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It's not difficult to see why SPLOST failed
Letter to the editor
lettereditor

Editor, Why did SPLOST fail? Just take a look at the article in Sunday’s Coastal Courier: “City council looks at property-tax increase.”
A week after the failure, the city already is trying to find money to make the budget. SPLOST is supposed to provide for items not covered by budget. If that were the case, then council would not have to be increasing the cost to homeowners to meet the budget.
Like the county, our city officials ignored the purpose of SPLOST and spent the money to create their yearly budgets. Nowhere in any of the SPLOST agreements did it ever say the money was to be used to balance a budget. It was advertised as a means of paying for items that were outside the budget and capital-outlay items.
Hinesville Mayor Jim Thomas was quoted as saying, “We only need to tighten our belts for nine months and then try to get SPLOST passed again.”
This is the spend-happy attitude constantly displayed by our elected officials. He is already planning on money not guaranteed and not likely to come.
The citizens finally said “enough is enough” at the state and national levels and booted out a lot of status-quo elected officials. Then, they spoke locally and said, “Enough spending our tax money to pay for your pet projects,” and failed to pass SPLOST.
It is high time these citizens clean our local offices of the dead-weight politicians who can only agree to spend, tax and send the rest of us into poverty. When the chance comes, elect new representation, boot these deadbeats out and get someone who will do what is right for the citizens for a change.

— Charles Woodall
Hinesville

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