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.
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