FULTON COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
There was a strange and unusual gathering at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday.
Members of the left and right teamed up to fight a common foe, the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
"We've got everybody here from the Sierra Club, to the NAACP, to the Georgia Tea Party," said Georgia State Sen. Vincent Fort, (Democrat – 39).
"You know when these coalitions that are normally on opposite ends of the spectrum come together, in solidarity, on the same issue, that should send huge red flags that this project list and the whole process is seriously flawed," said Debbie Dooley, with the Tea Party Patriots.
Supporters of the T-SPLOST say if voters approve the 1 percent sales tax increase, the money raised will be the beginning of a solution to the region's transportation problems. They also say it will help create jobs and spur economic growth. But opponents say the tax will end up hurting people and traffic.
"It will require the most vulnerable segment of our population, the poor and the middle class, to bear the cost," said Shelia Brown, with the NAACP.
"If you check the numbers, 34 percent of the money goes to building new road infrastructure and we think it should first focus on fixing our current infrastructure and it should focus on transit improvement," said Colleen Kiernan, with the Georgia Sierra Club.
Another common theme among opponents is what they call the inherent unfairness of the selection process. Steve Brown, a Republican who is a Fayette County Commissioner used DeKalb County as an example.
"When you look at DeKalb County, which has paid the MARTA tax since 1970 and then you are going to place rail in Cobb County, which has not paid the tax, that is disgraceful," said Brown.
"We need to vote this disgraceful program down," Dooley said.
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