And yet, those who make that argument are already paying a tax, right along with the rest of us. They just don’t realize it.
On July 31, voters in Cobb County will cast ballots on a $980 million investment for Cobb County alone that will untie our snarled traffic mess, create thousands of new jobs and help our region compete for businesses and prosperity with other regions across the nation. The $980 million will be raised through a one-penny sales levy to make hundreds of road and transit improvements in our county. Additionally, our city and county governments will also receive a $170 million direct investment for local transportation priorities over the next 10 years.
Detractors cite several reasons for their opposition. Some don’t trust government, but transportation is as much a function of government as national defense. Others don’t like the list of improvements — even though more than 200,000 citizens participated in drafting the list that received unanimous approval from a disparate group of our region’s leaders. 16,900 of those participants were from Cobb County.
Finally, there are those who oppose new taxes, and as a lifelong, anti-tax conservative, I can certainly understand their position. But we’re already paying a congestion tax — and it’s real, uncontrollable and will continue to grow if we fail to invest in regional transportation.
According to the Texas Transportation Institute, time stuck in traffic costs the average metro Atlanta commuter $924 a year in wasted fuel and lost time. This congestion tax is the worst kind of tax because it’s uncontrollable. It knows no boundaries. It rises in direct proportion to fuel prices and traffic snarls. It depletes our collective productivity. It takes precious time from our families. It steals dollars from our pockets — and nobody voted for it.
And the congestion tax is actually more costly than economists’ conservative estimates. Economists haven’t factored the extent to which the congestion tax discourages new businesses from locating in our region and creating new jobs. They haven’t factored the extent to which we pay higher prices for everything from food to refrigerators due to the higher cost of shipping goods in our region. Nor have they factored the drain on home values as prospective homebuyers choose locations with less traffic.
The Regional Transportation Referendum gives us a first shot at getting the congestion tax under control — and at considerably less than $924 a year. An additional penny will cost the average consumer an estimated $112 annually. In exchange, they’ll get traffic relief, more income-producing time at work and more leisure time at home.
“Infrastructure is one of the core responsibilities of government and one that cannot be shortchanged by other controversial spending,” Douglas R. Oberhelman, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, recently wrote in response to an opponent of the referendum. “I believe investment in infrastructure pays dividends for decades and is a wise investment of taxpayer dollars.”
Investing in regional transportation will not only relieve the congestion tax, it will also spark tens of thousands of new jobs, reduce time spent stuck in traffic, improve home values in traffic-snarled communities, and give us all an opportunity to be more productive at work and at home.
This isn’t a choice between no tax and a new tax. It’s a choice between public investment that will create jobs and attract businesses such as Caterpillar, and an uncontrollable congestion tax that will send jobs and businesses packing to regions that are making visionary investments in their growth and prosperity.
John Watson, who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Sonny Perdue, is a senior advisor to Citizens for Transportation Mobility.
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Your using the former Governor Perdue as a
proponent of TSplost does not give the voters of Cobb County a FUZZY after two terms of the Governors land deals and other known ethics violations. You should not be so gullible to believe you can sell the Cobb voters on this disparate group of proposals that from my view out the window, won't help the traffic congestion downtown. Does the Grady curve sound familiar?
The only way you can relieve congestion is to build 6 more lanes of pavement and suspend them over the existing 6 lanes that we have already.
Do you think the Cobb voters will sit by while some overzealous polititians (mostly deluded types)vote for a Marta line to Cumberland Mall. I don't think so. Get all your buddies and return to the table and get the telephones out and call some of the fine upstanding Cobb citizens to help draw up a list of projects that will do the job of relieving traffic congestion. They know; they drive on those very roaads 6 days a week. They know!!!!!
Chief of staff to Sonny Perdue. Wee Doggie. You know if he was a advising the Gov. who made Georgia the fishing capital of the free world, he has got to be worth listening to.
Sonny was always real good about knowing just what property to buy before the gummint took actions that would make that property more valuable. A smart man that Sonny Perdue.
VOTE NO to TSPLOST then VOTE NO to all candidates who hire John Watson, Paul Benecke or any of the other faux conservatives leading the effort to pass the single largest tax increase in Georgia history.
The last time I looked job loss and property value decreases were a nationwide, if not a worldwide, issue.
As far as the airport and the expressway systems are concerned they were the right projects at the right time.
This TSPLOST scam are the WRONG projects at the WRONG time.
Don't believe what the pro TSPLOST groups are claiming because it is all a bunch of advertising BS to trick naive voters into approving the creation of a taxpayer funded "honey bucket".
As for doing the math here are the REAL numbers:
Cost per person = $1,950; Two-person working family = $3,900.
“Congestion Tax “ as touted by the pro TSPLOST propaganda = $924 per person
True Tax with T-SPLOST = $1,950 per person
This is a per year figure, so when you extrapolate for the ten year the total TSPLOST tax for an individual is approximately $19,500; for a two person working family it is $39,000.
Sir you need to realize that there are two Americas. The one that works and the one that takes. I guess we can tell which side you are on.
Its a shame but no politician, no agenda, no nothing can be trusted in this country any longer. Government and its agents have lost all credibility.
Vote no to TSPLOST and show guys like this the working folks still run this town.
If I agreed with you we’d both be wrong.
"untie our snarled traffic" - Not so! $700 million goes to transit; nothing to fix I-75 / I-285 interchange. Even ARC has stopped claiming TSPLOST will fix congestion.
"don't trust government" - And for good reason. See MARTA going broke and the GA 400 tolls that came back in a week.
"$924 a year in wasted fuel and lost time" - Calculated by no less than the biased TEXAS Transportation lobby... to lure jobs out of Atlanta.
"cost the average consumer an estimated $112 annually" - $112 is 1% of $11,200 annual purchases... now who can buy food, medical, clothes, house repairs, etc. for a year for $11,200? No way is this the figure for an "average" consumer.
Three reasons the comments in the subject article should be viewed with a suspicious eye:
- Mr Watson previously worked as Chief of Staff for Sonny "Pass the Biscuits" Perdue. If that isn't a good reason to throw his comments out the window I don't know what is!!! He helped Sonny become one of the worst Governors in our states history and that even includes Jimmy "Peanut Brain" Carter.
- Mr Watson is senior advisor to the Citizens for Transportation Mobility. which is one of the This group of rabid pro TSPLOST special interest cronies have fabricated and disingenuously communicated, through a multi million dollar advertising campaign, the misinformation, propaganda and outright lies about what the TSPLOST will supposedly accomplish if approved.
- And then are the comments by Mr. Oberhelman CEO/Chairman of the Caterpillar Corp. His significant and obvious vested interest in see the TSPLOST approved should discount his comments to less than zero.
This guy (Mr. Watson) is an "in the bag" shill, so take his comments for what they are worth.
enough of that.
With that attitude, our problems in this state and country will never be addressed. Of course, to you, anything outside of your bubble doesn't matter anyway.
Please move out of the way so the rest of us can get to work making our state and country a better place for everyone.
sales tax. Cobb County's current commission chairman is pushing for an additional sales tax
if he is reelected. Enough is enough!
"fair" sales tax if he is (please no no) reelected.
If the sales tax passes, and the traffic continues to exist; taxpayers will then be paying the annual $112 sales tax in addition to that $924 congestion tax. No, thank you.
John Watson must take us for fools.
Vote NO on the TSPLOST as it is a joke on Cobb county.