Pros:
-- Protects and preserves the taxpayers' capital assets;
-- Improves the buildings and classrooms where students and teachers learn and work every day;
-- Will put a smart board in every classroom that doesn't have one and will make all schools wireless;
-- The project list was developed by an outside engineering firm whose engineers visited each and every DeKalb Schools' property not once, but twice, as part of a comprehensive facilities assessment;
-- Will infuse $475 million of economic activity into DeKalb County, thereby bringing jobs and stability to neighborhoods across the County;
-- Is an advantageous way to preserve and improve our capital assets because over 30% of the money is paid by visitors, commuters, and shoppers who live outside DeKalb;
-- Is not a new tax -- it's been in place since 1997;
-- Without the school SPLOST, homeowners automatically lose a part of their homestead exemption;
-- Without the school SPLOST, the only way to pay for new roofs, sewer systems, and other capital needs is to increase property taxes;
-- Without the school SPLOST, last year's legislation that reduces the size of the Board of Education from 9 to 7 members, in accord with best practices, will be inapplicable and we will not have an opportunity to vote for an entirely new, smaller, Board of Education in July 2012.
-- The new Superintendent has announced an oversight committee comprised of 12 members from the community and with expertise in construction, project management, finance, and legal. Unlike past practices, this committee will not be appointed by elected Board members, but will be appointed by the Superintendent.
Cons:
-- In past cycles, the SPLOST project list was affected by back-room political trading. Not the case this time.
-- The woman who served as the school system's head of construction was indicted based on financial malfeasance. Thankfully, she is being held accountable and is awaiting trial.
-- Yes, it is a penny sales tax, and a tax is a tax. However, it is not a new tax, and, unlike an increase in the millage rate (which is what is likely to happen if we don't have SPLOST), the voters have a say in this one. Voters don't have a say in whether the millage rate goes up.
