The perpetual cry of local politicians: ‘Mo’ money’

Mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money! So now we’re looking at yet another (aw, c’mon, it’s only a penny!) SPLOST, this time for cart path and road resurfacing, plus whatever.

This on top of our currently financing an entire city department via the ripoff stormwater “fee” (c’mon now, it’s just a tiny bit annually; oops, we’ve gotta double it; oops again, now you pay it twice a year), along with Chairman Oddo having the gall to lie about there being no tax increases in 2014, 2015 and 2016. (The Citizen, 08/18/2015, “Chairman Oddo: ‘Sky Is Not Falling’”).

Two factors comprise our tax “rate” — the millage (which, according to law, can only be raised by the voters) and the assessment (which is lawfully, though hardly honorably, manipulated to raise our taxes). Let’s see, my assessment was raised 7.9 percent in November 2014 and 11 percent in November – 19.8 percent in two years (which I’ve appealed, and I’m sure I can now kiss any hope of that goodbye).

When’s the last time you had a pay increase? Or saw any decrease in your water rates since the drought ended years ago, or in food prices since fuel prices have come down? And speaking of fuel prices, how about that increase in gasoline taxes because “people are using less”?

Our “conservative” government sees fit to to raise our taxes 19 percent in the past two years, fund a city department via a special “fee” and still has the audacity to tell us they can’t maintain the roads and cart paths without more money. They whine and cry about the city being built out and not taking in any more building fees from developers, but “attract” businesses with huge tax “incentives” (and let them build barracks to house their cheaper H-1B foreign workers), try to slide a huge water park (no pun intended) into the middle of town and raise our taxes while telling us they aren’t doing just that.

And how about wanting to spend some $2-3 million on another bridge over Ga. Highway 54 to allow residents in two subdivisions to drive their silly golf carts directly across to two shopping centers instead of having to go all the way around via the new bridge over the railroad tracks and through the new tunnel to Huddleston?

Awww, talk about deprived ... “Gateway Bridge,” my Obama. I think it’s time for us to put our foot down, tell government to shove their SPLOST, make do with the outrageous amount they’re already taking (think Taxed Enough Already) and stop trying to turn us into DeKalb County.

Taxed ENOUGH Already!
Gary Rettmann
Peachtree City, Ga.