Hello again, and welcome back to Just the Facts, everything you need to know about your child or grandchild’s school in 5 minutes or less. 

As you may have heard recently, the Cobb Commissioners are asking Cobb voters to approve a transportation tax that would make it easier for people to move back and forth between Atlanta and Cobb County, mainly by using buses. 

The tax, which would last for 30 years and collect roughly 11 billion dollars from Cobb taxpayers, has been rejected at the ballot box by you in the past. 

If the idea sounds familiar, you may remember the term “T-SPLOST,” which recently, in an effort to “re-brand,” has been renamed “M-SPLOST,” or Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. By the way, what does re-brand mean anyway? I looked it up and found “to change how a product looks, usually products that have not been well received in the past.” I wonder if they’re accidentally onto something.

We know issues like taxes are confusing and hard to keep track of, and they also affect every single person who lives, works, or goes to school in Cobb. So, for our time together today, I thought a few facts about “M-SPLOST” and how it could impact your child’s school might be helpful: 

• “M-SPLOST” would be an unaccountable 30-year tax on you, your children, and their children. As a reminder, and in comparison, ED-SPLOST funds schools, safety, and technology for your children and is brought to a vote every five years. 
• Speaking of ED-SPLOST, we are beyond thankful for 100% support from all school zones for your children’s and grandchildren’s needs and are proud it is brought to you every five years, not every 30. 
• As one of the largest bus system adoptions in the entire country, “M-SPLOST” would dramatically increase the transience of students and families from the metro, into and out of Cobb County. 
• Almost without exception, the more students move to and from your child’s school, the more you will see poor academic performance and a higher rate of discipline issues.
• For $11 billion, it would fund new buses, sidewalks, and routes into and out of Atlanta, all while disrupting traffic for the next decade. 
• The true purpose of this project, in coordination with the Atlanta metropolitan area, is to use Cobb County to solve problems inside Atlanta and DeKalb counties, which have nothing to do with Cobb. 
• This plan largely depends on Cobb residents using buses instead of private vehicles. Cobb’s existing buses aren’t used very often. Who says we want another $11 billion worth? 

Looking at just the facts, not the “re-brand,” tells us everything we need to know – M-SPLOST (or T-SPLOST in hiding) is bad for Cobb County and our future. If passed, it will prove to be an anchor for the next two generations of Cobb residents, weighing our children and grandchildren down with the debts of Cobb’s current dysfunctional politics. As we look at the future of our schools, we should consider the 30-year cost of M-SPLOST to Cobb’s students.

Board Chair Randy Scamihorn