A day after the Chatham County Board of Elections refused to put the proposed special purpose local option sales tax extension on the November ballot, there’s no agreement as to who has authority to decide what goes on the ballot.
Commission Chairman Al Scott, under the advice of the county attorney, said the elections board has no standing in deciding whether or not SPLOST will be on the ballot. Its vote Monday was not even necessary and SPLOST will be on the ballot, he said.
“I think that the elections board got a little carried away,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t think a vote was necessary. They can’t stop a county from calling a referendum.”
But Joseph Steffen, chairman of the elections board, was adamant Tuesday that responsibility lives with his five-member board to call an election.
The disagreement places what has already been a somewhat contentious issue, beset with last-minute actions and doubts about the likelihood of SPLOST passing, further into disarray. The SPLOST referendum has been scheduled to take place Nov. 5.
The disagreement aroused when the elections board voted Monday not to place SPLOST on the ballot. The board made the decision because it said it did not receive a signed copy of the county and city of Savannah’s intergovernmental agreement that lays out how sales tax revenue is to be apportioned.
Steffen initially said City Manager Stephanie Cutter had not signed the document but has since clarified his statement to acknowledge that Scott’s signature was not on it, either. On Tuesday, the elections board received a properly signed copy, he said.
via Chatham County and elections board in disagreement over SPLOST | savannahnow.com.
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