25,000 Participate in TSPLOST Chats
Nearly 3,000 in Gwinnett County call in to ask questions about proposed transportation sales tax.
Over the past two weeks, about 25,000 Atlanta region residents participated in a series of 12 Regional Transportation Referendum “Wireside Chats” hosted by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). The Gwinnett County chat attracted nearly 3,000 callers, the ARC announced.
The telephone town halls gave participants a chance to learn more about projects that are part of the upcoming transportation referendum by asking questions directly of local officials. While anyone could join any of the 12 chats, the calls were organized by jurisdiction. Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash and Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson hosted the Gwinnett chat.
The referendum will be held as part of the July 31 Primary in which metro Atlanta residents will be have the opportunity to vote on implementing a one-cent transportation sales tax. Questions covered a broad range of topics and included inquiries about the 157 projects that would be funded by the referendum. Callers frequently asked about projects planned in their local communities.
Officials answered an average of 23 questions in each hour-long call, and participants stayed on the line an average of 14 minutes. Polls taken during the calls revealed that more than 91 percent of participants found the Wireside Chats helpful in understanding the transportation referendum vote and what is at stake.
If a participant’s question was not answered on the call, they could leave contact information in a voicemail and their question will be answered via a phone call or an email in the coming days. Complete information about the July 31 regional transportation referendum, including fact sheets about the 157 projects on the list and an interactive mapping tool, is available at www.metroatlantatransportationvote.com.
“We are pleased that nearly 25,000 regional residents participated in these Wireside Chats,” said ARC Executive Director Doug Hooker in the announcement. “Participant’s questions were thoughtful and diverse. I believe our local officials did a very thorough job of providing more information about this important regional vote on July 31.”
The ARC also issued a list of the number of participants in the first chats June 4-7.
- City of Atlanta – 4,195
- Henry County – 2,205
- Douglas County – 2,422
- Fayette County – 1,145
- North Fulton – 1,628
- Cobb County – 2,696
- Gwinnett County – 2,926
- Rockdale County – 1,413
Chats were conducted in Cherokee, DeKalb, South Fulton and Clayton counties June 13 and 14.
Stan
9:40 pm on Sunday, June 17, 2012
good, wish this number people would be this involved in normal elections.
DontTreadOnMe
12:07 pm on Monday, June 18, 2012
The 1% T-SPLOST would cost every family of four $8,000 over its first 10 years. Food will be taxed. This consumption tax will hit low/fixed income families hardest.
It would provide $135 Million for 2 mass transit projects in Gwinnett - one is a $95 Million study of rail along I-85 for which construction will NOT start before 2040. The other "project" is a check for $40 Million to the bus system.
It provides city governments with a huge slush fund - which aught to be illegal.
The idea that this will "untie" Gwinnett traffic is a lie.
In his book, 1776, David McCullough presents the driving reason colonists revolted and formed the United States: taxation without representation. British parliament repeatedly taxed Americans without representing their interests. Today we have the same in Georgia. Politicians, bureaucrats and their sycophants passed the "Transportation Investment Act" creating unelected regional collectors to raise everyone's sales taxes (T-SPLOST) overnight by upwards of 17% indefinitely to fund make-work projects which, in the case of mass transit, bestow enormous benefit on 5% of commuters. These are not mere parliamentary games. This added tax, which these ilk will pass on the July 31st vote if unopposed, represent not just an old tyranny, but an insidious, parasitic new socialist theft on a massive scale. A vote for T-SPLOST is a vote against US. As they did in Boston, it's time to throw the "TIA" into the harbor and start over.
KellyW
4:24 pm on Monday, June 18, 2012
I have been able to participate in the "wireside chats" and they are great for people who are still undecided about the issue. The fact remains that something needs to be done about Atlanta's current traffic infrastructure. Necessary improvements and additions such as the ones presented in the referendum are necessary for a growing city such as Atlanta.
DontTreadOnMe
11:45 am on Tuesday, June 19, 2012
T-SPLOST Raises More Questions Than Answers.
1. The TSPLOST projects list has some ultra-expensive projects that are
only partially funded. Does the region plan to build a quarter of these
projects and leave them unfinished and useless? Or, if the region
plans to complete these projects, how will they be paid for without
coming back to taxpayers for even larger future tax increases?
2. Some of these projects will require large future operating and
maintenance costs with no identified long term future funding source to
pay for these expenses. How can these expenses be paid without
additional large future tax increases?
3. The pro-TSPLOST people keep trying to scare people into voting for
the TSPLOST by saying that there is no "Plan B," but the TIA legislation
provides that if any region votes against the tax, the region can then
put together a better projects list and bring it back to the voters in
2 years. Isn't that a Plan B?
Stan
1:14 pm on Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Well those tea party people ain't for it no-how, no-way. No commie transportation taxes and projects for them. Actually I try to find out what the tea party is pushing and recommending and then vote the opposite. If everybody did that the quality of our government and the IQ's of our elected officials would increase significantly.