County Looks to SPLOST to Counter Funding Cuts

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) said it will cut road funding to Pickens County, BOC Chairman Robert Jones says.During a work session earlier this month, Chairman Jones said that GDOT recently informed the county the state will soon decrease funding for road projects.

“We do know that the state is cutting a check for approximately $350,000 and they’ve also informed us as of last week that as the state DOT goes forward that those monies will be decreasing. So, we need to come up with finding a solution to keep up our roads and keep them maintained,”

Jones said.

One solution may be the next round of SPLOST (Special Projects Local Option Sales Tax). County CFO Faye Harvey says the current SPLOST will pay out in June 2014. As such, the county is faced with renewing the tax, which can only be renewed on the ballot in the form of a referendum. Further, the referendum will require public input to decide on uses for SPLOST revenues. The current SPLOST paid for the courthouse renovations and the community center.

During the work session, though, Jones mentioned roads, fire protection and water as possible uses for the new SPLOST. He went on to stress the importance of fire protection in the county, saying areas beyond a five mile radius of fire stations could increase insurance costs.

“When you do something like fire (protection) through a SPLOST,”

he added,

“you can build the buildings; you can buy equipment, but still the county has to furnish the manpower. The labor (that) goes with it—that cannot be funded under SPLOST.”

Although the new SPLOST referendum is over a year away, Jones noted that the planning should start soon, giving enough time for public meetings. He also said that if the referendum is not passed in time retailers would have to change their systems and then back again when it passes, calling early planning a cost saving measure.