Commissioners discuss new SPLOST

The Pike County Journal-Reporter

Commissioners discuss new SPLOST

Posted by

Rachel McDaniel

in Headlines

Thursday, February 18. 2010

Comments (19)

Commissioners discussed putting SPLOST back on the ballot this November for road improvements at the Feb. 10 meeting.

The county can collect funds from its current Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax through Sept. 12 and will receive the final payment in November. Blake Sharpton of Jones, Cork & Miller confirmed a 2010 referendum can be voted on in Pike Nov. 2.

Commissioner Parrish Swift said any time SPLOST renewal is a possibility, needs of the county should be assessed.

"We should consider looking at a SPLOST that would simply include repaving county roads," said Swift. "They're only going to get worse and just about every road in the county is in bad shape."

Former county manager Stephen Marro said funds will go further with repaving than paving dirt roads. He noted one mill was set aside for road work in the upcoming budget. That money must be accumulated for a year and the law requires a capital improvement program is implemented to replace and repair roads with those funds.

For more, read the Wednesday, Feb. 17 print/eEdition of The Pike County Journal-Reporter.

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#1 Anonymous on 02/18/10 at 09:22 AM

How about putting SPLOST back on the budget for our schools. The roads can wait, but the children can't.

#1.1 Anonymous on 02/19/10 at 11:37 PM

Wthout some pay cuts a the management level of the scholl system the forthcoming School SPLOST will not pass. The Counties proposed SPLOST will not pass muster either as they are only wishing. No more money for them until they get real and realize that the economy is in the dumper, people are out of work and jobs are lost. The school system management is living in a dream world with a head bobbing, rubber stamp Board of EducAtion other than Dr. Bell and Mr. Blackmon.

#1.1.1 what? on 02/20/10 at 10:18 AM

The school has nothing to do with this. That is totally seperate.

#2 Kimmer on 02/18/10 at 12:55 PM

SPLOST does not need to be for repaving already paved roads, that is what you budget maintenance for. If you repave them and don't properly maintain them it will happen time and time again. We need knowledgeable people in charge.

Dirt roads are a major factor in this county, we should be trying to do something to maintain them as well, if not pave them.

I think we should hire an engineering firm like PBS&J, Raytheon or Moreland Altobelli to do a study prior to anything being done including voting a SPLOST. That way the public would know EXACTLY what the splost was going for. I think without a study the county will be free to do as they please just as they always do. The firms would also oversee the projects as they are happening. The county does not need to do any of this work themselves from overseeing the projects to paving.

We also need to see what funds the DOT may be willing to match for road improvements. An engineering firm would give us the best answers to all our questions. Engineering firms are someone who knows what they are doing with the road improvement projects. Every major county who has a SPLOST for road improvements use an engineering firm, in fact most use Moreland Altobelli. The firm is operated by Tom Moreland former head of the GDOT and Danny Altobelli who used to be head of the FHWA.

#3 No to SPLOST on 02/21/10 at 12:36 PM

Rumor is some here in the county want to fund the chief's pay with SPLOST, cause he lost his real job.

S (support)
P (putting)
L (loosers)
O (on)
S (sales)
T (tax)

AND I SAY NO TO SPLOST !!!!!!

#4 JC supports it. on 02/22/10 at 03:34 PM

JC and his followers of three failed in their attempt to ram SPLOST down our throats less than 3 months ago. JC is just like Harry Reid, yous peoples are going to get it oneway or another so grease up.

#5 Unemployed Linthead on 02/22/10 at 07:59 PM

Attention Pike County Leaders! We lintheads can no longer afford to pay your exorbitant taxes to fund your bureaucracies. Please be advised that we are all uneducated and have no skills. We cannot find employment since the cotton mills have all closed down.

