Dear Editor:

This past week the Department of Transportation, informed Troup County that money would not be given to repair and resurface several roads leading to the KIA plant.

It seems like every week, money is asked for from all sorts of resources to help or give to the KIA project. Did the engineer know a couple years ago that hauling in big loads of equipment would damage the roads and at that time ask for money, and not wait till the roads are terrible to drive on?

Mr. Emery said the project could be financed with the special-purpose local-option sales tax. Why is it when every project that comes up, the officials need money and cannot get the funding elsewhere, they just say we can use money from the special purpose tax fund. When the next notes come up to vote a tax increase, I m sure the voters in Troup County will want to know actually what the money will be used for.

I do remember that the citizens voted for this tax after much debate and nowhere in the debates that the public was informed that the money be used for all the projects that come along, especially money for the KIA roads.

Our Troup County officials must not be hanging around the DOT in Atlanta or seeing the news on the TV or reading newspapers or on the internet as the “state” of Atlanta has given MARTA (the buses and trains that run all over Atlanta) $25 million to get them out of the red. (This is the MARTA that gave its employees over a million in bonuses this past year). The DOT is being given this money to get workers back to work or new hires, not to get someone or a company out of the red. Like each day when you read the newspapers, you will see where someone asked for money to do all sorts and our Governor Perdue will OK most anything for he has certified highway and street improvement projects across metro Atlanta, using millions of dollars in Federal stimulus funds.

The “state” of Atlanta is getting 85 percent of the DOT stimulus road funds and the rest of over 150 counties will get the rest a total of 15 percent.

Do we not have a watch dog system to see what’s going on with the stimulus money? Or if they do see what’s going on, why are they letting Governor Perdue handle to whom and where the stimulus money is being used.

Thanks and have a good one.

Bill England

LaGrange