The GOP Presidential Primary isn't the only item on the March 6 ballot in the city of Atlanta.
On Super Tuesday, city of Atlanta voters will also decide whether to reauthorize MOST, a one-cent municipal option sales tax that aims to keep water rates down.
If voters fail to renew the tax, water rates could increase by 25 to 30 percent.
"Your water and sewer rates are already high," Jo Ann Macrina, commissioner of the department of watershed management, said Monday night at the Neighborhood Planning Unit- F meeting.
If renewed, the tax rate would remain one-cent and water rates would not increase, she said.
Voters first approved the water and sewer tax in July 2004 and reauthorized it in 2008.
From Oct. 2004 to Oct. 2011, the tax generated $700 million.
The money from the tax is used to keep water rates down. It also supports Clean Water Atlanta, a $4 billion water and sewer infrastructure improvement project. Roughly 20 percent of the money collected pays for improvement projects, Macrina said, which is about $100 billion per year.
Kay Stephenson
3:43 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
At least with the MOST, we know where the money is going. Not so clear with the T-SPLOST
Mike
11:18 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Kay, are you joking? There is a complete list of projects for the T-SPLOST so you know exactly where the money is going. The whole process has been very transparent...
http://www.atlantaregionalroundtable.com/
Lee
8:39 am on Thursday, February 23, 2012
Mike, is it a one PERCENT sales tax, or a one CENT sales tax? A one CENT increase is closer to a THIRTEEN PERCENT increase, whereas a one PERCENT increase, which would be .008 cents (far less than one cent). Do you know? I will be voting NO the transportation tax. It is just lining the pockets of a few politicians and their friends and families.
Lee
8:38 am on Thursday, February 23, 2012
Mike, is it a one PERCENT sales tax, or a one CENT sales tax? A one CENT increase is closer to a THIRTEEN PERCENT increase, whereas a one PERCENT increase, which would be .008 cents (far less than one cent). Do you know? I will be voting NO the transportation tax. It is just lining the pockets of a few politicians and their friends and families.
Mike
2:00 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012
Lee... it will add an additional 1% to the sales tax rate... the city of Atlanta is currently 8%... so if this voted in it will be 9%... so if you spend $10.00, the sales tax will be 0.90 cents... get it???
Clearly you are uneducated on this matter and it's sad you are so short-sighted to vote no...
"our transportation issues create a domino effect on much of what we Georgians are groaning about every day around the water cooler. A healthy transportation system is like a fertilizer to the growth of the Georgia economy: it stimulates the attractiveness of our market, thus enticing businesses to relocate here.
New businesses mean new jobs, and new jobs mean economic growth. In contrast, an undernourished transportation system, much like the one we have, acts as a pesticide on our economy. It destroys the veins and arteries that pump vitality into our market."
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_talk/2012/02/tsplost-a-penny-saved-means-a-lot-of.html
Lee
10:13 am on Monday, February 27, 2012
Mike, the question is about a tax INCREASE - not the percentage of $1 after the increase occurs.....get it? Brush up on your math. I suggest you go to http://www.1728.org/percent2.htm and select option B.
Clearly, you are uneducated in basic math principles, and your opinions should be taken with a lick of salt. Giving unfettered access to tax payers money is shortsighted on YOUR part - unless you are a politician on on some other taxpayer dole.
Lee
10:40 am on Monday, February 27, 2012
Mike, here is an example in round numbers to make it simple so you can understand.
If 25 cents is increased to 50 cents, what is the percentage increase?
It your tax bracket is 25 cents on the dollar, and a proposed tax will make it 50 cents on the dollar. You will pay $50 for every $100 you spend in tax, but the INCREASE above what you were paying is 100% (because 50 cents is 100 percent MORE than 25 cents).
Now, let's substitute your 1 cent sales tax. If your sales tax is 8 cents on the dollar, and it is going to increase by 1 cent to 9 cents. One cent is 12.5 percent of 8 cents. So, increasing an 8 percent tax by one cent is a 12.5 percent increase from the original 8 percent.
I can only hope that you are just trying to mislead people to see things your way by putting out WRONG information to get people to vote for government's unfettered access to other people's hard earned money. Surely you are so uneducated that you cannot figure basic percentage problems - taught in 6th grade math class.
Lee
6:34 am on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Mike - haven't heard back from you - is it, as you say, an additional 1% to the sales tax rate OR an additional one cent - which is an increase of 12.5%?
You may not think it matters but it does because people measure their expenses in comparison to other measures like the rate of inflation (about 2.1 percent) and increases in their pay (doubtful to be anywhere near 12.5 percent).
If ALL their expenses increased by 12.5 percent - as you want with this tax increase- and their income only went up by far less, if at all, then it will not be long before they will be in real trouble.
Mike, that is why it is DISHONEST and IMMORAL for you to try to convince people that a sales tax increase that is multiple times the rate of normal inflation and multiple times the rate of normal wage increase is only "one percent of the current tax rate". You know as well as I do that It is not. If you do not know, well, you should. Shame. Shame. Shame.
Lee
6:32 am on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Mike - haven't heard back from you - is it, as you say, an additional 1% to the sales tax rate OR an additional one cent - which is an increase of 12.5%?
You may not think it matters but it does because people measure their expenses in accordance with other measures like the rate of inflation (about 2.1 percent) and increases in their pay (doubtful to be anywhere near 12.5 percent).
If ALL their expenses increased by 12.5 percent - as you want with this tax increase- and their income only went up by far less, if at all, then it will not be long before they will be in real trouble.
Mike, that is why it is DISHONEST and IMMORAL for you to try to convince people that a sales tax increase that is multiple times the rate of normal inflation and multiple times the rate of normal wage increase is only "one percent of the current tax rate". It is not. Shame. Shame. Shame.
Lee
10:53 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
http://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/2011/images/proposed/11O1531.pdf
Link to ordinance, signed in October 2011, to authorize transfer of $9.8M from Water and Wastewater Renewal to Streetcars.