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Trauma centers are a thing of the past???? Really???? Respectfully, that is not right. And your idea, while laudable, is still a tax. And, folks, right or wrong, just will not pay for it. It is going to be difficult passing the 1 cent transportation tax in metro Atlanta which is so desperately in need of transportation solutions. I simply cannot imagine the good folks in the Americus / Vienna / Cordele area voting to tax themselves when the good folks of Atlanta already pay for most of the roads in S. Ga.
to say they are a thing of the past is a little overstating it, though most are loosing money. The issue of North vs South, East vs West, Metro vs Rural Georgia has to be resolved this is 1 state, when outsiders speak of Georgia they either love or hate, like or don't like Georgia. To them Atlanta is Georgia and Georgia is Atlanta and you can substitute any city name in the place of Atlanta and the results would be the same every city or county in Georgia is a reflection on the state this proposal would result in every paying an equal amount into the system if you are Gov. Deal you pay $10 if you work at Mcdonalds you pay $10 give some type of incentive such as a Georgia Employee Card which would allow you to ride any public transportation system in the state for free for your participation/ providing funding for these systems. if you're not employed in Georgia you will not receive a card and have to pay the current fair senior citizens are exempt of course.
Hello everyone, I want to start by stating that I am a lifelong resident of the state of Georgia. I have watched its economic successes an failures. I would like to present a proposal to my fellow Georgians and would like any and all comments both positive and negative so that we as Georgians can improve on this and maybe something positive could come from it. Keep in mind that this is just a proposal, just wanted to see if my idea could grow wings and help this state prosper.
I would like to propose that Georgia as a state propose a flat $6 to $10 per week fund from every employee state, public or private sector all included into a general fund to be divided equally into 3 sectors transportation, education and safety. Just going by employment numbers released by the state there are over 9,000,000,000 residents at 10% unemployment that would be 8,900,000,000 people employed. Going by that number the fund would generate somewhere in the range of 53 million to 89 million per week or 2.75 billion to 4.6 billion per year.
I propose that this fund have an oversight committee/ board that comprises of 1 member from each region of the proposed transit tax regions, 1 School board member from each region, and 1 member from public safety aka County sheriff or police chief from the same regions. All have to win a election voted on by the citizens of each region to his/her seat on the board.
With this proposal Georgia could build the proposed I-3 or I-24 extension thru North and East Georgia Gainesville, Athens, Augusta, Savannah / I-81 extension thru West Georgia Rome, Carrollton, Legrange, Columbus, Bainbridge, to Tallahassee, FL/ I-12 extension thru South Georgia Albany, Tifton, Waycross, Brunswick/ I-14 thru Middle Georgia Columbus, Macon, Milledgeville, Augusta/ also an Outer bypass for the Atlanta using portions outlined above all within its borders. Construction of this system would create a number of jobs for years all throughout the state these jobs would also add to the pot. Some of the same routes could be used for a state wide rail component included during construction. Mass transit construction would also be included in the proposal. Marta expansion in Atlanta area, light rail in second and third tier cities as needed.
Education could be improved in the state by hiring additional educators for classrooms and extending class hrs from 8hr daily to 10 or maybe 12 hrs daily, 2 educators per class. Each educator would work 8 or 10 hr overlapping shifts. 2 minds are smarter than 1 when coming up with creative ideas for educating students also an extra set of eyes in the class wouldn't hurt.
Public Safety need I elaborate on this you could never have enough police, fire and medical professionals working the beat.
To sum it all up I proposing that the citizens of Georgia come together and create something or some Idea to get our economy going this is something that I feel would put power in our hands and take it out of politicians allow us to determine our futures and not some greedy guy who just wants to get elected.
If there were 9 million people of working age, then the number employed would be at 8.1 million with 10% unemployed. But you do not include children and the elderly, or the disabled in your numbers. Start with numbers that are accurate, and then consider the underemployed. Let's say you live in a fairly rural area with pretty good schools, and not much need for public transportation. Rome! Perfect example. If the state were to tax you $10 per week, you are looking at an increased tax burden of $520 per year. With many low income employees making between 10 and 20 thousand per year, that's a pretty hefty new tax. Your rural areas are really not to likely to vote for something like that when they are struggling to stay above water as it is.
