If I could, I would fire almost EVERYONE on every single level. Most incumbents can consider my vote going for someone new.

Mine went up $300.00 bucks, ridiculous!

No wonder they waited so long to send it out. I just received mine and thought I would have to be admitted into the cardiac ICU. $658.39 for My house?? Seriously? It's a two bedroom house built in 1950, not something out on Col Island. GRRRR I WILL REMEMBER THIS ON ELECTION DAY!!!

UP2 - Mine was over $2,000. But here is what really frost me. I went to the Town Hall Meeting for Bryan county for their Property Taxes. For property appraised the same as mine, I would have paid $185. They have far better schools.
That Jail is another sore spot on my radar. They projected raising $4,700,000 in the SPLOST for renovating the Jail. They collected $6,260,227, and added an additional $5,547,834 to that. total $11,808,061. According to The County Commission they spend $3,800,00 annually to run the jail. They WHY, when the city of Midway sends someone to Jail, do we have to pay the Jail $44.00 per day to keep them there?
I pay property taxes for the jail, I pay SPLOST Taxes to support the Jail, and now I have to pay $44.00 a day to put someone in jail?
Save the Taxpayers money. Incarcerate them in the Savannah Hilton...It would be cheaper.

Didn't they just re-do the jail?

Good points, Terry...

Would love for mine to be 658.39 anyday, wouldn't care if it was a one bedroom/kitchen/living room combo box it's better then 2000.00.

My first thought was to laugh but what's going on in Long County tax wise isn't a laughing matter. Same problem, different county. My understanding of the situation there is a dog house is worth about 1000 in property taxes. What can I say longco but vote 'em out.

SPLOST can be used to build a jail, renovate a jail, expand a jail, but it cannot be used to operate a jail. The $44 a day is to cover the operating expenses of keeping someone locked up. SPLOST dollars cannot be used for those expenses.

SPLOST has given almost every municipality and county in Georgia a license to steal from its taxpayers. You are absolutely right that you can’t pay for the operation of the jail, etc. with SPLOST money. SPLOST laws as currently written do not allow for maintenance and operations. However, here lies the rub. County commissioners and city councils members could instead of building monuments to their selves, planting flowers and in general spending money on just about anything they can think of could instead spend that SPLOST money on crumbling, decaying infrastructure. Not gonna happen. Instead money raised from property taxes is used to pay for these items and politicians still get their personal monuments.

Counties and cities enter into an inter-government agreement each time a SPLOST is due for renewal and while the meetings are open to the public very few people attend. Then when the SPLOST money is divvied up and the wish list is published the items are worded so that unless you attended the meeting you have no idea as to how this money will actually be spent. Most SPLOST projects are simply a legacy to some politician in the form of an aqua center, amphitheater or park cleverly disguised in the language as recreation then we have county administration buildings, municipal centers and the public marinas where the land for these SPLOST items was probably purchased from one of their business partners cleverly hidden in some corporate documents or their first cousin once removed. Remember that when SPLOST came up for a vote the people YOU HIRED to represent you told you that if YOU DIDN’T APPROVE SPLOST your taxes would go up? Well it is abundantly obvious that they LIED to you and anyone who voted for a property tax increase should be FIRED. Various statistics show that for every $1.00 in SPLOST money spent on a project it will take $1.50 in taxpayer funds to maintain and operate the SPLOST project.

There was a time when I could almost stomach an E-SPLOST but no more. Some of the buildings completed, or currently under construction are worthy of appearing on the History Channel’s Modern Marvels. We elect people to the school board who know nothing about building and in some cases very little about educating our children. There is no oversight and the ones making off like bandits are the engineers and architects who laugh all the way to the bank. What happened to the little red schoolhouse? Just say no to SPLOST and ESPLOST. That penny adds up.

Someone sent this to me earlier....
This one's for you Wicked.

