VALDOSTA — As with most issues, the upcoming referendum to collect an  additional one cent sales tax on most retail goods for transportation projects has drawn plenty of support and opposition.

In Lowndes County, where the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax is estimated to raise over $268 million over the next ten years, that division of opinion from local leaders is clear.

Another issue of interest was that the majority of citizens solicited randomly at the local post office were unaware or uninformed on the sales tax in question. Many had never heard of the proposal or thought it was part of the motor fuel tax.

William Johnson identified himself as a Democrat and was one of the few local residents who had an opinion or time to make a comment on the tax.

“My problem with the referendum is normally taxes like these stay in effect once they’re put in place,” he said.

Johnson also felt like there wasn’t enough information available to the public and was concerned about how communities would spend the 25 percent discretionary funds from the collection. He also thought the economy was weak and another tax would just increase the burden on citizens.

Local bicycle activist and plumber Matt Portwood is in favor of the tax because increased fuel efficiency over the last 40 years and no increase on the state gas tax since 1971 has left many projects and repairs under-funded. He also felt that urban sprawl increases our obligations.

“I see T-SPLOST as a responsible and accountable way to fund road improvements and road maintenance,” he said. “We’re not going to be creating new debt to build these roads and we know what the projects will be for the most part.”

Still, Portwood has his problems with the tax, especially with the name.

“I think T-SPLOST is a mis-nomer. It’s not an option and it’s not local. It’s regional and there is no plan B,” said Portwood.

Valdosta businessman Roy Taylor has publicly stated his opposition to T-SPLOST numerous times in the last 18 months. About a month ago, he brought a pair of flip-flops to Valdosta Mayor John Gayle at a city councilmeeting for coming out in support of the tax after declaring during his campaign he was against it.

“We have enough funding in transportation. They need to invest it wisely and quit building unnecessary projects,” said Taylor. “This recession is one of the worst times in the entire world. No matter how rich or poor someone is, they’ll have to increase their salary by one percent to make up for the tax increase. That’s one meal a month at least.”

One of Taylor’s biggest problems with the tax is that Lowndes County will serve as a donor county for the rest of the Southern Region, which is comprised of 18 counties. Almost $100 million collected in Lowndes County will be spent in other counties.

He argues that local investments of cash and labor, along with government services and protection should be repaid locally, not shipped off to another county. He’s also concerned that state and federal funding already allocated for Lowndes County projects that have also been included on the T-SPLOST project list will disappear or go to another community.

“If this tax passes, I intend to take it all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States of America and I’ve got the money to do it,” Taylor warned.

Local politicians are also divided on the tax. Valdosta District 6 council member Robert Yost has also been a vocal opponent to the tax proposal.

“I’m not against what they want to do with transportation, but it’s how they’re going about this,” he explained. “They need to return power to local governments but we don’t really have a choice in this.”

Yost is referring to the “incentives” of the tax proposal that penalize communities if they don’t push it along. If regions did not create a project list and allow the tax to be included on the ballot, they were penalized and required to match 50 percent of all Local

Maintenance Improvement Grant funds on projects. If voters decide not to take on another penny sales tax on their purchases, local governments are required to match 30 percent of all LMIG funds.

He’s also against Lowndes County  being a donor county.

“They come here and spend money but we have to spend a lot of money to provide the services they use,” said Yost. “I believe that’s a wash in this whole equation and it’s not necessary.”

He also doesn’t understand why Gov. Nathan Deal recently canceled a scheduled penny increase to the gasoline tax.

He’s concerned that because the entire region will vote on the tax, even if Lowndes County overwhelmingly opposes it, the sales tax could still pass. T-SPLOST will pass if 50 percent of the region’s voters plus one citizen vote to approve the tax.

Lowndes County District 3 Commissioner Crawford Powell called the proposal a “pig with lipstick,” but said the investment in transportation infrastructure was vital for economic reasons.

“I can’t tell you it’s my favorite tax but with the way they framed the proposal, there’s a lot of unknowns on exactly how money will be spent and used,” said Powell. “My biggest concern is there’s no plan B. Transportation is one of Georgia’s strengths and if we do not continue to support and enhance that we will lose that advantage to other neighboring states.”

Projects like widening State Road 133 and U.S. 84 are already included on regional projects lists, and Powell also has problems with how the tax was proposed. He agrees that voters can confuse it with other SPLOST taxes and the penalties on communities.

He predicts it will pass regionally and he said that the additional revenue will allow other SPLOST funds to be used on capital investments instead of transportation projects.

Georgia Democrat Party secretary Laverne Gaskins lives in Lowndes County and supports the tax proposal.

“Our community can use the support to improve transportation infrastructure. I think it would be short-sighted if we as a community sat idle and continued to allow our roads to erode and deteriorate,” she said. “I’m all about encouraging an environment that stimulates job creation.”

Lowndes County Chairman Ashley Paulk served on the Regional Roundtable which created the project list for the Southern Region but is hard-pressed to support it.

“It’s good that we can get a lot of projects done but I think the amount of control that Atlanta Department of Transportation will have over it is not good; You’re pitting counties against each other and you’ve got that threat of what they’re going to take away from you,” said Paulk. “I think Lowndes County should help other counties, I’m just very concerned about the amount of economic and political power the DOT in Atlanta will have over it.”

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