September 18 2007 SPLOST - $166 Million Tax

A Report on SPLOST Input Meetings: A Real dog and pony show

On September 18, 2007 Douglas County Georgia voters will be forced to the polls once again in an effort by Chairman Tom Worthan and the Board of Commissioners (BOC) to increase taxes. This time they are seeking $166 million, plus 12 year of interest payments on a 6 year tax.

In July 2006 Douglas County voters overwhelmingly rejected a $145 million Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) by a vote of 53% to 47%. Several factors lead to the defeat of these massive spending projects.

First, DCTC lead an informational campaign to inform the public of the vote and encourage a "NO" vote. DCTC was instrumental in generating a public debate that forced elected official to publicly comment on the tax. Once the officials began to comment, voters saw that the information they were being presented was misleading, vague and did not fully explain the impact this tax will have on businesses and homeowners.

Secondly, the City of Douglasville did not sign an inter-governmental agreement with the county to define the proposed projects. One issue that made headline news was the desire of city officials to demolish the current jail and move it to a different location. Douglasville city officials passed a resolution opposing the SPLOST because the BOC would not commit to moving the jail location.

Thirdly, the vote was conducted on the July 2006 primary date rather than a special election which guaranteed a larger voter turn out. Often public official will use special elections to fatigue voters and ensure a low voter turn out. Historically, the low voter strategy works to the government's advantage except where there is active opposition to the tax. Over 80% of SPLOST referendums pass. The 20% defeat rate is the results of political action from citizens to get out the "NO" tax voters. In Douglas County a 10% voter turn out represents less than 6000 voters. That's 6000 voters in a county of 115,000.

Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller was quoted as saying the 2006 jail referendum failed because they didn't have enough time to "educate the public" about the projects, even though they had over 6 months to spread their propaganda. The more information they revealed about the tax the more voters rejected it.

As the good ol' boys say, you can put lipstick and a dress on a pig, but it's still a pig. The SPLOST pig just keeps getting uglier.

On July 26, 2006, the Douglas Neighbor Newspaper quoted county administrator Eric Linton as saying, "The county's next SPLOST referendum will omit the jail and focus on parks and roads said county administrator Eric Linton. "We are going to speak to the Sheriff and find a way if they can expand the life expectancy of the current jail," said Linton.

Linton's opinion was obviously not that of "Taxin' Tom Worthan" and BOC. A few months later, "Taxin' Tom" and the BOC revealed they will again call for a special election on September 18, 2007. This time it will be for $166 million.

SPLOST 2007

During April and May, county and city officials called for a series of "public input meetings" seeking a wish list of projects to place on the referendum. Few citizens attended these meetings which were dominated by special interest groups seeking funding for their "pet projects".

DCTC supporters attended each of these meetings and asked relevant questions.

(Note: This is only a brief summery of these meetings and does not include all issues raised. DCTC will offer details of the proposed projects at a later time. A video recording was made of each event.)

Meeting One - Douglas County - April 17 2007: Annewakee Trail Club House

Hosted by businessman Jimmy Haddle and developer Kip Perry, about 40 people attended the first SPLOST meeting. About half were county officials and department heads. The rest consisted of special interest groups including members of DCTC. It was not explained how or why Haddle and Perry became moderators of the meeting rather than elected officials.

Chief Deputy Stan Copeland spoke on behave of the sheriff concerning the proposed $130 million prison facility. No explanation was given as to why the cost of the project had jumped from $87 million to $130 million.

After an introduction to the new SPLOST proposal, James Bell, director of DCTC asked about interest rates on the proposed new prison facility.

Perry told Bell that they would have to "get back with you on this". Bell insisted that they knew the answer and needed to inform the public of the cost. After a minute of whispering and paper shuffling, Linton showed Perry the numbers. The cost in interest for the prison project alone would be almost $50 million over 12 years.

A group wearing cowboy hats attended the meeting seeking million of dollars for an equestrian center (Horse Park) for competition and show.

