Public input more than claimed

“The voting public had no say”in theAtlanta region’s proposed transportation project list. Lights for Liberty in a July 19 press release

A group of metro Atlanta residents recently hit the road — literally — to publicize its opposition to a 1 percent sales tax to help fund dozens of transportation projects across the region. They drove around I-285 with their vehicles decorated to signify their disapproval of the proposed tax.

Many of the reasons the group, Lights for Liberty, opposes the tax have been welldocumented, but there was one claim on the list we hadn’t seen much of before.

Voters will decide on the tax in a referendum Tuesday after a hard-fought campaign by supporters and opponents.

“The tax proceeds will be spent to complete a project list in which the voting public had no say,” Lights for Liberty said in a press release. No say, you say? PolitiFact Georgia took a ride on the information superhighway to see if the group’s claim is correct. We were particularly curious about this one since we rated True a statement several months ago that 200,000 residents had a chance “to identi- fy projects they preferred.”

The Georgia General Assembly voted in 2010 to allow a voter referendum this year that gives citizens the choice to increase the sales tax for projects that proponents believe will reduce traffic congestion.

State officials and transportation planners in a 10-county region that encompasses and surrounds Atlanta came up with hundreds of ideas. Those 10 counties are Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb,