Letter: SPLOST not perfect, but funds projects worth a 'Yes' vote

Editor:

Thank you for mentioning Tide to Town in your recent column on the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. You wrote that Savannah’s urban trail system is “genuinely great and worthwhile.” I agree!

In addition to Tide to Town, there are many other significant and much-needed infrastructure projects that will be funded if SPLOST 7 is approved by voters. These include sidewalk replacement and installations ($6.5 million), traffic calming ($5 million) and street paving and rehab ($22.5 million).

These are important infrastructure improvements that will make our streets safer for everyone, no matter how they travel. They are also in keeping with your description of the original purpose of SPLOST.

While the current SPLOST list may not be perfect, your suggestion that people vote against it in hopes that a better list will be assembled in the future will not only delay the start of the important projects mentioned above, it will also forfeit a year’s worth of revenue to fund them.

Furthermore, this approach assumes these worthy projects will remain on the list, that SPLOST would in fact return next year, and that the outcome would be different.

Voting no on SPLOST 7 as a form of protest will delay many critical projects, not only for the City of Savannah but for all residents of Chatham County. SPLOST provides our community with the enviable position of capturing a significant portion of much-needed revenue from visitors for the betterment of our residents.

We encourage your readers to vote yes on SPLOST 7. I will, and I look forward to the needed improvements, like Tide to Town, that the revenue will make possible.

Brent Buice
Chairman, Friends of Tide to Town