Voters push for details
up to public meetings held by all three local governments voicing their opinion on the tax.
On Feb. 19, several residents spoke out against the TSPLOST during the Board of Commissioners meeting, and a lot of the concern revolved around not only the financial impact on locals, but also the lack of knowledge about what the plans were for the money.
“You don’t have an exact plan for the money, so that makes me think it’s going to get washed into some special projects or things that are not actually transportation-related,” said resident Sam Martin. “If we had an exact plan of what the money was going to — ‘we’re going to do this bridge, we’re going to do this road, we’re going to do x, y, z’… — I would probably feel dif- ferently about it. There has not been a clear plan for the money.”
A week after that meeting, Catoosa County published lists for not only the county, but the cities of Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold as well.
In a 30-page statement, the county explained how the revenue can be used and what type of projects it plans to work on.
In the funding policy statement, commissioners said, “TSPLOST dollars by law can be used to fund only to following: patching, leveling, milling widening, shoulder preparation, culvert repair, and other repairs necessary for the preservation of roads, streets, bridges, sidewalks and bicycle paths.”