Former TSPLOST opponents call for a new attempt | Online Athens

ATLANTA – As the state’s roads were quickly clogging with snow-blocked congestion on Tuesday, a coalition of business, environmental and political groups announced agreement on a handful of ideas to fund transportation.

Many of the groups, such as the Sierra Club and the Atlanta TEA Party, had actively campaigned against the state’s newest funding idea, the 1-percent sales tax known as TSPLOST. Voters in all but three regions of the state rejected the tax in 2012, including Athens, Savannah and Brunswick.

It passed in the Augusta, Albany and Columbus regions, where, despite lower-than-projected revenues, officials are pleased, according to Todd Long, assistant commissioner of transportation.

“They will tell you that they are loving life,” he said. “They have money for projects they’ve never had before.”

The Department of Transportation isn’t part of the new coalition, but its leaders have long warned that maintenance costs are rising at a time when funds from gasoline taxes are declining due to improved vehicle mileage.

via Former TSPLOST opponents call for a new attempt | Online Athens.