Channel 2 poll: Support for transportation sales tax continues to slip
Lori Geary and Channel 2 Action News have posted another poll that shows support for a transportation sales tax in metro Atlanta continuing to slip – and not just among white Republican voters anymore.
The automated poll, conducted by the Republican-oriented political service firm Rosetta Stone Communications, has a 3.1 percent margin of error. Take a look at the crosstabs here. From the Channel 2 website:
The poll, conducted July 11, found only 33 percent of metro Atlantans support the referendum while 56 percent oppose the measure. Twelve percent remain undecided.
Seventy-one percent of Republicans in metro Atlanta now oppose the referendum, but only 50 percent of Democrats support the July 31 vote. Broken down by race, 47 percent of African-American supporters favor the referendum. Sixty-seven percent of white voters oppose it.
This in the face of a resumed TV campaign.
Those supporting the sales tax point out that, in a mid-summer primary, turnout is likely to be low and thus figuring out who will actually cast a ballot becomes an imprecise science. This will be about turnout, they say.
John Garst of Rosetta Stone sent the following state via email late this afternoon:
“The moment of realization has to be setting in with the business community in Atlanta. After spending millions of dollars on this campaign and seeing poll numbers drop steadily, they need to be searching for plan B.”
The survey, which was conducted on Wednesday night, sampled 1,050 pre-screened primary voters of both parties and was weighted to accurately reflect the demographic and geographic turnout.
“Due to the nature of this issue and the confusion surrounding the polling for this referendum, I invite anyone from the public, the T-Splost campaign, nervous donors or the opposition to call me and I will explain and clarify all numbers.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
318 comments Add your comment
steve
July 13th, 2012
3:39 pm
I am black and I am voting against it. I live in Cobb County and work downtown ATL. We need to expand light rail into Cobb County and other surrounding counties but the 1% tax does address light rail. We don’t need more roads; we need light rail. I am voting against it!
David
July 13th, 2012
3:39 pm
And a “not vote at all” will end up being a vote for this thing I am betting. So do not be lazy. Go vote or don’t complain.
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:40 pm
Interesting – all the false information about crime statistics in Lenox and Dunwoody.
You were a victim? Sorry. This could happen anywhere – and by the way, an automobile is a MUCH more effective getaway vehicle than a train. (I’ll bet a cold six pack the folks that did something to you arrived in a car!)
Apparently this is the bastion of the uninformed…..
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:40 pm
Sheepdawg and Julian: Please outline the scenario that would result in the proposal of a transportation plan such as you describe (no more asphalt, lots more transit). I mean, sure, that sounds good to me… but with the current political climate in this state, that seems about as likely as marijuana legalization. Again the idea of sacrificing the good for the perfect comes to mind.
John
July 13th, 2012
3:40 pm
If metro Atlanta and sevral areas of the state reject this sales tax but one or more regions accepts it, I expect the State of Georgia to do what it has promised to do, i.e., penalize those regions who don’t vote for the tax by cutting state transportation funds to metro Atlanta and those regions who don’t vote for this. It wioll be interesting to see if our Republican state leadership has the guts to carry through with this promise.
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:41 pm
who are these so-called people who are increasing crime in dunwoody and lennox? do they live there, just stop by to rob people, or what? and they are coming in on public transportation to do it? how does that work? sounds like you are saying that they could not get to the malls if it wasn’t for public transportation. so criminals don’t know how to drive?
i don’t consider myself poor, but even if 500 buses went do dunwoody, i can’t afford the property taxes required to live there. so i’m baffled at how marta is the root of all of these crimes.
please help me understand.
Ole Guy
July 13th, 2012
3:41 pm
I have a hard time trying to understand just how any REASONABLE adult could have EVER viewed this debacle as anything but simply another revenue source to fund politically-enhancing foolishness.
When this whole thing started glimmering, a train system from Cobb to the MARTA train system was touted as the best thing since sliced bread. What was NOT trumpeted was the very fact that these routes are currently serviced by existing CCT service. Viewing all these “wonderfull objectives”, brought to you by the good folks at SPLOST, one has to wonder 1) are they REALLY necessary; are they simply duplications of existing services? 2) given the ‘confidence-gaining” performance of our leaders (ie…”We promise that, once the GA 400 bill has been paid, your tolls will…ah…go away”), is public trust warranted?
