TSPLOST LOST (Metro Atlanta Resoundingly Rejects 1% Sales Tax)

GA Secretary of State ^ | 8/1/2012 | GA Secretary of State

[from occupied ga]

Atlanta Metro area rejects a massive tax increase (an additional one percent sales tax on the existing 6% - 8% around the metro area.) The county by county results are as follows:

County	YES	NO	Total	Ratio yes/total
Cherokee	9105	35280	44,385	20.51%
Clayton	16750	19303	36,053	46.46%
Cobb	38703	85412	124,115	31.18%
DeKalb	57915	61792	119,707	48.38%
Douglas	6383	13534	19,917	32.05%
Fayette	6677	21712	28,389	23.52%
Fulton	69064	72365	141,429	48.83%
Gwinnett	28884	70273	99,157	29.13%
Henry	9405	23371	32,776	28.69%
Rockdale	5433	12484	17,917	30.32%
Total:	248,319	415,526	663,845	37.41%

[from occupied ga]

In spite of $10,000,000 in advertising by special interests that wanted to plunder up to $22 billion dollars statewide from the taxpayers and put it in their pockets the tax referendum temporarily lost in 9 of the twelve proposed taxing districts. The rancidly corrupt Atlanta mayor Kaseem Reid vowed to come back again in two years and try again. The special interests pulled out all the stops to try and ram this down our throats, with a constant barrage of lies about how this would improve traffic (it wouldn't), but enough of the taxpayers saw through the BS and voted no.

It can come up again in two years (Funny how if it's defeated it can come back in two years, but if it passes it passes for twn years). Expect another all out assulat of lies and more lies from the construction and real estate interests in trying to get the government to do their stealing for them>

Also note how the counties with the highest percentage of Democrats had the most support for the tax increase

[relictele]

Every time they raise gas taxes they claim it will help build roads and bridges - but it never does.

One can only imagine what kind of skimming (i.e. 100%) would go on with a sales tax slush fund. You couldn’t get a crack in a sidewalk repaired.

[from occupied ga]

The whole attempt to stick this to the citizens was based on lies. 52% of the plunder was going to MARTA. MARTA does nothing to help traffic congestion in the surrounding counties and damn little in the city itself.

[mikesmad]

So I am in the River Valley district which includes Muscogee County (Columbus) maybe the most liberal county in the state overall. Does this mean that the taxes in this district go up the 1%? In a way I hope so. I live in north Harris County so I can shop in Troup county easily and not pay a penny of this.

Muscogee County has never seen a tax or government program they did not love. I notice the project list for River Valley district includes the Columbus RiverWalk. How that applies to transportation I will never understand.

[Mr. K]

Just make it a ‘temporary’ tax, like the one-year ‘temporary’ tax enacted by Rutkowski in Erie County, NY 30 years ago (it’s still in place- we don’t even get news reports any more of the dog an pony show each year when they ‘renew’ it)

[relictele]

Interesting in that the polls showed many making an association between expansion of public transport and increasing the reach of gangs of thugs. Once again, voters aren’t stupid and can connect cause and effect, even if liberals want to pretend no link exists.

[from occupied ga]

Does this mean that the taxes in this district go up the 1%?

It sure does. Funny who the media, which was in favor of this big time, inadvertantly let out the truth this morning when one of the news weasels said that "the poorest countes voted FOR the tax PLACING THEMSELVES AT AN ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE TO THE REST OF THE STATE" Well duh, if countines voting for the tax placed themselves at an economic disadvantage, how about the whole area placing iteself at an economic disadvantage if the thing passed.

[rawhide]

I seem to remember reading that if any regions voted it down, (T-splost), that the highway dollars they receive from the state will go down? Any truth to that?

[mikesmad]

I can see it now. The districts that voted yes will collect the taxes, the state will reduce “normal” transportation funding by the same amount or more so that it can cover shortfalls in the other districts, and the yes districts end up in exactly the same place while paying higher taxes.

[from occupied ga]

Just make it a ‘temporary’ tax, like the one-year ‘temporary’ tax enacted by Rutkowski in Erie County, NY 30 years

Ha ha - you're a prophet. They DID tout it as a temporary tax (ten years). Funny how if the tax passed we'd be stuck with it for (at least) ten years, but when it failed they can bring this up for a vote again in TWO years.

[from occupied ga]

Any truth to that?

I heard the same thing, but I likewise don't know if it's true or not. It would be ironic if it were true.

[from occupied ga]

The districts that voted yes will collect the taxes, the state will reduce “normal” transportation funding by the same amount or more so that it can cover shortfalls in the other districts, and the yes districts end up in exactly the same place while paying higher taxes.

Thus rewarding the stupidity of of voting yourself a tax increase with a well deserved screwing. I like it. The only downside is that those who voted NO will be screwed along with the idiots who voted yes.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Scott Walker taught us something that Reagan tried to teach us. The way you destroy liberalism is to bankrupt it.

More Special Interest money that would have went to Obama flushed down the toilet.

[mikesmad]

I just drove from Atlanta to Memphis a few weeks ago so Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Georgia’s gas cost at least 20 cents higher than any of these states. All of that is taxes, not 20 cents worth of taxes, 20 cents MORE tax per gallon that these other states taxes.

Where is all of that money going? The same place the majority of the TSPLOST money would have gone. Inefficient public transportation, huge boondoggle projects such as high speed rail, and projects such as the Columbus RiverWalk which has nothing to do with the transportation of the citizens of Georgia.

I took my 18 year old son to vote for the first time with me yesterday. I printed out sample ballots early went through all of the people and issues on it and talked to my son about why I was going to vote for or against. I told him to mark his sample ballot and take it with him so there would be no confusion. Get to our polling place in a county that usually votes over 60% conservative, not many people there, yet we stand and wait 30 minutes for a voting machine because it was obvious that the people voting in front of us were clueless. They were having to “think” about every issue and person before deciding.

I do not have much hope for the future as I think at least 70% of the voting public have no idea. I have at least 10 people outside of my family that I know that just vote the way I tell them because it is too much trouble to inform themselves. The always call me and ask what they should do. I guess I should pray that I can get that number up to a million then we will be talking!

[mikesmad]

From the Newnan Times Herald Under the state law, regions that reject the tax will see their required “match” on certain state-funded transportation grants go from 10 percent to 30 percent. If the roundtable had not been able to come up with a project list, the match would be 50 percent.

[rawhide]

Thanks. That answers my question.

[mikesmad]

Yes it is all set up so you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

[The Sons of Liberty]

In all the ads, the crooked pols in Atlanta never explained where the billions they already have are going, or what they were going to do with the extra cash if TSPLOST passed. They only screamed that there would be “Dire Consequences” if it failed.

[Prov1322]

I am happily stunned that this was overwhelmingly defeated in ALL counties, not just up here in GreenAcres...

WooHoo!

[Trailerpark Badass]

One of the funnier reasons the ads gave for voting for it was that it would be administered by a board of “citizens,” instead of by politicians.