T-SPLOST Information Meeting Set
A public information meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15 at 7 p.m. in the small courtroom at the Courthouse to talk about the upcoming Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST).
Jim Dove and Mott Beck of the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission have been confirmed and there may also be a representative of the Department of Transportation Board. A legal notice ran in last week’s Monticello News outlining the projects to be funded by the T-SPLOST.
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If passed on July 31, over the next 10 years it would fund for Jasper County the next leg of the bypass, from Hwy. 16 east to Hwy. 83 north, offering an alternate route, preferably for truckers around the east side of Monticello, with the road extending from Hwy. 83 south just outside the city limits to Hwy. 83 north. It would also fund passing lanes between the Ocmulgee River and Shady Dale.
Those projects, along with numerous other outlined projects would be funded by 75 percent of the proceeds from the tax. The additional 25 percent of the county’s share would be used for county projects determined by the commissioners.
The state legislature voted in 2010 to put this before the voters, and regional groups have been meeting to determine projects. The state has been divided into 12 special tax districts for this proposal. Jasper is partnered with Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, and Walton Counties. The tax is expected to provide $987 million over 10 years.
Jasper County’s share would be considerably more than if a local T-SPLOST was passed, therefore Jasper has been designated a “receiver” county, meaning this county will receive more than it pays in.
It would make the local sales tax rate eight percent, with a four percent state sales tax, one percent Local Option Sales Tax which offsets property tax, a one percent six-year SPLOST that Jasper County voters approved last fall for various projects, and a one percent Education SPLOST that is funding the new high school.
The question will be on the ballot on July 31 when voters go to the polls to elect candidates to non-partisan positions and select the Republican and Democratic nominee on all partisan races. Whether a voter selects a Republican or Democratic ballot, he will also have the opportunity to vote on the non-partisan races and the T-SPLOST question.
