Dear Putnam County Citizens,
Early voting for the Presidential Preference Primary has started. On the ballot, in addition to the Presidential Preference question, is a referendum requested by the Putnam County Board of Commissioners (BOC), requesting the authority to issue up to $22 million of General Obligation (GO) bonds for road improvements in the county. These bonds are to be paid off using the revenue generated by TSPLOST #2.
The total cost to the county for the issuance of $22 million of GO bonds will be approximately $24.5 million when you include interest and administrative costs.
As a result of an inter-governmental agreement with the City of Eatonton on the distribution of TSPLOST #2 revenues, the most the county can receive is about $19 million. This leaves a deficit of approximately $5.5 million to be made up from other sources.
I and other members of the public have asked the BOC for an explanation of how this deficit of $5.5 million was to be made up. In addition, we asked if other sources of revenue, such as borrowing from our local banks, had been considered in lieu of a GO bond issue. To date, I (we) have not received a response from the BOC to these very important questions.
Therefore, I believe it is in the best interest of the taxpayers of Putnam County to vote NO on this Bond issue.
There are alternatives to do this without punishing the citizens of Putnam County. Dr. Hersey has presented to the rest of the BOC about a good alternative and no one from the BOC wanted to even discuss it. This referendum will hurt you, not help. You think your taxes are high now? Just wait if this gets passed.
Again, don’t say no one warned you.
Charles Trumbo, Putnam County