“Hey Lucy, if you promise not to snatch the ball…AGAIN…I’ll trust you to hold the football while I try to kick a field goal…AGAIN…”
taxed2death
July 13th, 2012
3:42 pm
DON’T LET THE SURVEY CALM YOUR FEARS ABOUT THIS MEASURE PASSING. TURN OUT AND VOTE “NO.” Too much money wil be spent on the Emory/CDC corridor–those institutions created their own transportation woes and now they want everyone to pay their way out of it. If you live in Fulton and DeKalb, you know what decades of paying an extra penney sales tax for transportation has got you–NOT better options for transportation. People, business and government need to work together improve transportation. Government has already collected too much of our money without solving the problem.
Sick and Tired
July 13th, 2012
3:42 pm
I live and work in S. Fulton so I couldn’t care less about the traffic situation in the northern suberbs. Our tax money built all the infrastructure in the old Milton county and now we’re tapped out. Let the north metro folks pay the tax to fix THEIR problem and leave S. Fulton out of it.
HIC
July 13th, 2012
3:43 pm
I’m voting NO!!! And, I’m not voting for one incumbent, Dem, Rep, black – white, what-ever. For our government to improve, local, state, national, we really need to get rid of the professional politicans!!! VOTE OUT ALL INCUMBENTS!!! I used to like to think of myself as a Rep. but now I hate the thoughts and looks of Deal, Ralston & Rogers. They all make me sick to my stomach.
john
July 13th, 2012
3:43 pm
Let’s see, MARTA is cutting something along the lines of 1/2 the bus routes in DeKalb, the DeKalb station off Memorial which will be empty is receiving $10,000,000 in TIGGER grants for LEDs lights (thanks Rep. Hank Johnson – the idol worshipper that thinks Guam will flip over) that “should” pay off after 40 years, no worry because … they are under warranty =LMAO!
DeKalb schools are raising our taxes because they don’t have enough money, but, they had enough money to send teachers on a $400,000 vacation (sorry … conference) to Hollywood.
Now, they want more money for road improvement, we are taxed enough already.
DeKalb’s CEO now has a $2,000,000 budget while we are hiring, laying off,and hiring again, police officers. What was the previous CEO’s (sexual pervert?) budget, $1 million? That sounds like a difference of 50 police officers to me.
You want to impress me, lower my water bill and offer a real long term solution such as a new reservoir system besides Lake Lanier.
You want a booming local economy, make it a one stop deal to incorporate and file taxes, drop zoning for small HBOs, no local sales tax for current empty commercial property as long as 80% of the employees are local residents in DeKalb.
If people want skate parks and bike paths, let them pay for it themselves.
Carlos
July 13th, 2012
3:44 pm
If the proposals put forth were really going to reduce traffic then I would be on board. Lets look at the facts. Atlanta with the current infrastructure system can’t handle anymore traffic efficiently. The only real solution to ease traffic is divert traffic away from metro Atlanta, extend raillines out further in all directions and look at building tunnels. Road improvements, sidewalks, intersection improvements are fine but they won’t even make a dent in the overall problem which is reducing congestion. What happens when there is a wreck on a major interstate? Everybody takes the side streets and they become jammed. I-285 because of Atlanta’s population should be approximately 20-25 miles from downtown on all sides. No you can’t pick it up and move it but it is too close when trying to move traffic plus handle traffic coming from downtown. The city of Atlanta had a sewer/stormwater problem where when it rained hard escpecially along Nancy and P’tree Creeks sewer lines would overflow. So what did the city have to do to alleviate the problem. They had to build a massive tunnel to handle runoff and relieve pressure on the existing lines that could no longer handle the load due to primarily development. I would love to get on GRTA or whoever and let them know if you are serious about traffic congestion then major changes not bandaids are needed. More people are still moving to Atlanta than are leaving. Just think of how many cars and trucks could avoid I-285 during the morning and afternoon rush hours if there was a road such as the norther arc that would connect 75 to 85 across the northern part of the metro area. Not only would it reduce congestion but it also saves everyone on gas but it reduces accidents. Think about if there was a road where you could get off around Cartersville and take it down to to connect with I-20 on the west side around Temple or Villa Rica and then proceed to Birmingham. This takes a lot of big trucks off I-285 escpecially at the I-20/285 interchange where their are numerous and serious accidents. We don’t need people who have a political interest/agenda to come up with plans on ways to reduce congestion. We need people who are serious minded and can come up with solutions that will benefit everyone and not just a select few as does this current proposal. The main area that has the most congestion is north of I-20. That’s where you have the greatest concentration of people and jobs. We keep talking about how we lag behind other countries and how we need to keep up with the changing world but until we take the necessary steps we will keep lagging behind. Atlanta needs a major overhaul just like the sewer system and until serious proposals are presented then it will be more of the same.
