SPLOST

Some of you might not know what SPLOST is. It stands for "special purpose local option sales tax" and it is common in the state of Georgia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special-purpose_local-option_sales_tax

Here in Cobb County, Georgia, we love SPLOST. In related news, we are sheep with sore anuses (or is that "ani"?).

http://www.whitlockavenue.com/2009/12/16/cobb-county-splost-update-dec-2009/

http://northatlantarealestatevoice.com/2009/02/13/cobb-county-splost-projects-update/

http://northatlantarealestatevoice.com/2009/05/19/cobb-county-splost-project-updates/


Why do I mention it here on my blog? Because it is one of the most insidious taxes I have ever seen, and it has been in the news here locally. It is also a good way to separate the men from the boys, so to speak. There are people who claim to want to reduce taxes but think it's okay to support SPLOST taxes in their own communities. You can tell that such a person is not at all serious about reducing taxes or the waste associated with big government.

Anyone with a brain realizes that money in any government treasury is fungible. In order to justify the increased taxation, government assigns SPLOST funds to the most popular projects or needs. Of course, these are the same projects that would (or should) be funded anyway, whether SPLOST funds were available or not. And whenever a project is done with SPLOST funds they love to advertise it, to show you that your money was well-spent. There are signs posted everywhere saying something like "your SPLOST money at work." For example, they did this when they widened a road near me that alleviated a significant amount of congestion at a heavily-traveled intersection (shouldn't have needed SPLOST to do this small but much-needed project). Yet they don't put signs on the government waste that also gets funded because the obvious stuff got funded with SPLOST....

You can say "this money will only go for this purpose" all you want. If so, you are stupid and you are an enabler of big government. Really no different than giving an alcoholic money and making him promise to use it "just for food." Even if he does, he's going to have money left in his pocket, money that he would have used for food, for ... wait for it ... alcohol.

Anyway, even though it's not true (or at best, it's a distinction without a difference), government officials claim that SPLOST funds won't be mixed with general funds. And, for the most part, when SPLOST approval is put on the ballot they dedicate it to popular projects.

So that's why the recent stories in the news were so interesting. It turns out that the above claims (funds are separate from the general fund, only used for popular projects) are simply not true. I know, shocking, isn't it? As I said, if you have a brain this is intuitively obvious. But some people still don't get it. They need proof. With that in mind, let's get to the following stories.


In the first story, we see that SPLOST being dedicated to specific purposes is absolute fiction. Not much to comment on here, the article speaks for itself. Maybe just a simple "I told you so" will suffice. I guess I should also mention my amusement as I read about school board officials wondering whether this was legal--the blind leading the blind over there.

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/7458728/article-Committee-OKs-use-of--23M-in-SPLOST-money-to-close-gap?instance=secondary_story_left_column


And now the second item, that SPLOST is used for popular items, stuff that would have been done anyway. Here in Cobb County, Georgia a recent SPLOST tax was approved for education. So here's what they did:

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/7411694/article-Turf-s-in-?instance=home_news_bullets

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/7107148/article-Judge--SPLOST-can-fund-artificial-turf?instance=lead_story_left_column

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/5903952/article-Citizen-sues-over-using-SPLOST-for-artificial-turf

That's right, "education" actually means improving athletic fields. Any bets as to whether they said that when they were pushing the tax?

That's okay, though. It's not like the schools need money. Oh, wait a minute.

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/7411698/article-Massive-cuts-included-in--819-4M--11-budget

It is possible that the way this particular SPLOST funding was structured prevents it from being used to address the budget shortfalls mentioned above, I'm not sure. But if so, that's another strike against SPLOST. Impose a tax whose funds can't be use where needed so that unnecessary projects get funded while more important services are cut? Sounds like a great idea--if you're an artificial turf vendor.


Back to the turf. Here is a Facebook group supporting the use of SPLOST money for athletic turf:
http://pt-br.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=356278303571&topic=14793

Here is one comment on this page: "Another big thing is the cost it curenty cost to groom the field (cut the grass),gas for the lawn mower paint the field every week, replacing the sod after each spring, the sprinklers to water the sod. when you look at it the expenses it takes into the upkeep of sod verus synthic terf, it is more cost efficent in the long run. it would also be enjoyed for many years to come"

Before you go any further, ask yourself the question you should ALWAYS ask yourself: "How does it benefit them if I believe what they say?" Then apply it to the situation at hand: "If this magic turf is so much more cost effective, why do we need SPLOST money to pay for it???"

Most of the "arguments" for using SPLOST for athletic fields boil down to, "The other guys have done it, why can't we do it? Wah, wah." And I love some of the other "arguments" on this page:

"1. It is well documented that a synthetic turf field would be used all day by our PE classes and other academic classes and natural turf fields cannot or will not be used near as much."
>> Fascinating. So why wouldn't you just use normal school funding to buy it?

"2. Cobb as well as every other school system uses SPLOST money to build new schools which include a gym (with bleachers) and athletic fields: game, practice, baseball and football. Grass is sodded or planted on those fields. Synthetic turf is just expensive grass that will last 10 years or more. Instead of going in and sodding a whole field we are installing synthetic grass."
>> Fascinating. If it's so cost effective, why wouldn't you just use normal school funding to buy it?

3. If we cannot use SPLOST money for synthetic turf on a PE/athletic field then we should not build a gym for the PE classes. If we cannot use SPLOST money for stadiums then we should not be able to use SPLOST money for bleachers in the gym.
>> This is the worst argument yet. Response 1: How did we ever manage to build bleachers, gyms, athletic fields, etc. in those barbaric days before we managed to bilk the public out of SPLOST funds? Response 2: Well no shit, Sherlock. Of course you shouldn't be able to use SPLOST funding for any of those things!