Let's all TRY to remember this as the elections of 2010 are drawing near. And for sure in 2012.
All the politicians are promising change to the American people. We send them billions and billions of tax dollars and they send us the change.. Funny? Not really; there is too much truth in it to be funny. But that got me to thinking... They all promise change.
A restoration that would take us back in time to a place where things ran better, smoother and life was more enjoyable.
Change? That, in truth, is what they have been giving
us all along..
We used to have a strong dollar...
Politicians changed that.
Marriage used to be sacred...
Politicians have changed that.
We used to be respected around the world... Politicians changed that.
We used to have a strong manufacturing economy... Politicians changed that.
We used to have lower tax structures... Politicians changed that.
We used to enjoy more freedoms... Politicians changed that.
We used to be a large exporter of American-made goods... Politicians changed that.
We used to teach patriotism in schools... Politicians changed that.
We used to educate children in schools... Politicians changed that.
We used to enforce LEGAL citizenship... Politicians changed that.
We used to have affordable food & gas prices...
Politicians changed that, too... and one could go on and on with this list.
What hasn't been changed, politicians are promising to change that as well, if you will elect them. When, oh when, is America going to sit back with open eyes and look at what we once were and where we have come and say "enough is enough"?
The trouble is, America's youthful voters today don't know of the great America that existed forty and fifty years ago. They see the world as if it has always
existed as it is now.
When will we wake up? Tomorrow may be too late. When will America realize... Politicians are what is wrong with America ? This goes for BOTH parties... they all do only what they can to be re-elected, not what is best for the citizens!
What is needed is for the Constitution to be
amended to limit all Senators and Representatives to TWO terms in office like the President.
Oh, by the way, no big pension either, social security just like the rest of us.. How do they rate bigger
and better entitlements than the people THEY WORK FOR? WHICH IS US!!
Being a politician shouldn't be a person's life work
but rather a call to public service then back to being an honest hard-working citizen.
Politicians are no more than housekeepers and janitors... unfortunately they act like they own the building.

PASS THIS ONE AROUND... FOR A CHANGE...

Anyone know the "RECALL" rules in Georgia? ;o)

Well found out today that long county taxes are to be mailed tomorrow. In so many words said as well won't hold my breath on it and in long county everyone's taxes went up $300.00 from last year. This has nothing to do with the 44%+ hike next year.

Recall and impeachment information coming soon. Please remember that between January 1 and April 1 homeowners have the right to file a return asserting the value of their own property. This form is available on line through the Georgia Department of Revenue and can be provided to you by your local tax assessor/commissioner. This will trigger a reassessment of your property and can be useful if the property values or comparable in your area have depreciated and yours no longer look anything like fair market value. Also, please make sure that you have applied for all homestead exemptions available. You will have to pay the current tax bill and this procedure will only help to establish a lower value for taxation going forward. Good luck.

Guess you haven't heard Sonny Purdue took away part of the homestead exemptions. So no need rushing to get it for next year. Another way to help us folks out while were down :)

There is no homestead anymore. Anybody know that Hinesville did with that $73 M dollars? Assuming of course that it all didn't end up in someone's back pocket.

It's in their pockets. You haven't noticed them walking around with their pants hanging pass their butt?? lol
Atleast in long county now they have to keep their pants above the hip line or they will get fined at ticket. This way they can cover up their full pockets...lol

Let's not pay any taxes and over flow the jail, so they will have to feed and house us all.

Wicked Witch, you stated, and I quote … “Various statistics show that for every $1.00 in SPLOST money spent on a project it will take $1.50 in taxpayer funds to maintain and operate the SPLOST project.”
Please answer a couple of question, if you can. Where did you get your “various statistics?” What was the time period used in calculating the “$1.50” figure you quote?

BW2008. Sorry I have gotten behind. I understand that SPLOST cannot be used for upkeep or maintenance. The point from solely my perspective is that they allocated 4.7 mil for Jail renovations in SPLOST 4 Which ended April 09. They collected 6.3 mil and added another 5.5 mil from somewhere else. That is $11.8 Mil they spent in the past 5 years to expand the jail for prisoners. According to the County Commissioners they spend 3.8 million every year to run the jail. So...If you multiply 3.8 mil you get 19 mil. Add that to the SPLOST tax of 11.8 Mil you get 30.8 Mil we spent of our tax dollares on the jail. That equates to 6.16 Mil a year. If we assume the jail is alway full (Which realistically it is not, and the max capacity is 250 prisioners then we have spent $24,640.00 per year on every prisoner. Now add to that the $44.00 per day, times lets say 365 if an inmate is sentenced to a year and it is an additional $16,016. So if Midway sentenced a prisioner to one year in jail last year we would have paid $40, 656 of our tax dollars to incarcerate him. Also consider that there are usually two in a cell that is probably 8X10 or 10X12 so that is $81,312 for the pair to live in a space 1/17 of the sq footage of my home. How many of us in Liberty County make $80 Thou, or even $40 Thour or even the $24,000. Ok, I am the first to admit my figures are flawed and this example is over simplified. All I am saying is What are we getting for all that money. Go to the Liberty County Sheriff's Web Site and look at eh pictures of what the jail was, what it is today and what it will look like in the future. I for one think it is time for the people to get something for their tax dollars. Perhaps this will clarify. During SPLOST II (April 94 - March 99) the jail got 7% of SPLOST for renovations. During SPLOST III (April 99 - March 04) the jail got 8.1% of SPLOST for renovations. During SPLOST IV (April 04- March 09) the jail got 16.2% of SPLOST for renovations. During that same time the allocations for Roads (Which was the original intent of SPLOST) went from 44% to 34% to 28%.