Smokewagon
July 13th, 2012
3:44 pm
Niecey- the public transportation brings crime angle was not what I was trying to convey. I was stating that any public transportation that comes from this bill will be routed to benefit only poor minorities and have total disregard for the people living in the burbs and commuting to work everyday. Race played a major role in how the Marta rail lines were laid in the 80’s and it will even more so today. So called rich suburbanites can fend for themselves.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:45 pm
@YeahRight, would you like some facts? Simply go to any the various police precincts near rail stations and ask about the increased crime stats as soon as rail stations opened. They are facts not statements and to set the record straight, I am opposed to any MARTA extension if it resembles the current structure. If someone in this state had enough intelligence to design and implement the right kind of light rail or public transit I would support it, but what we have now is simply sad!
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
3:45 pm
The STATE of Georgia needs to do what every other STATE has done with their Transportation plans for their largest METRO areas. Those STATES invest MONEY into their transportation plans to improve conditions so that the remaining areas of the state benefit directly from such investments. There are many reasons why this does not happen in Georgia. One of the primary reasons for this non investment of the STATE’s money is that ATLANTA has the largest concentration of AFRICAN AMERICANS and many of the “good ole boys’ who come from the most rural areas of Georgia and they resent doing “ANYTHING” that could be possibly be perceived as helping that particular population with any of the STATES TAX DOLLARS!
Metro Atlanta is perceived by them and many in their communities as a WILD JUNGLE that needs to be AVOIDED at all COSTS! PERIOD!
Many Native Georgians Know and have a CLEAR understanding of this perception!
k-man
July 13th, 2012
3:47 pm
I will vote “No” for the transportation tax. I can’t trust local or state government to do the right thing. They fooled us with the Georgia 400 toll road issue. I am not going to let them stick it to me for 10 years with this transportation tax.
PMC
July 13th, 2012
3:48 pm
I’m for fixing transportation, especially Marta and mass transit.
I’m not sold on the referendum though. They’ve done an extremely poor job of selling it and explaining it.
Joe
July 13th, 2012
3:49 pm
Do the math people. If you spent 100,000.00 of taxable money a year then thats an extra 1,000.00. That is less than 3.00 a day and truly how many of us spend that much money a year? Do you not realize that if you dont approve this then property taxes will go up? At least with this anyone who pays taxes traveling in the state of GA will fund this.
At the end of the day you have to ask do you want to have a 1% tax that you control how much you put in based on how you spend your money or be forced into tax increases that are not equal?
Interested
July 13th, 2012
3:49 pm
I have a few questions.
First, If we dont start by building the transit system in the “intown” areas (north ave line, line up marietta to the west side and beltline), what good will it be to have a train from conyers? As it currently is, if you dont work off peachtree, you cant take marta. The lines going east west and the one going to emory will connect several of the largest employers in Atlanta, so I wouldnt consider them a waste. This is a long process that was made worse by our lack of action in the past. After we have better transit in our central area, then we can start building commuter trains that extend to the outlying areas in order to bring people into the main business and entertainment area in the region, without them needing a car once they get to midtown.
Second question, what is the other option for transit funding(which is an undeniable necessity at this point. IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!)? If this fails, I imagine that several of the in town projects will find their own funding, simply because all of the business leaders know that is how they are going to revive this town. The suburbs are the areas that are going to miss out.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:49 pm
@niecey – not so-called . . . The head of the old Macy’s security group had a staff of five prior to the lennox rail station opening. Within six months that staff grew to twenty and they could not keep up with the increased crime – just fact. I’m simply stating that in Atlanta additional rail lines will increase crime, proven fact. Whether that outweighs the positives, well, thats up for discussion . . .
