Before the 2006 referendum approving the current special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST), local officials weren’t entirely forthcoming about the funding needs for all the infrastructure projects that voters were considering.
For example, city leaders knew that the SPLOST funds budgeted for a new arena and a new public safety headquarters would not cover the full cost of those projects.
But the region’s economic prospects looked pretty rosy back in those days. It seemed virtually certain that other funds would be available to supplement SPLOST revenue.
That was not an unreasonable assumption at the time, but the dramatic shortfall in tax collections in the wake of the 2007-2009 recession and the subsequent sluggish recovery decimated the funding for many planned projects.
It was clear by late 2008 that the current SPLOST collection would fall tens of millions of dollars short, but many local leaders held out irrational hope for a dramatic economic rebound.
So the city of Savannah didn’t make dramatic changes to its SPLOST spending plan until late 2010, by which time area taxpayers were in an especially foul mood because of ongoing economic pressure and political turmoil over the city manager position.
And many taxpayers objected to the specific modifications to the SPLOST funding list, although in truth there were really no good choices given the extremity of the shortfalls.
Since then, SPLOST has taken one political hit after another, culminating with last week’s dispute between the county government and the county Board of Elections.
The Chatham County Commission decided months ago to hold a referendum in November on continuation of the 1 percent sales tax, but we likely won’t see a final list of proposed projects until the end of this month.
Despite all these problems, the arguments in favor of the continuation of SPLOST remain fairly straightforward.
Voters have approved SPLOST five times since 1985, and we are now faced with much more constrained state and federal budgets. If we want infrastructure spending in certain areas, we will have to make bigger commitments at the local level.
Despite the obvious arguments for renewing SPLOST, it’s hard to say what will happen this November. Assuming, of course, that the vote is even held.
Will voters want to renew SPLOST as they did the sales tax for education infrastructure, which was resoundingly approved by a 2 to 1 margin in 2011? Or will the electorate look more like the one that solidly defeated the proposed sales tax for transportation in 2012?
Only one thing seems pretty certain at this point. If Chatham County officials don’t give voters adequate time to consider a detailed list of projects, SPLOST is likely to fail.
The Berrien House lowered to original height
If you’re looking for good news, you can just head to the corner of Habersham and Broughton streets.
That’s where you can watch the restoration of The Berrien House, one of the most important historic structures in the city.
Almost exactly a year ago in this column, I interviewed new owner Andrew Berrien Jones, a descendant of Major John Berrien who served under George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
In the weeks after that column, an impressive project team was assembled, including architect Gerry Cowart of the Cowart Group P.C., J.T. Turner Construction, RWP Engineering, Coastal Civil Engineering, Smith & VandenBulck, Historic Savannah Foundation and Quatrefoil Consulting Inc.
For much of this year, the hard work was happening outside of public view.
And now the dramatic renovation project is plainly visible.
Back in 1917, the historic home was raised by more than three feet to make more room for ground floor commercial space, but that modification threw off the scale of the building.
Casual passersby could tell that something was out of whack, even if they couldn’t precisely see that the parlor level was too high above street level.
But would anyone really spend the money to lower the structure and in the process reduce the cubic feet of commercial space?
Jones did just that.
In recent weeks, The Berrien House has been restored to its original height. Now, if you imagine Henry Clay addressing a crowd from the front stoop during his 1844 presidential campaign, the dimensions actually make sense.
“The Berrien House is a testament to our entire community’s commitment towards preservation,” Tripp Turner, COO of J.T .Turner Construction, said in a recent press release.
You’ll be reading a lot more about renovations to the historic home in the coming months. I envy those who live and work nearby who have had the chance to follow the daily progress.
City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net and http://www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, Ga. 31401.