Two things that strike fear in the hearts of Augusta commissioners, and both of those things are directly decided by voters when they cast their votes.
The first thing that commissioners fear is an election that would decrease the power of their “bloc” on the commission or deny them a second term. The second thing they fear is having to approve or deny is a new Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
A political ally losing a seat is damaging and foreboding, but a “no” vote on SPLOST is seen as an indictment against the entire commission itself. It dashes their hopes of having the extra spending money to build something tangible that will serve as their legacy to the community.
It is important to first note that, in 2004, voters proved that voting against SPLOST does not hamper the government’s ability to conduct day-to-day business, and doing so gives politicians pause before they unveil a pork-riddled wishlist of vanity projects to the electorate.
City department heads have scrambled to present their lists of “wants,” and now many of them need to go right back to the drawing board and return with a list of “needs.”
In the past, excluding the year 2004, voters have gone along with providing the funding for building convention centers, aquatic centers, library expansions and splash pads at the recreation centers, only to see the new infrastructure built but not maintained properly.
Regardless, the commissioners continue to waddle up to the SPLOST trough like a teenager expecting their weekly allowance without having cut the lawn or perform other chores to earn that money.
This year, the public needs to demand that commissioners put together a list of vital needs and leave it at that. Augusta’s ever eroding tax base is not in need of a TEE Center expansion to the tune of $12 million.
Despite the fact that most city buses run daily at less than one-fourth of their capacity and bus stop shelters remain tagged with graffiti and vandalized, Transport Services is asking for $16.5 million to build a brand new transfer building, claiming the current 34 year-old building is “Aesthetically depressed, obsolete and tired.”
A 34-year-old building that is only used by a tiny fraction of the population may be considered “at the end of its useful life,” but the public should ask for more details.
The Parks and Recreation Department has a new director, but she has not proven to be the dynamo needed to pick up the pieces left behind by the former director and forge a new path forward. That has not stopped Tamika Williams from asking for $129 million to be spread out over SPLOSTs 9, 10 and 11.
And no, Augusta does not need a million dollar “Family Outdoor Zipline Adventure” so that people can experience the sensation one feels while falling off a cruise ship in the Caribbean.
Augusta voters need to draw a strict line with this commission and demand a SPLOST package that contains only infrastructure that keeps vital services, such as water delivery and sewage maintenance, intact and operational.
Otherwise, we should follow the example of the voters from 20 years ago and simply vote “no.”
