AFTER STUDYING the TSPLOST bill, going to several town hall meetings where the bill was debated and discussed, listening to our legislators, researching the issue on line and prayerfully considering the bill, I have become convinced of the following:

1. The bill was not measured against our Georgia Constitution when being planned and is clearly not constitutional.

2. The taxes we pay when purchasing fuel for our vehicles are supposed to be set aside for building and maintaining our roads and bridges.

3. We are told our local monies collected will come back to our local area. Why then does it need to go to the state and then come back out to us. It should just stay with us. It totally looks like some of our local funds collected will go to help other counties build their roads, bridges and infrastructure. Not a good idea.

4. We are perfectly capable of laying out our long-range plan for our own road projects and saving for them without sending our tax dollars to the state government for doling it out as it sees fit.

5. This is a bad idea, was not planned well, has not the proper oversight, and, of course, the Georgia Department of Transportation would love to get its hands on these funds so it can mismanage them like they have done the past several years.

Yes, we do need road improvements and maintenance, and we can work our own plan to see each one of them come to fruition and when we do we’ll hire our own local residents, giving them jobs and helping them support their families and become tax-paying citizens which, in turn, will help our economy locally.

Please study this issue before voting on July 31.