STOP the
$9,000,000/year GIVEAWAY!!
Goal of Message
The Forsyth BoC is in process of negotiating SPLOST and LOST splits with the City of Cumming. Over the last 5 years, $9,000,000 per year of extra sales tax proceeds was given to the City of Cumming and its 5,400 residents. These funds rightfully belong to all 175,500 Forsyth County residents - - $148 of potential tax relief per county household.
We ask residents to understand the facts below and on our web site. If you agree, please email the BoC asking them to stop the GIVEAWAYS and request that the Sales Tax split be fair to all 175,500 citizens. Click here to send a suggested message.
In the last five years, the City of Cumming has received $46,000,000 of extra revenue through County sales tax programs (SPLOST & LOST) and County capital grants. State laws will generally accept the population ratio but our county agreed to 15%, despite the city’s 4.29% of county population in 2000. With the 2010 census of 3.2%, the giveaway with a six year SPLOST VII could become $60,000,000 or $10,000,000 per year ($175/household)
With the national financial crisis we face, it is time to say “STOP the GIVEAWAYS”! The county should utilize the $60,000,000 for all 175,500 citizens' needs, not just give it to the city for its 5,400 residents!
| Summary of 2010 Census | |||
|
City of Cumming |
Forsyth County |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,400 | 170,100 | 175,500 |
| Percent of Citizens |
3.2% | 96.8% | |
| Income per Household | $39,900 | $85,900 | |
Remember we pay the City over $4,000,000 per year for water at wholesale rates that are higher than the retail rates paid by city residents.
City residents receive most all the benefits and infrastructure the county provides its citizens: Schools, Law Enforcement, Fire, Health Services, Court System, etc. There is duplication in facilities, departments, and people - - - and that is wasteful. See our web site for a list of city benefits from the county.
In spite of the extra millions the city has received, the city is a failure as a “county seat”. It is not a place where families can visit, walk and enjoy their follow citizens, shop, admire gardens, drink a soda, eat lunch, dinner, or a snack, listen to live music on a blanket or along wide sidewalks and enjoy the ambience of a beautiful place conceived by enlightened leaders (both city & county!).
Frequent citizen comments are: “disappointing”, “disgraceful”, and, “avoid when ever possible particularly in showing visitors", and "drive through quickly with potential corporate citizens"!!
Forsyth County BoC has agreed with the City on a SPLOST VII list which includes $100 million for a city located Jail & Courthouse facilities, $1 million for emergency water, and widening of several roads to 3 or 4 lanes into the city for a total spend of about $113.5 million in the city. There is another $ 99 million of spend for roads, etc outside the city which will yield the City of Cumming $11,100,000 (12.5%) - - - $9.100,000 extra over the 3.2% mandated by State law. And the BoC failed to negotiate on the water contract or the LOST tax.
Understand that the city’s claim to sales tax proceeds above the 3.2% population ratio is that 20+ percent of sales taxes are paid within the city limits (through continual expansion of the city limits). What they chose to ignore is that "County" Residents with a higher household income, pay at least 98% of all sales taxes paid by everyone living in Forsyth County. The claim that 15% of sales taxes paid by County Citizens should belong to the City is Greed Based.
Citizens need to decide on two issues:
- Is there any valid reason to give the city with its 5,400 citizens $10,000.000 a year extra or should the city accept the same “sales tax proceeds” the 171,100 county citizens receive?
- Should the County keep / expand all it’s current infrastructure in the City of Cumming or should we consider moving to a new location with a master plan that in 20 years would make it the best and most citizen friendly enlightened “County Center” in Georgia - - - - a citizen oriented center that will greatly enhance the stature of Forsyth County.
Before the new SPLOST VII proposal is finalized, Forsyth citizens throughout the county must decide whether we wish to spend $120 million for a Jail and Courthouse and road widenings for 20 and Castleberry into the city. Will these additions and road widenings just deepen the city’s hole of failure and unattractiveness or will the city legally commit to enter into a joint City and County process to transform Cumming into an enlightened county center that will attract and be used by both residents and new corporate citizens.
FCRG believes that Forsyth citizens should decide the County’s future - - - not the city’s mayor, it’s council, and 2 or 3 Forsyth County commissioners whose interests always seem coincide with the City’s interests.
If this information concerns you, please email each BoC member regarding the issues we have highlighted. Click here to view a pre-worded message that you can add to as you wish. The message asks each commissioner to limit SPLOST and LOST tax distributions to 3.2%, the City’s population ratio.
- But, if the city will agree to a joint City & County legally binding agreement that both parties will first undertake a design to re-create the city into an enlightened “county center”, and adopt a long term implementation plan using additional sales tax funds over the long term, then we ask the county to increase the 3.2% to a reasonable amount.
- However, if the city will not commit to this joint effort, then the citizens should ask the BoC to:
- Limit the SPLOST & LOST to 3.2% for the city, and
- Locate the Court and Jail expansions to a new location in the county with sufficient land so that overtime, it could become part of a “county center” that is truly an enlightened center that enhances the county and its citizens. A lower cost variation might be to expand the Jail where it is, leave the court house where it is to handle criminal cases, and build a Court Annex for all civil cases on a new "county center" site in the county where eventually most county activities could be located.
Please visit our web site (click here) to see the 5 year table of payments to the city (from public records), current County Support to Cumming City Residents, and Information on City & County Leadership.
Also recognize that many calls for a much lower SPLOST VII funding are being heard. Please let us know your thoughts on this as we expect to address this topic next.
For the Committee Tony DeMaria, Lee Cohn