Who’s behind SPLOST flyers in Columbus? What to know about $65,000 campaign
Mat Swift believes the past is proof of what the future promises, if Columbus voters approve another city sales tax Tuesday.
Swift, retired three years from serving as president of the W.C. Bradley Co.’s real estate division, is now leading the campaign to persuade residents to support the referendum that would raise Columbus’ sales tax rate to 9%.
He is chairman of Improve Columbus, a tax advocacy group that in its last campaign disclosure reported $83,750 in contributions, most from business interests in real estate and development.
Among the top contributors were:
- W.C. Bradley Real Estate, $15,000.
- Lockwood Partners, $10,000.
- Greater Columbus, Georgia, Chamber of Commerce, $6,500.
- Steve Butler, $10,000.
- Woodruff Real Estate, $5,000.
- Greystone Properties, $5,000.
- Synovus, $5,000.
- JBA Capital Inc., $5,000.
- Summerstone LLC, $5,000.
“We’ve gone out to community leaders who we feel have the city at heart,” Swift said of the donors, later adding, “None of them has another agenda other than what’s good for the city.”
Improve Columbus reported $64,734.60 in expenditures and $19.015.40 cash on hand, in its Oct. 12 disclosure to the local elections office. The money spent went to Monroe Marketing, based in Savannah, Georgia, for “media buys, printing, marketing, social media,” according to the report.
Improve Columbus will not have to file another disclosure until after the election, said Nancy Boren, executive director of the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration. No group opposing the tax has registered with her office, she said.
Improve Columbus spent some of its money on campaign flyers residents may have seen in their mail, identifying the sponsor as “Forward Columbus.” Swift said the handbills should have said “Improve Columbus,” as it’s the same group.
Swift believes history proves the Special Purpose Local Option Sales tax commonly called a “SPLOST” has been good for Columbus since 1993, when voters passed a tax that helped fund the Chattahoochee RiverWalk and the Columbus Civic Center. He also touts a 1999 sales tax that paid for the Columbus Public Library on Macon Road.
Those public projects attracted private investments that spurred Columbus’ growth and revitalization over the past three decades, he said.
“It’s an important form of revenue,” he said, noting sales taxes are paid not only by Columbus residents, but by people living elsewhere who come here for work, shopping or entertainment. “Columbus would not be where we are today without those SPLOSTs.”
But voters approved those taxes when Muscogee County overall had a lower tax rate of around 7%. Currently it’s 8%, and the city has never raised it as high as 9%, thought to be the highest rate in Georgia, though some areas of Alabama have a comparable rate. Phenix City’s overall rate now is 9.5%.
SPLOST advocates believe Phenix City residents will be among the visitors who will pay 30% of the sales tax while they’re in Columbus, “helping keep our property taxes low,” says an Improve Columbus mailer.
If the referendum passes, the 9% tax rate will last for nine months until a regional transportation sales tax called a TSPLOST expires on Dec. 31, 2022, and then the rate will drop back to 8%, Swift noted.
But voters in the River Valley transportation region that includes Columbus could decide to renew the TSPLOST, so the tax rate stays at 9%. Besides Muscogee, the 16 counties in the region are Chattahoochee, Marion, Talbot, Harris, Stewart, Webster, Taylor, Schley, Macon, Sumter, Quitman, Clay, Randolph, Dooly and Crisp.
For another TSPLOST to make the ballot, a majority of those counties’ governing bodies must pass resolutions supporting another referendum.
Projects promised
“Promises Made. Promises Kept!” say the words beside Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson’s photo on an Improve Columbus flyer. “Every penny in past SPLOSTS has been invested as promised!”
Now city leaders are promising more, with these endeavors listed for a new tax that would collect $400 million over 10 years, starting in April 2022:
- About $200 million for a 310,000-square-foot judicial center to replace the Government Center at 100 10th St., with a parking garage of about 500 spaces.
- $20 million for road improvements.
- $5 million for trails and sidewalks.
- $20 million to upgrade water drainage for roads, streets, bridges, sidewalks, or multi-purpose paths that have been damaged or flooded.
- $48 million for parks and recreation projects to include renovating or replacing three swimming pools and adding mini-splash pads.
- $5 million for improvements at the Bull Creek and Oxbow Creek golf courses.
- $44 million for public safety projects that include new vehicles and equipment.
- $14 million for general government vehicles and equipment.
- $5 million to purchase or upgrade technology such as personal computers, servers and software.
- $5 million to improve the parking garage at the Trade Center downtown.
- $5 million for roof replacement and other improvements at the Columbus Civic Center.
- $9 million for economic development projects at the Muscogee Technology Park and other sites.
Swift said the projects reflect pressing needs.
“There are three or four swimming pools that have been closed down across the city just because they’re unsafe,” he said, and Columbus’ public safety gear is wearing down: “Police vehicles desperately need updating.”
He said the Government Center price tag of $200 million reflects more than the cost of a new building, which he estimates at $117 million: The rest of the money will be needed for furniture, fixtures and equipment, plus demolition and financing.
“The Government Center is absolutely needed,” Swift said, noting the 1970s complex does not meet some current building standards and isn’t safe. “It has been a problem for a long time.”
All of Columbus’ 25 neighborhood voting precincts will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Residents unsure of their polling place can check it through the Georgia Secretary of State’s “My Voter Page” at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov or call the local elections office at 706-653-4392.
SPLOST vote count
When polls closed Thursday, 2,857 SPLOST early voting ballots were accepted (406 of the votes cast were absentee by mail and the remaining 2,451 were early, in-person votes). That’s about 2.2% of Columbus’ roughly 129,000 registered voters.
Those numbers trail early voting numbers from the 2020 June EPLOST that saw 14,848 mail-in ballots and 3,997 early, in-person votes.
The SPLOST referendum is the only thing on the ballot this election. The 2020 EPLOST appeared alongside presidential, U.S. Senate and other local primary races.
Ledger-Enquirer reporter Nick Wooten contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 6:00 AM.