Posted on 10/31/2013 5:45:27 AM PDT by from occupied ga
If Gwinnett voters approve a renewal of the county’s one cent special purpose local option sales tax next month, some of that money will be used to improve emergency response times at the county’s 132 schools and the four schools in the city of Buford.
Commissioners have voted to spend up to $5 million on the emergency notification system that would be linked directly to the county’s 911 operations center.
Gwinnett Police Chief Charles Walters says it would include a panic button as well as video cameras.
“The camera feeds will enable the 911 call takers to provide real-time information to first responders to a school incident,” he told reporters.
Walters says the idea emerged following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. But he warned the project cannot go forward if the SPLOST is not renewed.
“The fact is, if we’re going to install a system, that’s the only way we can provide the funds to do that,” he says.
Of the $498 million the SPLOST is expected to generate, nearly $71 million is allocated for public safety. The largest chunk of that money will be spent on new equipment and vehicles for police, fire, EMS, and the sheriff’s department.
Typically commissioners do not approve projects until after the tax is approved by voters. But a county spokesman tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish inquiries from the public prompted the commission to go ahead and approve those specific projects that had already been identified as part of public safety.
Bobby Crowson, Associate Superintendent for School Improvement and Support for Gwinnett Schools, says the emergency notification system is another way to ensure the safety of students.
“The fact we cannot have a police officer on every campus right now given the budget concerns we do have and the available resources, this… would be an incredible benefit to us,” he says
IT'S NOT A ONE CENT TAX!!
It's a half billion dollar tax. You can tellwho the tax lovers are when they refer to it as a "penny tax" or a "one cent tax"
There are 202,317 households in Gwinnett county This "penny tax" will cost the average Gwinnett county household $2461. So if you want to give an additional $2461 to the county to squander on their wish list, then vote for it. Otherwise try and force the greedy grasping bureaucrats to tighten THEIR belts and get by on less like th rest of us. All of this BS about "it's for the children" is one of the standard ploys to get fools (otherwise known as 0bama voters) to vote for the plundering to continue. I got a robo-call last night from some actor pretending to be a 'conservative", but really pushing the sales tax. Funny that. There is always PLENTY of money to be spent by the special interests to whom the dollars will flow to try and convine the fools that somehow it's in their best interest to give the government more of their money.
AIN'T SO
Nobody could respond faster than an armed teacher already on the scene.
Gwinnett SPLOST. Trying to raise taxes to bring in extra money to pay for the things they are already supposed to be doing.
GA FReeper ping.
Hoodat nails it.
Translated to English: "Give us $498 million or something bad might happen to your children."
Didn’t you guys already pay for the Richmond Braves to come there? I’ve heard other rumblings from this county before.
Let’s ask the school board why they are donating gazzillions of dollars to the Chmber of Commerce. Oh, that’s right—we did and got no satisfactory answer.
I was born here, from a family that goes back before the Civil War. In that time, at least when I wasn’t overseas in the military, I have never seen a ‘special’ tax that was really necessary.
They, SPLOSTS, are largely heart-tugging excuses for government and bureaucrats to access more money, more power, and more employees. Grow government at any expense.
Add to that the potential corruption for special contracts, sub contracts, and sales deals for deciding bureaucrats and you have nothing but laziness and corruption - all to assuage the voters’ sensibilities over safety or welfare.
I have made it a lifelong practice to vote against ANY SPLOST, regardless of the stated intention, because as Hoodat says, “they should have been doing that anyway with the money they are already taking from us.”
There is nothing so despicable as a local politician. Enough power, less supervision, and less media or grass roots to root out corruption.
There is NEVER an upper limit on government greed. Their appetite for OUR money is unlimited. Seeing the fat donut suckers pushing this is typical. It's going to go to supporting more armed donut sucking bureaucrats among other wastes of money
Correct. They've been looting the taxpayers with this for the last five years. Now they want to extend the plundering for another 3 years.
Me too.
From viewing the sample ballot,
this is apparently the only item
on the ballot for next Tuesday.
-
GWINNETT COUNTY SPECIAL
Special 1% Sales Tax
“Shall a special one percent sales and use tax
be imposed in the Special District of Gwinnett
County for a period of time not to exceed three
years and for the raising of an estimated
amount of $498,000,000 for the purposes of
roads, streets, bridges, and sidewalks, public
safety facilities and equipment, recreational
facilities and equipment, senior service
facilities and equipment, relocation and
renovation of library facilities, library
equipment, city administrative facilities, city
water and sewer capital improvements, city
parking facilities, and city capital voting
equipment?”
___YES
___NO
-
They never want to give up that money once they have it.
Even if it’s “only pennies”.
Liberals wrote the book on ‘Greed’.
If the SPLOST tax doesn’t pass the pols will just raise property taxes. At least with SPLOST the tax is paid by everyone and not just the property owners. The sole commissioner in our small county threatened us with this to get the tax passed.
“Me too”
Me three.
TOTAL BS. Don't believe that for a moment. That's part of the standard BS that the tax suckers use to push this crap.
I live in Gwinnett. VERY conservative county (Rob Woodall is one of the Reps). This SPLOST will pass though. They almost always do. If I’m not mistaken it’s replacing one that is expiring.
You are correct, but that is NO reason to vote for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.