That being said, I am in favor of some sort of SPLOST style tax like this to meet the needs of the state's infrastructure and development costs. Let's draw on a random, yet more realistic figure of 4 million gainfully employed Georgians. Tax them at a rate of $1 per week each, and you have a 208million dollar windfall annually. The total estimated cost of deepening Savannah's harbor comes in at 32 million. Given an accurate estimation of costs, projects, and time frame, Georgians are likely to vote for temporary tax increases. It happens over and over again just here in Rome, Floyd County. Check out our SPLOST record. The thing is, you must start with accurate numbers, a clear agenda, transparent cost estimations, and a clear timeframe of when the next tax can be voted on.
by the way Georgia didn't vote for the Trauma centers because a majority of the population no longer lives in rural areas. Rural hospitals and trauma centers area a thing of the past.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the metro area vote mostly FOR this tax? Wasn't it rural Georgia that shot themselves in the foot?
Yeah, the people in Georgia are too greedy to pay for things that benefit others. It's very sad, I miss when people would go out of there way to help people, I try to keep the tradition alive. I mean come on, we already have some of the lowest taxes in the country, it's not too much to ask to raise 1 cent for transportation (previous proposal) ugh, things can't stay the same forever.
Just another reason why I believe that so called "southern hospitality" is a myth. Along with all the rude drivers that refuse to move over to the right lane when they're poking around in the left lane holding up 10 cars behind them. Then there are the people that will act nice to your face and then talk smack behind your back. Yep, sounds like the south to me. I digress.
by the way Georgia didn't vote for the Trauma centers because a majority of the population no longer lives in rural areas. Rural hospitals and trauma centers area a thing of the past.
hmmm...
So I'm noticing you haven't made too many posts and are new here.
You have made some very specific proposals to be done in a very specific way and you are targeting specific types of projects.
I don't want you to get discouraged and want to welcome you to these forums. There definitely are a number of people that want to see more things happen, especially after 20+ years of lowered investment on infrastructure.
But you might want to make things more open ended to start off with or participate in all the other threads we have had about many more specific infrastructure issues.
The reason I mention this is there are lots of very smart people here that have analyzed and perhaps at times overanalyzed many of the nuanced details of many of the past and current proposals. When you start to pick up on many of these things it will change your outlook on how the problems are created, what specifically the problems are, and perhaps how to overcome them.
A few things you should know about the tax referendum about trauma centers.
-There was more support for it in Metro Atlanta (even the republican suburban areas), than there was in South and rural Georgia. That is largely why the state didn't vote for them. The only way to overcome this would have been for a 100% majority voting for it in our metro areas.
-It was designed to mainly benefit S. Georgia. That is where most the gaps exist in the trauma system
-That tax wouldn't have been enough to fix the current problems...just as the last small increase wasn't
-The state trauma plan isn't just about building trauma centers across the state. It is also a plan to set up a more extensive medical transportation and communication system. (ie... medical helicopters would be more effective if they were stationed spread out throughout the state, instead of just next to the major trauma centers in major cities...it can cut travel time in half if a helicopter can be dispatched from rural Georgia to the city as opposed to ... from the city to rural Georgia and back to the city...)
As far as your tax proposal goes... I'm very troubled by the "flat tax." It isn't flat in relation to income. It is actually a very regressive tax structure. The problem is it will encourage low-wage job providers to consider Alabama and South Carolina more heavily before Georgia (Think of the new Auto factories popping up in the area).
A few interesting reports have been done about the state tax structures. It is very interesting to look at. It also shows where many of the problems exist and why states like California have had more money in the past to spend on transportation and large investment projects.
And I must say... you need to be more careful about who provides the money... and where it goes....
It is easy to discuss the situation of greed and problems with people not wanting to pay for things of other people, but at the same time there are already distributional problems that exist within the state. We have to make sure not to make those problems worse. In state spending Metro Atlanta gives the state everything it takes in, but it also gives the state a whole 13% of its budget that it doesn't get back. Metro Atlanta would be in far better shape if it could just just half of that back...particularly with funds in the GDOT.
The way you make up the committee is also unfair and bias' the power to rural Georgia. This is exactly part of our past problems. The Atlanta region has 4 million people... but through the structure of your committee your proposing they could easily be outvoted 11-1 on issues of spending in Metro Atlanta.
I think issues for transportation projects the go across transportation district boundaries, like the Fall Line Freeway, those districts need to learn to work together on the new tax law, even if it is flawed.
