Penny sales tax will meet public need
I will be voting yes on Nov. 8 for the penny sales tax. If passed by the voters of Greenwood County, this penny tax will provide funding for a number of projects, including the important area of public safety.
I have read about the Fire Service Master Plan and the Countywide radio system. I was surprised and disappointed to learn of the state of radio communications among our public safety entities. I found it hard to believe the radio communication is so unreliable that many of the firefighters in my district use their mobile phones to organize a response to an emergency. It was also disappointing to learn the fire service, police and EMS cannot talk to each other directly by radio. They have to route communications through the dispatchers.
The Fire Service Master Plan pointed out the need to build additional stations and the Public Safety Training Facility. When we as residents have an emergency, we want help quickly, and we want those coming to help trained to resolve our problem. The plan also calls for badly needed new trucks to be purchased for each of our volunteer fire departments. My fire department has four trucks; all but one is between 25 and 35 years old. In my district, 80 percent of our area is without fire hydrants, so when there is a fire the firefighters have to bring water and shuttle it to the fire.
Please vote yes on the Capital Project Sales Tax referendum.
MARILYN MURPHY
Ninety Six
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Oct 26, 2016
By MARILYN MURPHY