SPLOST passes with more than 54 percent after early votes counted
For the fourth straight time, Columbus voters have approved a sales tax to support the Muscogee County School District.
Voters approved the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax by an unofficial final vote of 8,938 to 7,596 (54.06 percent to 45.94 percent). The Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registrations will meet Friday to verify the results, said Nancy Boren, the board’s executive director.
Tuesday night’s unofficial tally means Muscogee County’s sales tax total will return to 8 percent, starting July 1, and last for five years or until $192,185,000 is collected to pay for or help fund 24 capital projects. Among the big-ticket items the 1 percent SPLOST will fund are a new Spencer High School ($56 million), district-wide technology upgrades ($34 million), district-wide facility needs ($28 million) and a multi-sport complex for district-wide use ($11 million).
After two months of divisive campaigning, Columbus voters also were split as the results from each precinct trickled in Tuesday. As of 9:03 p.m., with the mailed-in absentee votes added to the totals, the “No” camp nibbled the “Yes’” margin down to only 251 votes, but more than 5,783 early votes were yet to be counted.
And that’s where the “Yes” camp pulled away, winning 59.4 percent (3,433 to 2,350) of the votes cast in person between Feb. 23 and March 13.
Another factor in the “Yes” camp’s victory was the traditional voting split along the Macon Road divide. The “Yes” camp carried 11 of the 12 south Columbus precincts (all but Edgewood), and the “No” camp carried 12 of the 15 north Columbus precincts (all but Gallops, St. Paul and Wynnbrook).
Precincts voting “Yes” were Columbus Public Library, Mt. Pilgrim, First African, Gallops, Fort, St. Paul, Faith, Wynnton, St. John, National Infantry Museum, Wynnbrook, Cusseta, Eddy and Rothschild. Precincts voting “No” were Northside, Blackmon, Fox, Epworth, Britt David, Edgewood, St. Peter, Cornerstone, Gentian, Moon, St. Andrews, St. Mark and Psalmond Road.
The winning difference, said Muscogee County School Board chairman Rob Varner, was the attitude of the campaigns. “One campaign was full of negativism and mistrust and distrust of leadership, and the other was full of optimism and hope in the future of what this district and superintendent has planned for this community,” Varner, the District 5 representative, said by phone from Dallas. “Fortunately, the majority of citizens felt like the more positive outlook was the way to view this.”
Two of the board’s nine members, newcomers John Thomas of District 2 and Frank Myers of District 8, led the campaign against the sales tax. Myers was the political consultant who guided the campaign that passed the 2009 SPLOST vote 57 percent to 43 percent. Five years later, he and Thomas unseated Beth Harris and John Wells, respectively, as they called for more accountability from the school district. Then they insisted an external forensic audit of the district should be conducted before authorizing the SPLOST referendum.
Tuesday night, at the NoSchoolBoardTax.com gathering at El Vaquero in Cross County Plaza, they promised to continue their campaign themes.
“I feel like the fact that it was this close probably says a lot for how people in the county feel,” Thomas said. “I know Frank and I, we kept our campaign promise. We have not supported any tax increase without accountability. We’re still going to call for accountability and hold the school board accountable from our positions on the board to make sure the district lives up to the promises to the voters.”
Myers contended, “I just don’t see any way the status quo thinks they have a mandate tonight.”
Myers also noted, “One out of 50 of these (SPLOST) elections go to the ‘No’ votes when the school boards and municipalities fix the election dates. Considering we were outspent 20-to-1, it’s a miracle we were sitting here at 10 o’clock wondering who was going to win.”
Across Macon Road at the Vote Yes for Kids headquarters, superintendent David Lewis was all smiles as he hugged supporters after the unofficial tally was announced.
“It’s fantastic for our children,” Lewis said.
Lewis said all the SPLOST votes have been contested in the community but noted the margin was “pretty good.” The vote is good for all children, he said.
“At the end of the day, this community supports children, public education and that was demonstrated here tonight,” the superintendent said.
When Lewis applied for the job in the school system and was hired in July 2013 from Polk County, Fla., he realized the community is special, he said. “This just further demonstrated that,” he said of the vote.
Vote Yes campaign co-chairman Sam Wellborn, retired president of Columbus Bank and Trust, was jubilant outside the headquarters as supporters shouted in the parking lot. “I think that when people realized they were really voting for our children that it was tough not to vote for kids,” he said.
Wellborn also said he thinks the support of the tax is a vote of confidence for Lewis. “I think it gives him a chance,” he said. “I think with this passage, he has got that chance to take our school system to high levels.”
Vote Yes co-chairwoman Bennie Newroth, a retired executive with Columbus Regional Health, is a 1962 graduate of Spencer High School.
“I’m surrounded by good people who work with children, who believe in children and who believe in Columbus,” she said, standing with Lewis and state Rep. Calvin Smyre. “I have to be happy. It was nothing but faith.”
Ben Wright and Robin Trimarchi contributed to this report.
PROPOSED 2015 SPLOST PROJECTS
Spencer High School replacement: $56,000,000
District-wide technology and infrastructure upgrades: $34,000,000
District-wide needs denoted in the five-year facilities plan: $28,000,000
Multi-sport complex for district-wide use (football stadium, soccer fields, track): $11,000,000
Roof replacements: $8,160,000
Upgrade softball and baseball fields at some high schools (Columbus, Hardaway, Jordan, Kendrick and Shaw): $7,200,000
Program enhancement for arts academy (funded by current SPLOST and expected to start construction within a year): $6,000,000
Expand weight rooms and wrestling rooms at some high schools (Columbus, Jordan, Kendrick, Northside and Shaw): $5,000,000
Replace outdated buses and related equipment: $5,000,000
Shaw High School alterations and additions: $4,000,000
District-wide refurbishment of outdated school kitchens: $4,000,000
Financing of bond issue: $4,000,000
Retrofit some schools to add programming for autistic students: $3,500,000
Columbus Museum electrical and mechanical equipment replacement and upgrades: $3,350,000
Kinnett Stadium upgrades (field house, press box, concession stands, restrooms): $3,175,000
Fort Middle School gym replacement: $2,900,000
Furniture, fixtures and equipment where needed: $2,400,000
District-wide security improvements and replacement of outdated communications equipment: $1,500,000
Cafeteria and auditorium upgrades at some schools (Arnold, Clubview, Columbus, Eddy, Hardaway and Kendrick): $1,000,000
South Columbus Public Library addition: $600,000
Northside High School cafeteria expansion: $500,000
Construct virtual e-library in north Columbus (an automated 24-hour facility, like an oversized RedBox): $400,000
Transportation facilities and alternative energy sources study: $250,000
Playground upgrades at elementary schools: $250,000
Total: $192,185,000
This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 7:21 PM with the headline "SPLOST passes with more than 54 percent after early votes counted."