Former Cobb Commissioner Comes Out Against M-SPLOST

The following article was written by former Cobb Commissioner, Bob Ott, and was published in the East Cobb News and the Marietta Daily Journal.

This week saw the beginning of early voting in Cobb County. With it comes a push by
the county commission to vote for a transit tax that if approved would impose a one
percent sales tax for the next 30 years. Think about that for a moment; your middle
schooler would be in their mid 40s at the end of the tax.

There are many issues I see with this proposed transit tax. First, and foremost is calling
it an MSPLOST. By definition, a SPLOST is a Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax. Many will remember my numerous NO votes for previous SPLOST proposals
because I felt that the project list was mostly wants and not needs. In most cases there
wasn’t anything special about the projects, they were just other ways to spend money.
This proposal is a long way from the intent of a SPLOST. One of the glaring differences
is that the newly created ATL must approve all projects before they can receive funding.
The ATL is the new regional Transit Authority that has complete control over the
allocation of all state transportation funds. Without their approval a transportation project
can’t receive state funding. The majority of the ATL committee members are not from
Cobb. So how are they going to know what is in the best interest for Cobb related to
transit related projects?

Second, is the amount of time for this proposal. No one can possibly know what the
transit or transportation needs of Cobb County will be over the next 30 years. Who
knows, with the advances in AI and technology like Tesla cars we could all be moving
around like George Jetson by then. This issue is like what happened when the current
SPLOST was brought before the commissioners. There was still two years remaining
before the existing SPLOST was to end. This meant that the proposed six-year
SPLOST was attempting to look 8 years into the future. The residents of East Cobb
know how a SPLOST project can become obsolete and not necessary. Just look at the
Lower Roswell Road median/widening project. I fought it for almost 8 years as being
unnecessary and damaging to the local businesses. Now after over a decade the
county is moving forward with the project regardless of its impact to the community.
There are many other projects from previous SPLOSTs that were proposed and
ultimately deemed obsolete.

Third, let’s talk about the busses. The current county bus service is supplemented from
the county general fund, your taxes to the tune of $29 million dollars annually. And as
reported in the MDJ, runs mostly empty. Ever wonder why the bus windows are now
tinted? That way you can’t see the empty seats inside. To be fair, there are two routes,
Route 10 and route 30 that have a fair number of riders. Why would you add more
busses to a system that is seeing declining ridership, increased costs, and broken fare
boxes? One has to wonder how much more county subsidies were needed to operate
the system with these broken fare boxes. These county subsidies are our money!
Another important thing to mention here is the $29 million subsidy. The proposal states
that the operational costs of the bus service would be rolled into the transit tax. Who can
tell me what the commissioners have said will happen to the $29 million currently
coming from the General Fund? The obvious answer is more county spending on things
we don’t need. It would probably go the way of the water transfer with the
commissioners telling us they need the money to balance the budget. Just another
money grab.

Fourth, is the whole transit system proposal. Show me a transportation related industry,
whether it is an airline, railroad, shipping company, etc., that decides to start service
where there is no indication it is needed. How quickly do you think they would go bust?
Many proponents will tell you transit will bring new development. Does Cobb County
need more development and its associated traffic? Transportation companies know that
you come into areas where people are and go to where they want to go. You can’t
create new pathways. The biggest need in Cobb is transportation between the
Cumberland/Galleria area and Hartsfield Jackson International airport. This proposal is
silent on any direct links. Additionally, here in East Cobb and many other suburban parts
of the county, transit and transportation must compete with the car to be remotely
successful. This transit tax is just like many of the others; it can’t compete. We saw this
played out with the last TSPLOST proposal that wanted to bring light rail into Cobb
County. Many studies showed it wouldn’t solve the traffic problem and couldn’t compete
with the car.

Finally, lets talk traffic. How many of you have been stuck behind one of the county
busses that just stop in a travel lane? They sit there their allotted time, even though no
one is at the stop, because they must maintain a schedule. Look at some of the articles
in the MDJ where the reporter rode the system. It took infinitely longer to go from point
to point. Do you really want more busses and light rail on our existing roads?
Proponents say this transit tax will improve traffic and make our area better. I have yet
to see any data that supports those claims.

I spent 12 years on the board of commissioners and during that time I watched as staff
and some of my fellow commissioners chased after the shiny rings put forth by the
consultants and recent graduates. Think about who benefits from all these taxes, the
consultants who design and ultimately build all these projects. Did you know that most
of them have offices in the county DOT offices. They are involved from the very
beginning on every one of these projects. I battled with them on numerous occasions
during my tenure.

There are some transportation projects that would benefit the county. They have been
discussed for many years. One is a grade separation of Windy Hill Road and US 41.
Another is to finish widening Upper Roswell Rd (120) to the Fulton County line. They
are expensive projects but don’t need a 30-year tax to be completed. A proper review of
county needs vs wants is needed long before giving the county and the commissioners
any more of our hard-earned money. This transit tax is a bad idea and needs to be
defeated.

I ask you to join me in voting NO on the proposed transit tax on November 5.

Bob Ott, Former District 2 Commissioner