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:50 pm
i’m glad you answered yeah right b/c i was a bit baffled by your comment, but i got so angry by marta’s comment that i forgot to ask you.
@marta, what would the right kind of rail look like?
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
3:51 pm
Time to put Andy “sell-out” Young out the pasture as a spokesman for the downtrodden. All on the radio promoting this bull! If ya’ll will recall, last time we heard from him, he was standing with Walmart against the poor. SELL OUT NEGRO! I want to use another word, but my post will get deleted.
This is embarrassing...
July 13th, 2012
3:51 pm
I’ve lived in East Cobb for 13 years and since day one I’ve seen nothing done to fix traffic. I’ve worked downtown, Buckhead and the Perimiter area and all are bad commutes.
The fact:
We DO need something to fix traffic for the good of the metro Atlanta area.
WE DON’T have a plan that makes sense.
We DON’T have a Regional Transportation group who is looking at the whole thing when you start giving money to individual County Transportation Systems.
We CAN’T trust the figures that were generated by some consultant. The dollars raised over the project are misleading as is the number of jobs it will create.
We CAN’T trust the government and transportation groups to do what they promise. Look at 400 toll, the creation of 85 pay lanes (that’s made traffic worse), those start and stop lights getting onto the interstate that are never working etc.
We CAN’T be insulted into thinking it’s just a penny, if so bill everyone in the Metro Atlanta area one penny a month for 10 years, I’ll pay my $1.20 in advace.
What we do need to do is close lanes and promote a user friendly public transportation systm. I appreciate how many are turned off by that because their only experiance is MARTA, I mean build a real metro system that goes places that people want to go. Tuner Field, Cobb Arts Center etc.
The DON’Ts and CAN’Ts above equal a NO vote and anyone who thinks this is even a partial answer can pay my penny tax.
The fact that we are looking into more roads is insane, are we trying to be he smog capital as well???
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:52 pm
It’s really too bad that the Ga 400 toll extension gets into this conversation. Especially since the cutoff was a verbal promise by a politician (yeah, that will work!). Those verbal promises by politicians don’t hold water…. and I don’t think extending it was a good move.
The TSPLOST bonding is written in a law. It does end in 10 years. That’s ten (10) years. All projects have to be completed in 10 years. That’s why some of the projects people would like to have can’t be done – it would take more than 10 years to complete them.
This has to wrap up in 10 years, unless the people vote to continue it. It’s written in the law, not a verbal promise from a politician.
But those are facts – nobody pays any attention to that when you have talk radio and all their ilk loudly screaming all their falsehoods.
Alleas
July 13th, 2012
3:52 pm
I find it quite amusing that the same Republican led legistlature in GA that opposes any more taxes out of Washington are now pushing for this tax. Lets continue with the same rhetoric….instead of raising taxes look at what we are spending money on now in our local government and CUT BACK….
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:53 pm
MARTA: Maybe you’re right that “additional rail lines will increase crime.” What effect do you think additional rail lines would have on traffic fatalities? I’d rather be a victim of crime on MARTA–which I’ve never experienced in my 20 years in Atl and which I’m sure is mostly very minor property crimes–than one of the many victims of Atlanta’s love affair with the car.
Engineering marvel
July 13th, 2012
3:54 pm
Out of town visitors remarked over July 4th, why are all the traffic signals unsynched in this town? DUH one of the best engineering schools in the world and for 30 years they still havent been able to come up with a plan to synch the lights though they have promised to again and again -all they need is more money OL. BTW in NYC -Manhattan-if you time the lights right you can drive downtown from uptown without hitting a single red light-done it many times-ATL green-red-green-red-green-red …………
Refugee
July 13th, 2012
3:54 pm
Jim, there is a valid case that the roads will be much emptier going forward as the middle class shrinks with the imploding economy,long before any transportation changes. Auto sales are collapsing as well:
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/07/anecdotal-and-hard-evidence-suggests.html
Jason
July 13th, 2012
3:54 pm
For thse of us not stupid enough to move far away from employment, this tax is just another way of bailing out the idiots who made bad housing and employment decisions. Making your life dependent on billions of dollars of not yet built government controlled infrastructure is a recipe for disappointment. You bought the trashy stucco and plywood McMansion in the middle of nowhere, now suffer the consequences of your poor decision making skills.
