Elections...Now and in the Future

On November 8, 2011, the City will hold the Municipal General Election at the Dacula City Hall. In fact, City residents have been able to vote since October 21, 2011 in this election. Gwinnett County will hold the County General Election on the same day at regular county-polling places. This article is not designed to tell you how to vote in any of these elections. However, I hope the questions raised in this blog can be considered by every voter. If you have a better plan, let your elected officials know.

On the City ballot, residents will be voting to fill two council seats, that of Timothy Montgomery which is an opposed race and that of Susan Robinson who has no opponent. Residents will also vote on two referendums about the sale of alcohol and alcoholic beverages on Sunday. If a majority of voters concur, beer and wine will be allowed to be sold on Sunday afternoons in convenience stores and grocery stores. If voters concur on the second referendum, restaurants will be able to sell mixed drinks on Sunday afternoons.

There is only one item on the 2011 County General Election. It is to decide whether or not to extend the one penny sales taxes for educational purposes—the ESPLOST question.

In 2012, Gwinnett County residents will potentially vote on several items. Scheduled currently for July, the issue of providing a new one cent sales tax for transportation improvements on a regional basis will be decided--TSPLOST.

There will be no City election in 2012, unless there are ballot questions to be determined. I know of none now.

In 2013, I assume the Board of Commissioners will vote to continue the regular SPLOST one cent sales tax. The City will have an election in 2013 to elect the mayor and two council seats.

So currently and in the two future years, residents will be asked whether or not to continue ESPLOST and SPLOST and add a new TSPLOST tax. How does a voter decide on these matters especially in a time of economic turmoil?

Will any of these tax matters solve all the problems? The answer to that is NO. A follow-up question, will affirmative votes on these matters keep the situation from further deterioration? The answer is PROBABLY. Will defeating any or all of these tax issues make matters worse? MAYBE. Finally, if these tax issues are defeated, on whom does the problem devolve? THE PROPERTY OWNER AND TAXPAYER.

Let shoot straight from the hip. The City (for that matter Gwinnett County and the Gwinnett County School Board) doesn’t have any funding that doesn’t come from taxpayers. Your contribution to funding the City of Dacula may come from property taxes, other hidden taxes that are considered fees, from paying for services you personally receive such as trash collection and the like, from sales taxes on goods and services that you pay directly, or from business taxes that you pay indirectly. Some amounts, especially for sales taxes, come from outside our community, county, and even State--not from your pocket.

All state and local governments must have a balanced budget. Only the U. S. government can create money from a printing press. How has that worked for you? Every time the President puts a new dollar in circulation, your current dollar is worth less. Hence inflation and higher prices. And since your current dollar is worth less, the need arises for more tax money at every level—just to keep pace.

So what to do in the election cycles mentioned in this article? Every voter must decide the question does the benefit outweigh the cost of the sales tax for me personally? What benefit do I receive for my 1 penny sales tax for education? Better jobs maybe for my children. Higher paying jobs, maybe. A well-educated public or the like.

So what about the TSPLOST? Many have criticized the list of projects to be funded saying it isn’t ambitious enough. And truly it will not solve all our transportation problems in our region. Take a look at the list, and determine what it means for you. Will your commute be shorter, if you work downtown? Will it make your travel in the Dacula area easier? Be aware that more than half the money dedicated from the Gwinnett County TSPLOST list, directly affects the Dacula area.

As far as the regular SPLOST (assumed for 2013), you can look at how the City is spending current funding from previously passed sales-tax votes. You can see where the money is going and how it is helping you.

As you decide how to vote in these critical elections (both City and Gwinnett County), please consider the questions raised in this article. Remember the only money that any local government has to spend on these services and problem areas is from you.

Small Business in Dacula

I appreciate the businesses that serve our residents and that are located in our City. It really takes guts to want to be an entrepreneur in these hard economic times. I want to congratulate the small business people and national companies that invest their money, time, and lives in our City.

Starting your own business is a risk. About 30% of all new businesses will fail to be profitable in the first several years of operation. But starting your own business may be an answer to the problem of unemployment or underemployment for many. Most small businesses in the nation have only one employee, the owner, who works out of the home. But even with this statistic, small business is the major employer in the nation, and I think that is true in Dacula as well.

Why then do small businesses fail? One reason is, of course, the economy. Most startup businesses are underfunded. In our economy, it is hard right now to get entrepreneurial funding from banks and financial institutions.

A business may be started for the wrong reason. The owner may underestimate the time and hard work necessary to run a business. The business might be located in the wrong place. The owner may not understand how to plan using strategic, careful methods.

There may be regulatory problems that the owner didn’t consider, or there may be major, established competition for the customers of the startup.

Simply opening a business and waiting for customers just doesn’t get it. I found this statement from statistics gathered by the Small Business Administration interesting, “No website. Simply put, if you have a business today, you need a website. Period.”

I think this means that you have to be active on the “WEB” and social media, but you also need to be active in the locality also. If you don’t have a professional looking website describing your activity, you will lose business to those businesses that do. If your business is not active in the community, your business will lose customers to those businesses that are active community participants. One way any business can begin to work the community is through the Dacula Business Association. Joining with other businesses in the community is a first step. These are people you can network with who understand meeting a payroll, employee problems, what social media means, and the need for personal time.

When it comes to the success of any business, the business owner is ultimately the “secret” to success. Setbacks in business are to be expected. How the owner approaches those with drive, determination to learn, and a positive mindset will ultimately determine success or failure of a given business.

I am always pro-business in my outlook. Businesses mean jobs. Jobs mean a more successful community. Successful communities are places people want to visit and live. Spend you dollars in the community supporting your local businesses. It means success for you too.