T-SPLOST: Referendum Un-Constitutional?
Some state legislators are blowing the whistle on the Transportation Investment Act (TIA), commonly known as T-SPLOST. The regional 1% sales tax hike referendum is planned to be on the ballot July 31, the statewide primary election date. But if a Cobb legislator has his way the $6.2 billion tax vote will be postponed for two years to fix “fatal flaws” in the legislation.
State Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth), Reps. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna) and Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City have filed House Resolution 1350 and the enabling legislation, House Bill 938 in an attempt to salvage the regional tax proposal they claim is “un-constitutional”.
“I believe the TIA in its current structure is not constitutional under the Georgia constitution,” Setzler said, adding that there was broad consensus among General Assembly members in 2008 and 2009 a constitutional amendment had to be approved to address the transportation funding regionally. But such an amendment was never passed.
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Rep aims to postpone TSPLOST
The legislation would;
* Eliminate the TIA referendum set for July 31;
* Ask voters to amend the state constitution in November to allow for a regional transportation mechanism, thereby solving the question of whether the TIA is constitutional or not;
* Allow counties to band together in whatever combination they want through intergovernmental agreements and call for a transportation referendum;
* Allow counties to opt in to the proposed tax once their county commissions have ratified a transportation project list;
* Call for a July 2014 transportation referendum;
* Give counties the option to levy a fraction of a penny for the 10-year tax;
* Require the county or counties who are sponsoring a fixed transit system, such as light rail, to agree to pay for the ongoing operations of that transit system after the 10-year tax.
Setzler said he and other lawmakers have questioned the legality of the tax for years.
“I believe the TIA in its current structure is not constitutional under the Georgia constitution,” Setzler said, adding that there was broad consensus among General Assembly members in 2008 and 2009 a constitutional amendment had to be approved to address the transportation funding regionally. But such an amendment was never passed.
“Secondly, I believe any long-term regional solution needs to have an opt-in process,” he said. “(The counties) form the regions themselves, and arbitrary regions are not established by the General Assembly, and most importantly that it gives counties the power of self-determination. That’s paramount.”
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Rep aims to postpone TSPLOST
My Opinion: The Transportation Investment Act (TIA) is a multi-billion dollar boondoggle. It appears to be unconstitutional and the legislators should postpone the vote and correct their mistakes.
If not, voters should vote NO on the July 31 ballot referendum.
Dominique Huff
9:37 am on Tuesday, February 14, 2012
I initially supported this legislation as I was hoping for Georgia to finally get serious about transportation. Unfortunately, local politicians have allowed this legislation to become full of pork and pet projects that will do very little to move us around. Dekalb needs the MARTA rail line to be extended as it has been promised to them for years (taxation without representation anyone?). I heard of some areas using their funds for streetscape projects (lets narrow roads and plant nice trees while we are all stuck in traffic) and then Cobb is getting nearly nothing it wants. Ditto for Fayette. Fayette County is so mad that they wanted out of the Metro Atlanta region all together (truth be told, they really don't belong in it, they don't aspire to be anything beyond what they have and that's fine). Fulton and Dekalb will now have two sales taxes for transportation but no real transportation plan. Scrap it and start over. Let local jurisdictions come together on their own. Its time for localities to start cooperating and collaborating rather than drawing lines in the sand.
Bruce
5:02 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012
Why on earth would anyone give these bozos 10 years worth of taxing ourselves at 1% of everything we buy, including phones and utility bills?
Then there would be maintenance and operations costs.
And almost all the money of the 10 year tax would go to Fulton and Atlanta!
Chairman Worthan really looked after the people of Douglas County!
Lance Lamberton
1:53 pm on Tuesday, March 20, 2012
While I agree that there are constitutional issues that need to be addressed in the current TIA legislation, focusing on that issue will have no impact on the outcome of the vote on July 31. Voters care about two things: 1.) How much will it cost? and 2.) Is the cost worth it? Those are the questions which need to be effectively answered if the referendum is to be defeated. If passed, constitutional challenges will inevitably follow, and that is the time to raise them, as Rep. Setzler's well intentioned legislation has no chance of passing muster in this legislative session.