The
Downs Gazette
Volume
I, Edition 4 July 10, 2016
Today's Guest Editor Silas Dogood:
Greenwood County Capital Sales Tax Questions
Recently
the local news published articles about the Greenwood County Capital
Sales Tax final approved list and the question to be asked on the
November General Election Ballot for us as citizens to vote for or
against. This is a very important question, because it will provide
more tax dollars for our elected officials to disburse. While they
are somewhat limited on what they can use the funds for, let us not
forget this was done once before in the early 2000 time period. How
was that money spent?
The
commission forwarded the list and question to the Greenwood County
Council and they now have it in their approval process. The first
reading occurred on 5 July and passed. The second reading will occur
on 19 July and will offer time for public comment. During this
reading the county council and finally the public will be made aware
of more specifics other than just a brief description of the
projects. The purposes behind the projects have not been made
public. An individual may assume the purposes, but do we really know
why these projects were selected. This is not to say the projects
are not worthy, just it would be good to know what the specific
purpose of the projects are as well as more detail about them.
Below
is a list of questions, I hope the County Council members will ask
about each one of these projects as well as the process for
selection.
- Is this project a government requirement by law?
- Is this project a local government requirement by law?
- What is the anticipated longevity of the end product from the project?
- What are the cost benefits for the county and the public for the project?
- What are the long term sustainment and maintenance costs for this project?
- Will this project require an increase in taxes within the county to sustain or maintain it for the long term?
- If it will require an increase, how much and when will this increase be needed?
- Does the county have an agreement with the non-government organizations to maintain the project for 10 years?
- Does this agreement include a clause for repayment if the non-government organization does not fulfill the agreement?
- Who will monitor the projects and will this cause an increase in taxes?
- What criteria were used to choose this project?
- Were the same selection criteria applied to all projects throughout the process?
While
I know none of our county council members will ask the following
question, we as citizens need to ask it either in the meeting or to
those who are in charge. Was this project selected to garner votes
for the question? In other words, does this project truly need to be
done or was this payment for votes from certain sections of the
community?
I
have been to the county website and looked at the information
provided, but once again it is very lacking. The main committee
either did not keep minutes of their meetings or have chosen not to
publish them. This strikes me as very peculiar. Additionally, some
minutes are complete for committees and other are not. Just their lack of providing information is concerning.
Based
on the information available, if the election were held today, I
currently would not vote it. This is not to say my vote cannot be
swayed, but numerous unanswered questions will need to be answered.
Silence
Dogood 2016
