Sunday Solutions — March 16, 2025
☘️ Good morning! ☘️ All is green this day with St. Patrick’s weekend revelry and pollen. And yes, there’s still news as we march toward the spring equinox at 5:01 a.m. Thursday: a Cumberland Inlet foreclosure, 4 counties prepare to vote, and info about a bill in Congress that could affect voting rights for many Americans.
EXPLAINER: ELECTIONS
Give a penny, take a penny
Pennies still matter a lot to most counties in the form of Special Purpose Local Options Sales Taxes. On Tuesday, voters in four coastal counties will decide whether to continue 1-cent sales taxes for schools or other needs. First up: Local Option Sales Taxes of all types have rules. The amount of money they can raise is set, and the tax ends at a specific time. The funds collected cannot be used for general operations. For example, they can be used to replace a heating system or build a school but not to pay the teachers. Or they can pay for a sheriff’s cruiser but not pay for the deputy to drive it. The school district or county must also publish a list of projects prioritized for the money. We’ve collected lists and info for each county at this link.
In Chatham County, the education tax renewal effort (ESPLOST) has hit turbulence as the county Republican Party is opposing the extension, pushing it up against the business interests of the Savannah Area Chamber and public school advocates. Read Craig Nelson’s look at the divide.
NEWS: GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
On the auction block
A chunk of riverfront property in St. Marys is now available again after Jacoby Development missed a $182,000 loan payment. The Camden County Joint Development Authority decided to start the foreclosure process on the former Gilman Paper tract last week. The Current’s Maggie Lee details the decision that moves the large-scale Atlanta developer out of the picture.
🎉 Congratulations to Dana Thompson for knowing that last week’s Spyglass was a phone booth located on U.S. 17 in front of Darientel in McIntosh County. We had 15 correct answers last week — let’s see how you do this week.
Test how well you spy details in Coastal Georgia. Give us the location of the item in the photo above. Some spots may be easier to identify than others; some will be tougher. We’ll collect correct answers each week and draw for a weekly winner.
EXPLAINER: ST. PATRICK’S DAY
☘️ Planning for Savannah parade?
Monday’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and festival draws thousands of your best friends wearing green. If you’re driving in, you’ll need a guide to parking, public transportation and do’s and don’ts. The City of Savannah has a page dedicated to helping you with all of that and more. See you there!
EXPLAINER: VOTING
☕ Your second cup: Sorting out SAVE Act
In the last few days, we’ve had questions about the GOP bill in Congress to change voter registration. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act was billed as a way to keep noncitizens from voting — something’s that’s already illegal. However, the provisions would affect legal citizens, as well. It’s set as a priority now for a House vote. Would it prevent married women from voting? Will it stop people who don’t have passports from voting? Will it prevent people who can acquire a birth certificate from voting? So, here are a few links, stories and the legislation itself to help you sort through the provisions and how you’d be affected.
- A Republican-backed bill would upend voter registration. Here are 8 things to know. From NPR.
- An effort to block non-citizens from voting could impact married women, too From The 19th*
- Will SAVE Act Prevent Married Women from Registering to Vote? From FactCheck.org
- Assessing claims about the SAVE Act. From The Dispatch.
- Could a GOP bill prevent some married women from voting? Here’s what to know. From USAToday
- Read the legislation for yourself. Six Georgia representatives have signed on as cosponsors. As of Saturday, Coastal Georgia Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter had not.
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March 18 sales tax vote info
By The Current
See your county’s list and information for each Local Option Sales Tax vote. All precincts will be open Tuesday, March 18, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in each county.
Funding cuts, firings at National Weather Service concern Georgia residents
By Emily Jones/WABE, Grist
Firings and funding cuts at the National Weather Service and other agencies have some experts worried about accurate forecasts heading into the next hurricane season, which begins June 1, as they erode the systems weather experts rely on.
Cumberland Inlet site in St. Marys to be sold at courthouse as Jacoby’s plan falters
By Maggie Lee
The Camden County Joint Development Authority board voted unanimously to start advertising foreclosure against Cumberland Inlet LLC, regarding the site that developer Jim Jacoby promised to turn into an ecotourism base camp with a marina, a RV park, a hotel, home rentals and commercial space, with a property sale on the courthouse steps as the […]
Chatham GOP rallies ‘no’ votes in Tuesday’s ESPLOST referendum
By Craig Nelson
Chatham County voters will decide on Tuesday whether to continue the one-cent sales tax for public-school infrastructure, with opponents arguing that it is a boondoggle and a permanent statewide sales tax, while supporters argue that it is a great way to take the burden off of property owners and business owners.
Nesting owls delay tree removal
By Mary Landers
Savannah’s Park and Tree Department was set to remove a dying red oak tree from Forsyth Park, but after a barred owl swooped down on a city worker, the department has put off the removal until the owls finish raising their young.
An effort to block non-citizens from voting could impact married women, too
By Grace Panetta/The 19th* and Barbara Rodriguez/The 19th*
House Republicans have introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill that voting rights groups say could make it harder for millions of American women and others to vote due to a requirement for proof of citizenship.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust; Georgia legislature considers alternative path for corpses
By Ty Tagami/Capitol Beat News Service
Senate Bill 241, which seeks to regulate organic human reduction facilities for the disposal of the dead, passed the full Senate 51-1 and is now moving through the House of Representatives.
Georgia House signs off on $37.7 billion budget, increasing spending on prisons and education
By Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
Next year’s budget is $1.5 billion – or 4.4% – larger than this year’s budget was when it was first passed last year.
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