N
July 13th, 2012
3:55 pm
Interesting that recent sales taxes were voted in for: 1). Pay for sewer upgrades (Atlanta city) and 2). School Splost by a huge majority.
At least in the city citizens would of had much lower taxes but they choose to vote for higher taxes.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:56 pm
@niecey – rail that is actually designed to effectively move people. Not from point a to point b that are several miles apart. Like @Interested said our transit system does not function well or it would be used more. We need transit planners to provide plans similar to NYC, Boston and other cities where it is effective. Sure it will still have increased crime, but at least the overall system would be more effective and actually used by more of the people who funded it’s construction . . .
Rock Gaines
July 13th, 2012
3:56 pm
I’m not happy that commuter rail is not included in T-SPLOST. Julian makes a good point, but commuter rail can be run over existing freight lines. The Barnes administration had a plan for region-wide commuter rail, but when Sonny Perdue became governor, he killed it.
Remember, Atlanta was originally a railroad hub, and lines emanate east, west, north and south.
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
@ YeahRight – save that stupid rhetoric for someone who can’t think! all it would take to get it extended past 10 years would be a bunch of unfinished projects to hold the citizens hostage with. You DUMBASS!
Alleas
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
@ Joe you say with this 1% tax you have control over how you spend your money….well not so fast. I need lights, gas, and other utilities……I have to pay sales tax on that….so far my estimate is this 1% increase would cost me an extra $100 per year just on my utilities and that is on the low end.
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
A good article on taxation made the point that “In general, you get what you pay for, since the states with the highest sales and property taxes also generally have the most sound infrastructure.” Vote “No” and you vote to keep Georgia backwards and underdeveloped.
Intown
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
This is a shame. If this tax fails I fear for the future unity of our region.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:58 pm
@Baron, not property crimes, actual assaults and thefts in and around the stations. Just find a cop around Brookhaven and ask how many cars are broken into daily while the criminals walk back to the station with the stolen brief case, cell phone, laptop, etc – just the facts . . .
The enemy within
July 13th, 2012
3:58 pm
What else is there to say? YEAH!!!!!!! Keep it going folks. Let’s drop the support to only 25% so they will keep their ignorant plans to themselves and not try to slip this through on some way off year election that nobody cares about (like they generally do).
DUH
July 13th, 2012
3:59 pm
@ yeahright–LOL sure there’s no way politicians can write another law extending the tax is there? they can’t amend it in any way LOL have you ever seen a tax the government do away with their money pot? That’s why until recently we were still paying a phone tax for the Spanish American War!
Prez Obozo
July 13th, 2012
3:59 pm
Easing traffic would be nice but everyone knows ALL politicians are corrupt! They would steal or move the money around to benefit themselves or their buddies. I will vot NO!
Alleas
July 13th, 2012
4:00 pm
It makes my heart sing to realize other Georgians are not falling for this Transportation Crap……they cant be trusted………
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:00 pm
@MARTA
I read the crime reports for zone 2 every week.
Sure there are problems, but this isn’t caused by MARTA rail.
But of course, I guess if everyone on the train looked like you, all would be well…..
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
4:01 pm
@The enemy within, can you say “Peach Pass”
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:01 pm
@Bernie
You might want to learn how to read.
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:03 pm
OK, do another law – but you CANNOT change bonding.
This is effectively a BOND issue – you can’t change the legalese on the bonds.
They run out in 10 years….
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
4:04 pm
@YeahRight, well at least it look a few posts before you brought race into this, nice way to avoid the point and play the race card. My point was the the overall system needs to be fixed and the crime aspect is simply one issue to deal with . . .
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
4:04 pm
@ YeahRight – you might want to learn to try that bull on someone else, this is the wrong forum for you sweetie. Looks like most of us can actually think, so that shi_ their paying you and Andy “sellout” Young to shovel and working!
Interested
July 13th, 2012
4:05 pm
Someone answer my question please. If this fails, what is the alternative for transit?
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
4:05 pm
correction ain’t working!
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:05 pm
yeah – Peach Pass…. another government item…. but we can’t trust the government because they are corrupt…. oops….