Years ago the state of Georgia built GA Hwy 400 with bonds and installed a toll booth to pay off the debt obligations. The state also promised taxpayers that when the bonds were paid off the toll booth would be removed. SUCKERS!

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is now reporting that we can have our toll money back when we pry it out of SRTA’s cold, dead hands. Not only that, but now that the road debt is paid off the State Road and Tollway Authority wants to double the toll to a dollar! So if you believed the state back when they said they would remove the toll, you might want to put a little ice on that.

But don’t worry, it will all be fine. Roswell Mayor Jere Wood says that it’s all right for the state to lie to his constituents because,”the tollway authority has told local officials that the additional tolls would only be used to pay for more improvements along Ga. 400.” You should go to ajc.com and read the whole thing here: http://bit.ly/dzSewO

So the state lied to the public… but we can believe them now when they tell us how the money will be used? Are you kidding me? I may not be too bright but once someone has lied to me I don’t generally believe them the next time. And that goes double for a government bureaucrat.

Which brings us to the reason this issue is so important. The toll on GA 400 isn’t going to kill anyone. But the lie that was told to the people of Georgia is just another nail in the coffin of the public’s trust. I am tired of being lied to and I’m not alone.

The state is now proposing another 1% sales tax on the residents of Georgia. The state says that it will go for local projects. The state says that it won’t go for MARTA. The state says that we will get another chance to decide if we want to extend the extra sales tax. 

Should we believe them? No. We can’t believe them because experience tells us that once the state gets our money they will do with it what they damn well please.