Sumter is at a crossroads in its history. We have an opportunity to move forward and keep pace with other communities in our State or forever fall behind. The vehicle to accomplish this initiative is the One Cent Capital Penny Sales Tax.

Premise #1 — Move Forward

• In order to move forward, or at a minimum keep pace with other areas of the State, we need to generate activities that will bring revenue back into our community. Those activities center on economic development and businesses that provide services in our community but are paid for by others outside our community. Many of our initiatives in the One Cent Capital Penny Sales Tax proposal are to fund projects that enhance this possibility. 

Premise #2 — Safety

• We want our community to be safe and free of those who could cause harm within our community. A modern and up-to-date judicial center would aid greatly in the efficiency of the criminal justice system. It should be a building that we can all be proud of in its appearance and secure in its operations. Failure to address this issue alone will add hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in lost efficiencies and building costs.

• The improved delivery of rapid emergency services with conveniently located and up-to-date rural stations will add to our personal security.

• Highway and intersection improvements would decrease congestion and enable us to commute more freely with the growing number of vehicles on our roads.

Premise #3 — Quality of Life

• The quality of life projects not only generate revenue but provide opportunities for families and young folks to gather and compete on modern up-to-date facilities and provide all citizens with a sense of pride.

• The rekindling of our past by redeveloping our downtown area to create a setting and atmosphere that bring back visions of days gone by and promises of a greater future. 

Premise #4 — Community

• The inclusion of the rural life style with opportunities for gatherings, creating pride in ones heritage, and the significance of places to meet called community centers. Research from the Urban Land Institute provides evidence that community centers in rural areas significantly reduce crime in that area. A community center helps create "a sense of place" which instills a sense of pride among the area residents. When residents take ownership in their neighborhood one of the positive outcomes is peer pressure to make and keep the area as a pleasant and safe place to live. Many community centers become the central hub for neighborhood watch and other programs that greatly reduce crime and make the area more physically appealing.

These are just a few of the objectives we seek to achieve through the passage of the One Cent Penny Sales Tax project. To put this off for a better day will simply not work but put us further and further behind in our attempt to become a progressive community. Efficiencies will be lost, costs will increase, and opportunities will pass us by. The One Cent Capital Penny Sales Tax is a fair and equitable way to resolve many of our local concerns.  It involves everyone Sumter County citizen and those who visit our community and make purchases.