Dear Editor: During the past six weeks, there have been many comments and opinions expressed about what the current SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) has or has not accomplished and how the resources have been spent.

The stewardship of the SPLOST Oversight Committee, in my opinion, has been outstanding. The committee has insured that the projects that the voters approved have been delivered. The fiscal responsibility required to insure the integrity of the county is being carried out in a responsible manner.

The county has received sales tax collections through the end of April 2010 in the amount of $79,600,000.

Those $79.6 million have been used for the following projects in the following amounts, in round figures:

New jail expansion, $24 million

Library expansion, $5.6 million

Senior Service Center expansion, $800,000

Fire services, two new fire stations and fire equipment, $3.5 million

JP Carr Community Center renovation and construction, $3.6 million

Recreation, construction of new facilities and renovation of existing facilities, $4 million

Transportation – resurfacing 140 miles of roads, improvements to four intersections providing turn lanes and traffic signals, completion of phase 2 of Parker Road improvement, $28 million

City of Conyers, $10 million

I hope that this delineation of facts regarding how much the county has received in SPLOST funds and how those funds have been expanded has answered any questions of accountability that you may have had.

Please vote yes for the SPLOST on July 20 and allow our community to continue to improve our quality of life with the help of outsiders’ tax dollars.