Richard Hyatt: Fight for the penny is all too familiar

There’s something about a vote on a new tax that brings out the worst in folks.

Pictures from the past came slowly stealing this week as serious discussions began about a March 17 vote on a new Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Proceeds from the $192,185,000 tax would fund 24 capital projects proposed by the Muscogee County School District.

The fight for the penny started early. Rookie board members Frank Myers and John Thomas helped launch an online campaign against the tax before they were even seated. Then, on the eve of the board's first public forum, Myers challenged either Superintendent David Lewis or board chairman Rob Varner to a mano a mano debate.

Nearly 20 years ago we watched a sparring match over the first SPLOST. The acronym was new and so was the tax. Proponents believed it would generate $212 million over five years so the system could build its first high school in 19 years and put new roofs on leaky buildings all over town.

Voters didn't understand the new tax but they did want their kids to have new classrooms. So despite vocal opposition 79 percent of the voters said yes.

The margin of error was greater in 2003. A new Mildred Terry Library and seed money for a performing arts academy saved the day as the tax passed with only 280 votes to spare.

In 2009, administrators proposed a Carver High replacement and two other new schools. Coupled with the threat of 4,000 additional students flooding the system because of Base Realignment and Closure, 57.2 percent of the voters supported a third SPLOST.

Opposition has taken many turns but it usually comes down to mistrust of the board and how it handles money. It will be no different in March. Three times the public has backed a SPLOST with key support coming from projects a large segment of the public deem important.

Another home for Spencer High is important to some voters, but others wonder why a campus built in 1978 needs replacing. Judging by early enthusiasm, the issue that could put the vote over the top is the call for 24 additional classrooms to serve around 500 autistic students in the system.

The parents of these students are organized, committed and enthusiastic. And they could be the difference between yes and no.

-- Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net.

This story was originally published January 31, 2015 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Fight for the penny is all too familiar."