Organize the South

This is from OnlineAthens, the website of the Athens Banner-Herald. Looks like local officials are getting mobilized. I fear though the deal they cut still won't be good for us who actually pay the taxes. Citizen involvement in this is going to be crucial.

Cities group opposes sales tax plan

Urges lobbying against objective

If city officials were the only ones allowed to vote on Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson's tax reform plan, it surely would go down in flames.

But state lawmakers, and then voters, will decide whether to go along with the Hiram Republican's proposal to replace property taxes with more sales taxes.

That's why the Georgia Municipal Association came to the Athens-Clarke Library Thursday: to urge mayors, managers, school board members and councilmen from more than a dozen cities to lobby against the plan.

"This is the single biggest attack I've ever seen or heard of on local government," Decatur Mayor and GMA Vice President Bill Floyd said.

The organization, which represents more than 500 municipal governments, contends that Richardson's proposal will cripple the ability of local government and school districts to raise or lower taxes to reflect the needs of different communities.

Almost all of the more than 50 officials from more than a dozen cities who attended the meeting agreed, tossing around words like "socialism," "communism," "bureaucracy" and "pseudo-Republicans" for an hour and a half. They focused mostly on how they would be unable to respond to citizens' concerns about tax rates or the quality of services like streets and schools.

"We're the only county in Georgia with three independent school systems," Commerce City Councilman Bob Sosebee said. "We know it's the most expensive and inefficient way to do it, but that's how we want to do it. That's how the voters in Commerce, Jefferson, Braselton and Jackson County want to do it."

Only Carnesville Mayor Harris Little disagreed with the consensus. Little said he and his constituents would support the change if Carnesville was guaranteed the same amount of money it's spending now.

"As long as they turn the water on and water comes out, and they flush the toilet and waste goes away, I'm not sure they care," he said.

Athens-Clarke Mayor Heidi Davison quickly countered Little, drawing applause for saying she won't be satisfied with providing only basic services. Athenians demand amenities like parks and a revamped Baxter Street from elected leaders, she said.

"I don't want my citizens reduced to a medium level of service because you don't want to pay your property taxes," Davison said.

Richardson's plan would eliminate property taxes and replace them with new sales taxes on services like haircuts and lawn mowing, along with groceries and other goods that now are exempt. The state would collect the taxes, then distribute them to cities, counties and school districts based on their 2006 budgets and population growth. It would require approval from two-thirds of state representatives and senators and a majority of voters.

With powerful politicians like Gov. Sonny Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle also demanding tax reform, but raising questions about Richardson's plans, competing proposals could also be introduced to the General Assembly next year.