A director of a local choral group made a presentation proposing to build a 300 seat performing arts theater with a 2000 seat amphitheater to adjoin a public library. No one suggested where in Douglas County a 2000 seat outdoor concert venue would be located.

Also on the wish list was a senior center in Lithia Springs, a YMCA in Douglasville and $25 million in road projects.

Meeting Two - Douglasville - April 19, 2005 - Convention Center

City manager, Bill Osborne moderated the meeting for the City of Douglasville. The only citizens to attend were supporters of DCTC and the advocate for the performing arts center.

Mayor Mickey Thompson and Police Chief Joe Whisenant made a presentation on the proposed city projects. Douglasville has agreed to receive more than $18 million from the SPLOST if approved by voters on September 18.

One controversial issue for Douglasville is a proposal to build a YMCA facility with tax dollars and allow YMCA to manage the facility for profit.

Meeting Three - Douglas County - April 26 2007 - GreyStone Power

The format was similar to the previous county "input meetings". A few new faces appeared asking for millions of tax dollars to build their "pet projects", literally.

This time Sheriff Phil Miller was there to present his case for a new jail. The Sheriff has since published an editorial letter in the Sentinel newspaper laying out his case. Once the sheriff asked for questions, James Bell expressed his concerns over the cost of a new prison facility.

"For the cost of this new facility the taxpayers of Douglas County could solve the over-crowding for the entire state of Georgia", Bell said.

Bell told the sheriff that last year he (the Sheriff) supported building an annex at the current location for a fraction of the cost of a new one. Miller said city officials want it moved from downtown.

When asked about the increase in cost (from $87 million to $130 million) of the new proposal, Miller said he never said the prison would cost $87 million, it would cost about $110 million to $115 million.

Bell pointed to Chairman Worthan and said that last year he promised the public he would not spend one dollar over $87 million for the prison. The actual cost may exceed $130 million plus interest over 12 years.

Out of nowhere Sheriff Miller revealed a plan to make the county jail a prison for profit. He said with the empty beds in a new prison the county could rent bed space to state, federal and local governments for profits.

"Now something we need to discuss as a community is when we build this jail, and we got 1500 beds, probably 400 or 500 of them are going to be empty. Do we want to do that as a community to offset the cost, until we can't do it any more?", Miller asked. "To say we won't ever do it, I won't, because I work for you folks, and if you want me to house federal prisoners to offset the cost, then I work for you."

Commissioner Charlie Camp stood in support of a new prison saying he was planning 125 years into the future. Mr. Camp is such a visionary!

A "dog and pony show"? A new proposal came from a spokesperson from "Bark N Trot, Inc.". They want $4 millions in tax dollars to build them a horse and dog park and be allowed to run the facility. They estimated $70,000 for part time workers to run the park. Fees would be charged to use the facility. No one spoke on the impact this facility would have on local for-profit horse farms.

One woman, a former librarian, spoke in favor of a new library because she lives 3 miles from the current one and wanted one closer to her home. She did not address the issue of the adjoining 2000 seat outdoor concert venue being proposed. Whose backyard are they planning to put this venue?

James Bell asked about operation and maintenance cost of the proposed projects and reminded everyone of the cost of the Aquatic Center project. The swimming pool cost escalated from $3 million to more than $9 million with annual revenue shortfall around $500,000. No one was able to provide any estimates for cost of O&M for the proposed projects.

During his election campaign, Tom Worthan spoke against the aquatic center saying it was a waste of tax dollars and should be built with private dollars. Ironically, he is proposing to build an ever larger YMCA facility with tax dollars and hand it over to a private company. Local related businesses say this will undermined there business and bring in unfair tax-exempt competition.

A former county employee asked why the county did not propose just the jail on the SPLOST referendum. Worthan replied that jails are not approved by voters on its own merits. Other more popular projects are used to entice a YES vote.

Meeting Four - Douglas County - May 3, 3007 - Clinton Nature Preserve

In the outdoor setting at Clinton Farms we witnessed the same SPLOST pitch from Haddle and Perry. Only a hand full of citizens attended with the majority being the same department heads and officials with the exception of newly elected commissioner Freddie Ashmon. Ashman did not attend any of the first three meetings.

