2012 Transportation Vote May Be Moved To November
Decatur Metro | June 23, 2011Steve points to an article in the Augusta Chronicle, which gives the first indications that the state of Georgia may do what was suggested by a conservative rail politico a couple weeks back: move the transportation sales tax vote from July to November.
Todd Long, the planning director for the Georgia Department of Transportation, said the state is weighing the options of moving the transportation referendum, originally scheduled for the July 2012 general primary, to the November 2012 general election.
Turnout for the general election will be much higher, potentially allowing the sales tax vote to get “lost in the shuffle” but also greatly increasing any marketing costs associated with the tax, which cannot be paid using public money, he said.
…What’s on the list likely will sway voters in an area where a Georgia Municipal Association study last week showed that only 12.9 percent of officials polled believed the tax referendum would pass today.
Speaking of which…not much good news for the transportation tax in this poll.
Latest from Decaturish
from coverage of poll:
“This is about whether we’re going to continue to be a great state or a great region, or we’re going to enter a period of decline. It’s really that simple,” Reed said.
No, this is about whether we’re going to pretend it’s 1992 and spend a decade adding a relatively small portion of transit riders while pouring a great amount of asphalt, rather than preparing for the probable circumstances of 2030, 2040, and 2050. Anticipating the effects of that which the future may bring is anything but simple.
But if you always think the future will be more of the same, then eventually you will fall flat on your face.
Diversity of options is generally the safest bet, no?
If raising taxes beyond where they are now is purported to prevent decline, then we are already in decline, and increasing the tax rate will accelerate it. Unless one calls it an “investment” then everything is OK.