Editor, I just read Liberty County Administrator Joey Brown’s  column. Maybe, if government wasn’t so secretive, Liberty County citizens would be able to get all of the proper information that Mr. Brown has at his fingertips. I know firsthand how difficult it is to get the government to make records public.
Brown stated that SPLOST can be used only for capital projects that have been approved, yet the general population has never been asked what projects they want. Most SPLOST projects are no more than glitter; they don’t address serious needs. There is no need for such an extravagant justice center, which had major cost overruns, or the extension of a runway that has no practical purpose, especially when there are dirt roads that should be paved and paved roads that are full of potholes.
If the Auburn study stated that Georgia is one of the fastest-growing states, what does that have to do with Liberty County, where the president is taking away our taxpayers by reducing the contingent at Fort Stewart? If Liberty County is growing, then the extra population will increase the amount of taxes for the county to pay for improvements. A tax is a tax, whether it is SPLOST or LOST or property taxes.
If Mr. Brown wants to shift the tax burden from the property owners to consumers, he should do away with all property taxes and go strictly to a fair or consumer tax. I don’t think that the public is confused; Liberty County is confused.

— Len Calderone
Midway