VALDOSTA —
Although a handful of counties had not yet reported all of their precincts Tuesday night by press time, it appears that the voters of Georgia have spoken and given their legislative leaders a message by overwhelmingly defeating the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) statewide.
Of the 12 special taxing districts created by the legislature, by press time, only the Central Savannah Area, the River Valley, and the Heart of Georgia, Altamaha were reporting positive numbers for the one-cent sales tax which, if the votes hold, will stay in effect in those counties for 10 years.
Of the remaining nine districts, voters resoundingly voted no, including the Southern Georgia District, which includes Lowndes County.
Despite a massive public-relations campaign mounted by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Connect Georgia, voters apparently disapproved of the General Assembly passing responsibility for maintaining the state’s infrastructure down to local communities.
According to the Associated Press, while state officials were touting the tax as paving the way to future economic prosperity for the state, critics said the proposed tax was unfair to those who could least afford another sales tax hike. Also, despite proposing billions in construction projects in the state during the next 10 years, voters in the Atlanta area told the AP that the state can’t build its way out of the traffic congestion in the metro area.
In Valdosta, opponents spent a lot of time and money campaigning against the referendum, which could have passed the district despite Lowndes County’s no vote. However, citizens turned down the tax in the Southern Georgia district, with only Atkinson, Bacon, Clinch, Coffee and Irwin of the 18 counties voting yes to T-SPLOST.
Although final numbers were not available at press time, it appears that T-SPLOST has hit a dead end in Georgia.
Southern Georgia
Atkinson: Yes, 50.2 to 49.9 percent
Bacon: Yes, 52 to 48 percent
Ben Hill: No, 59 to 41 percent
Berrien: No, 56 to 44 percent
Brantley: No, 69 to 31 percent
Brooks: No, 61 to 39 percent
Charlton: No, 65 to 35 percent
Clinch: Yes, 56 to 44 percent
Coffee: Yes, 53 to 47 percent
Cook: No, 54 to 46 percent
Echols: No, 73 to 27 percent
Irwin: Yes, 51 to 49 percent
Lanier: No, 53 to 47 percent
Lowndes: No, 66 to 34 percent
Pierce: No, 55 to 45 percent
Tift: No, 53 to 47 percent
Turner: No, 59 to 41 percent
Ware: No, 66 to 34 percent
Defeated: 57 to 42 percent *
* All numbers are subject to change pending the certification of the election results on Aug. 3.
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