#5.1 Wakeup on 02/22/10 at 09:27 PM

SPLOST does not cost you anything. It is paid by the visitors passing through our county. We need it bad and we can pay Chief Henderson the salary he was making in Clayton County. $92,000 per year is a small price to pay for his experience and leadership. Talk with JC and Parrish Swift @ tomorrows meeting, Henderson's salary can come right out out of the present SPLOST monies available. Commissioner Swift and JC have worked out all the details. Support JC, Parrish and Chief Henderson.

#5.1.1 Ronnie on 02/23/10 at 10:29 AM

SPLOST doesn't cost me anything? You must have been educated by the Pike County government schools. Whenever a local citizen buys something in the county it will cost them. Now granted there's nothing to buy in this town except booze, smokes, and scratch off lottery tickets but surely you aren't dumb enough to think it applies only to out of county residents passing through.

#5.1.1.1 David Rawlins on 02/23/10 at 03:07 PM

Every car purchased...

#5.1.1.2 David Rawlins on 02/26/10 at 09:25 AM

Ronnie - I WAS educated in PC and I know that SPLOST costs everyone.

"My favorite one is that SPLOST makes renters pay taxes because they don't pay property tax."

As if the people who own rental property are too stupid to take into account that they have to pay property taxes when they set rental rates.

SPLOST was created so that the people who implement tax increases could deflect some of the negative associations and keep their elected position.

#5.1.2 I support on 02/26/10 at 11:41 AM

Yes, I support JC, Parrish Swift, disgraced Lt. Henderson and Don Collins. I will support them with every penny it takes to get them a bus ticket out of our county. They are blood sucking leeches. JC, Parrish and Henderson should have remained in GED classes, instead they dropped out.

#6 He said it. on 02/26/10 at 02:08 PM

Parrish Swift said every road in Pike County is bad and only going to get worse. Parrish Swift how long have you been a commissioner? What are you and your brain going to do after December 31st? Maybe Lt Henderson will give you a job.

#6.1 It is OK on 03/02/10 at 06:25 AM

Go ahead Parrish, it is OK for you to eat JC's brown biscuits. You may also share with Don Collins Jr.

#7 Heads up peoples on 03/03/10 at 09:47 AM

We need the new SPLOST and we need to pay for code enforcement out of the funds just like they are trying to pay Chief Henderson.

#8 GIjoe on 03/03/10 at 03:50 PM

Well personally I do not think that it is time to raise taxes. We need to cut spending and yes if that means we have bad roads for a while so be it. We can hold off on an Animal Control building, continue to use the existing court governmental offices until we are out of this recession soon to be a depression. And that could be a while. The county can not squeeze blood from a turnip and why we continue down this road is just nuts. You would think that looking at our Federal Government most people would learn that by now. There is no more money to squeeze from the folks. Since our county does not have a Federal printing press to print Monopoly Money they need to just live within their means.

GIjoe

#9 ggscocoa on 03/03/10 at 07:25 PM

Where does Wakeup get that SPLOST would only cost the visitors passing through Pike County? It would cost everyone that lives here that purchases anything in this county. I think we have already voted SPLOST down once this year and I hope that it will be voted down again if it is on the ballot. Government needs to understand that the working people are taxed out and tired of seeing government waste our hard earned money. Maybe some of the ones that don't work and collect checks, use food stamps for groceries but can afford to purchase beer and wine, keep having babies but can't afford to pay for them to be birthed will chip in for the cause.

#10 Who Needs a Paved Road on 03/04/10 at 07:35 AM

We need to tear-up the paved roads and sale them to Spalding County. Then we should use the money to build a new baseball field like they have up in Gwinnett County. We could also use some of the money to feed the horses that all the cops have around here. They all have 5 horses on 1 acre. No FOOD, No Grass. Then they put a goat in to make sure they all starve. Some of the horses even eat the fences they are so hungry. (just look around) It is time to leave this place.

#10.1 David Rawlins on 03/04/10 at 08:38 AM

I couldn't agree more. It IS time to leave this place.

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