales tax that would fund transportation projects. The projected revenue will be divided up based upon the population of each city. Each municipality has also come up with its own list of projects that would be funded by the revenue.

If approved by voters, collections would start in April 2017 and end March 2022.

• You can view project lists for the following north Fulton cities: Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Mountain Park, Roswell and Sandy Springs.

Wednesday's panel discussion served as mostly as an informative one, and also allowed residents to submit questions about the process. McDonough opened his remarks by alluding to how solving the region's transportation woes can help metro Atlanta continue to operate as a huge economic engine in the southeast.

The region's current road network, he added, was developed decades ago and remains largely in place, with the exception of its newest thoroughfares: Interstate 285 and GA-400, which opened in the 1960's and 1980's, respectively.

The TSPLOST, the city manager added, will also help fast track projects the city would like to complete, but have remained on the shelves due to their costs.

The question on the ballot spurs from House Bill 170, which broke up the standoff between Atlanta and other Fulton cities that were at odds over funding for MARTA improvements and expansion.

That bill allowed the city of Atlanta to move forward with its own SPLOST questions it will ask voters and for Fulton County and its remaining cities to go in their own direction.

To that end, McDonough commended the leadership of Fulton County and its cities for pressing forward and working with state legislators to come up with a solution that would work for everyone.

"We thought this had been lost, frankly, because we couldn't get it together with the city of Atlanta," McDonough later added.

The city manager did go on to give credit to the county seat and to its mayor, Kasim Reed, for holding steadfast to their position that mass transit should be a priority for Fulton.

Long, who reminded the audience that Fulton County does not have a SPLOST in place like counties such as Cobb and Gwinnett, said 2016 is also the first time in Georgia's history that legislation has allowed local entities to propose a fraction sales tax for voters to consider.

Perhaps the most critical voice of the proposal came from Dodd, who stated she wasn't a fan of the special sales taxes, as "they tend to become routine."

The taxpayers, she added, get "hit" with these questions every five to six years, as local governments always find a need to renew them.

However, she did commend the city of Sandy Springs for its project list, as it includes initiatives that focus on solving problems with newer technology.

"I think that your list is really encouraging, and I think that you can get a lot done," she said. "I can see Sandy Springs' needs and looking at the congestion relief aspect that is evidence in this, is really exciting. It's not putting a lot of archaic projects in there."

Dodd went on to also praise the city for adapting to how methods of transportation have changed and using emerging technology such as traffic signal synchronization in an effort to solve its problems.

With her organization, Dodd said she and her colleagues have heard how you can't build your way out of congestion.

By focusing on providing congestion relief with technology, Dodd said that leadership can show other entities that they don't have to build their way out of traffic, but "you can manipulate your way by using the forward thinking technology that we have."

Rubinger posed the question of "how important" the city of Atlanta's vote is to Fulton County as a whole.

McDonough stated he believed that city's success is interconnected with the county and while there were some disagreements over mass transit, there could be talk in the future about extending some alternate method of transit in north Fulton since attitudes are starting to change in that neck of the woods.

Dodd circled back to her point about the tendency of voters to become "immune" to how SPLOSTs are tax increases, adding the question on the Nov. 8 ballot, if approved, would equate to a more than 10-percent tax increase.

However, to McDonough, voters will have an "opportunity to evaluate whether or not the cities and the county can produce and provide the results that they say are going to provide."

"The consequences today, given the gridlock, lack of infrastructure, the potential loss of jobs, the impact on economic development, I think are far outweighed by the positives that are included in the TSPLOST initiative," he added.

Images via Leadership Sandy Springs