Some DeKalb Citizens Question SPLOST IV

Major renovations could come to and if SPLOST IV passes in November, but some county residents expressed concerns about the special tax during Saturday's DeKalb Legislative Community Cabinet meeting at Chapel Hill Middle School in Decatur.

Under SPLOST IV, which voters will decide on in the Nov. 8 election, there would be additions and renovations to Redan High School, Comprehensive Arts School at Avondale Middle School, and Henderson Middle School. Stone Mountain High School and Southwest DeKalb High School would also undergo substantial makeovers.

Two schools in Stone Mountain would be among seven replaced with SPLOST IV funds: and y.

"Simply put, we're still not finished," said Barbara Colman, Interim CIP Operations Officer, DeKalb County School System, at the monthly legislative meeting held by Super District 7 Commissioner Stan Watson.

There is a full list of the proposed renovations and building plans, including estimated costs on the DeKalb County School System website.

Colman reviewed past SPLOST projects (which stands for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) that resulted in new schools and improvements over the years, with the crowd of about 150-200 people. During the question and answer period in which one person spoke in favor of the tax's benefits, some county residents weren't convinced that plans under a new SPLOST were necessary or feasible, considering .

"Please explain the reason we closed all those schools and need to open up" new ones, a parent asked.

"Some of the older school buildings have used their life cycle," Colman said.

Viola Davis, of the grassroots movement Unhappy Taxpayer & Voter, asked about an external forensic audit of SPLOST funds, given the criminal investigation that kicked off a few years ago of school construction programs under previous system leadership. The answer: no, but there are other audits and performance reviews happening as required by law, an official said.

Davis, speaking outside the meeting, said that is not good enough.

"If there is no external forensic audit, there should be no SPLOST," she said. "We can wait until 2012 to have this on the ballot. I don't think that's asking too much."