Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst will host a town hall meeting Thursday, March 15, from 6 to 7 p.m. at City Hall, 4362 Peachtree Road.
This month’s meeting will focus on the recent countywide special local option sales tax (SPLOST) passage that will help fund transportation and capital improvement projects in Brookhaven.
“The voters overwhelmingly approved a SPLOST last November, and as the construction season gets underway, it’s a good time to update residents about SPLOST-funded projects in the pipeline,” Ernst said in a press release.
Some city officials have expressed concerns about the SPLOST, specifically that no funding for new projects in city parks, such as for the parks master plan, was included in the 1 percent sales tax increase.
The SPLOST, expected to bring in $47 million over six years to the city of Brookhaven, is limited to transportation projects, public safety and capital project maintenance, which can include maintenance in city parks.
The same day, Ernst will also serve as keynote speaker at the Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce breakfast at 8 a.m. at DoubleTree by Hilton, 4386 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Brookhaven.
To register for the Chamber event, visit www.brookhavencommerce.org
So the mayor wants to tell you there’s no park money because it wasn’t included in the ballot referendum, and he pushed for it. The SPLOST ballot referendum was intentionally confusing with 3-ballot questions posed as a prisoner’s dilemma. Furthermore, there’s no way the City of Brookhaven is getting $47M because a 15% increase in sales taxes for the ENTIRE COUNTY will only generate $15M per year…for the ENTIRE COUNTY. Sales tax increases overwhelmingly hurt the poorest of our communities. This on top of the eminent domain being used by our city council to gentrify Buford Highway.
And now, he’s arm twisting the General Assembly to give him unlimited bonding capacity for a Public Facilities Authority for anything he wants. If you would like to block the blank check your mayor is asking for, simply send an email to Meagan Hanson and ask her to reject a City of Brookhaven Public Facilities Authority. He’s already given away $50M to the Hawks Players Development Facility, LLC.
Good luck at that town hall, Blank Check J.