So I'm noticing you haven't made too many posts and are new here.
You have made some very specific proposals to be done in a very specific way and you are targeting specific types of projects.
I don't want you to get discouraged and want to welcome you to these forums. There definitely are a number of people that want to see more things happen, especially after 20+ years of lowered investment on infrastructure.
But you might want to make things more open ended to start off with or participate in all the other threads we have had about many more specific infrastructure issues.
Thanks for the Welcome and I'm aware of some of the posters on cd I was merely voicing my opinions looking for others and yours are greatly appreciated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwkimbro
-There was more support for it in Metro Atlanta (even the republican suburban areas), than there was in South and rural Georgia. That is largely why the state didn't vote for them. The only way to overcome this would have been for a 100% majority voting for it in our metro areas.
-It was designed to mainly benefit S. Georgia. That is where most the gaps exist in the trauma system
yes I am aware of this and maybe that's the reason South Georgia voted against it. If the bill had passed were they going to build or upgrade any South Georgia hospitals because of its passing and if so wouldn't such an upgrade in equipment, facilities, and or staff created a bigger drain on the current hospitals in S. Georgia and the state. If someone does a study on uninsured patients in Georgia, the hospitals they visit, and the financial burdens place on those hospitals for treating those patients you would see that just about every area of the state with the exception of metro areas would contribute more in tax revenue than those areas would have received in services
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwkimbro
-That tax wouldn't have been enough to fix the current problems...just as the last small increase wasn't
I agree
Trauma patients are generally uninsured and that's the reason there are not more designated Trauma centers in Georgia
A bill should be passed making it mandatory any hospital that EMS deems appropriate for that type of injury should have to accept the patient. Bypassing perfectly good hospitals to reach one with the trauma center designation is, in fact, dangerous to the public.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwkimbro
As far as your tax proposal goes... I'm very troubled by the "flat tax." It isn't flat in relation to income. It is actually a very regressive tax structure. The problem is it will encourage low-wage job providers to consider Alabama and South Carolina more heavily before Georgia (Think of the new Auto factories popping up in the area).
Really how's so? What i'm proposing if you consider it a tax would not be an employer tax it would be an employee tax it has nothing to do with a Company's income in fact what i'm proposing could possibly lower property taxes across the state if done correctly and wouldn't lower property taxes attract investment of some form. What I proposed would provide supplemental revenue/ funding for Transportation, Education partially funded by property taxes, Public Safety or Police and Fire also partially funded by property taxes
thanks for the link / unless i'm reading it incorrectly it shows a federal offset, is that not the collection of child support, lower incomes pay higher sales taxes, property taxes are almost equal across the board and income taxes are higher on the wealth end of the graph you are correct it is flawed but could be viewed as one of the reasons that lower incomes have a higher tax burden when it comes to sales taxes are because they have more disposable income, spend their money more freely on everything except the basic necessities of life, a family making on average of $9,800 according to the link contributes 7.8% or around $764.40 of it to sales taxes in Ga while an average family income of $62,700 contributes 4.4% or $2,758 and $256,100 sit at 1.9% or $4,865. If you consider that a Family with an average income of $9,800 less than $850 per month probably receives multiple forms of State and Federal assistance that would amount to 0 or maybe a negative
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwkimbro
In state spending Metro Atlanta gives the state everything it takes in, but it also gives the state a whole 13% of its budget that it doesn't get back. Metro Atlanta would be in far better shape if it could just just half of that back...particularly with funds in the GDOT.
The way you make up the committee is also unfair and bias' the power to rural Georgia. This is exactly part of our past problems. The Atlanta region has 4 million people... but through the structure of your committee your proposing they could easily be outvoted 11-1 on issues of spending in Metro Atlanta.
I think issues for transportation projects the go across transportation district boundaries, like the Fall Line Freeway, those districts need to learn to work together on the new tax law, even if it is flawed.
Why does this have to come up in just almost every thread about transportation in this GA forum.
While it maybe true that the Atlanta Metro gives the state 13% of its budget.
Though what is the % of state of GA employees and businesses related to state of GA such as contractors and others that do business or perform functions for the state of GA that also contribute to this statistic and would not be included if it were not the state Capital compared to other areas of the state. It was just a suggestion for a committee and it could be altered to be more fair to the Metro Area of Atlanta. The final part I agree with you on certain regions could ban together to get more accomplished.
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