Saturday, March 12, 2011
Plus a complete list of East Cobb voting precincts for Tuesday's referendum.
Advance voting is complete; all that's left now is Tuesday's referendum to decide whether the Cobb Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax will continue through 2015 or run out at the end of this year. According to the Cobb Board of Elections & Registration, 6,522 Cobb citizens took part in advance voting that ended Friday, with 220 additional mail ballots still unreturned. The proposed four-year, $492 million extension of the penny sales tax would fund a wide array of transportation and facilities improvements, including schools, public safety, parks and recreation and libraries. An estimated $55 million of the funding, if approved by voters, would be spent on projects in East Cobb. Groups supporting and opposed to the SPLOST extension …
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
A roundup of local government news in and near East Cobb.
1. The final week of early voting in the 2011 Cobb SPLOST referendum ends on Friday, and East Cobb voters now have the convenience of casting their ballots close to home. Early voting takes place all this week at the East Cobb Government Center, 4400 Lower Roswell Road. Voting hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no voting on Monday, March 14. The official referendum vote is March 15. For more information, call 770-528-2581 or visit cobbelections.org. 2. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Monday that pro-SPLOST forces have raised nearly $233,000, largely from business interests, with nearly half of that coming from the Cumberland Community Improvement District. By comparison, anti-SPLOST groups have raised around $1,50o, …
Monday, March 7, 2011
After Saturday's rainy rally, another 'Ax the Tax' event is slated for this weekend.
- GOVERNMENT
- Kim Koch
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Monday, March 7, 2011
Bad weather over the weekend didn't deter opponents of the Cobb Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, and they have another "Ax the Tax" rally planned Sunday, two days before the referendum. James Bell, director of the Georgia Taxpayers Alliance, which sponsored Saturday's rainy rally on Marietta Square, reminded those in the crowd about the the March 15 vote and offered a rundown of his group's contention that past SPLOST money has been misspent. One example is the recent removal of trees that had been planted along Piedmont Road, which will be replaced with new trees as part of an appropriation in the new SPLOST. According to rally participants, the cost of the 1 percent sales tax breaks down to about $600 a year per Cobb County family…
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
News and events related to the local option sales tax referendum.
1. The central Cobb voter registration office is the location for early voting in the Cobb Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum that began on Monday. Citizens may cast votes in person of the March 15 referendum Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, March 11. The central voting office is located at 736 Whitlock Avenue, Suite 400, near downtown Marietta. 2. If you want some more information or wish to hear opposing sides in the SPLOST debate, the League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb is holding the only public forum on the issue Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting room, 100 Cherokee St., 2nd floor, downtown Marietta. The participants will be Lance Lamberton of the Cobb County …
Monday, February 7, 2011
Debate sponsored by League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb.
Cobb residents interested in the proposed SPLOST extension can hear from both sides at a forum Feb. 23. If approved by voters in a March 15 referendum, the special four-year tax would begin Jan. 1, 2012, just as the current collection period ends. The new tax would generate $492 million for parks, recreation and transportation maintenance projects.. Arguments for passage of the SPLOST will be presented by Rose Wing of Citizens for Cobb’s Future, which supports the extension. Lance Lamberton, president of the Cobb County Taxpayers Association, will give the opposing view. The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb, will begin at 7 p.m. in the government complex at 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta. The forum will also …
Thomas Palmer
11:05 am on Monday, March 14, 2011
Amy: Do you know property owners are being threatened with a tax increase if they don't support the continuation of SPLOST? Do you know that active retail business licenses in Cobb County have declined from 32,000 in 2009 to 18,000 in 2011? Do you know that the Cobb County Employee Pension Fund has an unfunded liability in excess of $301 million dollars? Do you know that the Cobb County … more ›