Again Sheriff Miller made a presentation on why a new 1500 bed (cell) prison facility was needed. Afterwards, James Bell again asked some very pointed questions concerning the jail. Some confusion about the true size of the prison has resulted from comments made to the media by county administrator Eric Linton.

Linton described the prison as having 1400 single bed cells which can be doubled or tripled, etc. Meaning that, the prison could house more than 5000 inmates in the future. When asked about this, the sheriff said "Linton runs the county; it's my job to run the jail." Implying that Linton had misspoke - again!

Bell asked the sheriff why Douglas County needed such a large facility given the population estimates and comparing other counties to Douglas.

Bell said that Gwinnett County has a population over 900,000 and has a jail capacity of more than 2400 and state correctional institution with over 500 inmates.

In comparison, Douglas County currently has a population of 115,000 and jail population of 660 with 811 beds. Douglas County population estimates for 2025 are around 250,000.

Bell asked the Sheriff about the jail population. In a previous meeting Miller made a point to say that "all inmates are Douglas County inmates". But when asked about state inmates Miller admitted on that day they had about 60 state prisoners. He did not mention how many city inmates he is housing.

At one point Miller said he was concern about having 4 inmates per cell because they had to go to the rest room in front of each other. At that point a woman spoke up and said "so what, they are in jail". The sheriff said she would feel different if she had family in there. She replied, "I do and it's still not an issue."

Miller's public concern about inmates using a toilet in front of each other begs the question; Is Miller planning for 1500 bed or 1500 single bed cells that can be doubled tripled or quadrupled.

For the first time, a county official revealed that "FlagView" mobile home park area would be the location for the proposed facility. Sheriff Miller made the announcement since county commissioners have been discussing buying or condemning the property under eminent domain and could not reveal the details. It was obvious the county wanted the people of Douglasville to know the BOCs are looking to move the jail from the downtown area, even though the county would not commit to it in the inter-governmental agreement.

At each meeting, The Honorable Judge Marvin Shoob's name was brought up concerning the jail. County officials implied they are in violation of Judge Shoob's orders and federal guidelines and that the judge could order them to build a new jail. DCTC believes this is nothing more than a scare tactic to justify building this massive facility.

Tom Worthan admitted they have not spoken to the judge and they have no intentions to do so.

During a Q&A exchange between Bell and Worthan, Commissioner David Latham interrupted and approached Bell in anger yelling, "No! I've heard enough from you... this is my district!" Bell advised Latham to return to his position and back away. County officials who stood in the rear of the venue applauded Latham's suggestion that the meeting move on to other issues. Bell joked later it was the first time he had ever received a standing ovation from a county government. Bell and Worthan yielded the floor and the meeting continued.

So much for "public input".

Two citizens again asked about operation and maintenance cost of the proposed projects. Worthan said they have no estimates and they are not required by law to provide them.

A spokesman for a soccer association asked to add a soccer complex to the SPLOST wish list. Worthan noted that the county is negotiating with the school board to transfer land for a soccer facility. Worthan advise the gentleman that he should summit a cost proposal for a new soccer facility in case the negotiations break down.

Final Meeting - Douglas County - May 17, 2007 - Citizens Hall - Courthouse

This meeting was well attended thanks to Gold's Gym who brought a large group to speak against using tax dollars to build a YMCA facility that would directly compete with their business. Armed with a position paper on the topic, gym owner Gordon Johnson made his case. Johnson said the YMCA will be handed a multi-million dollar facility to operate for profit with no tax liability. More on this issue later.

It should be noted that the BOC quietly voted to approve the SPLOST ballot referendum two days prior to the final input meeting. Worthan said he was "astounded at the opposition". Gold's Gym was never consulted concerning the YMCA project and only learned of it 2 weeks before.

A list of proposed SPLSOT projects will be releases soon.

DouglaTaxes.com will keep you informed of the latest news!

We welcome your comments.

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