The Hall County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution Thursday night to call for a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referendum to be placed on the Nov. 4 election ballot.
“Hall County has had an active SPLOST program since 1985, funding major infrastructure, roads, public safety facilities and vehicles, parks, trails and libraries over the last 40 years,” Board of Commissioners Chairman David Gibbs said.
SPLOST is an optional 1% sales tax used to fund capital outlay projects. If passed by Hall County voters, the proposed SPLOST program would be the ninth program of its kind for the County and would remain active for six years. It is estimated that 30 to 40% of SPLOST dollars raised in Hall County come from out-of-county residents.
“We are in a unique position here in Hall County because we see a lot of visitors who are utilizing our roads and services daily,” Gibbs said. “Lake Lanier alone attracts 14 million people to our county a year, and when you throw in the patients and visitors of the Northeast Georgia Health System, the students and families of the various higher education facilities, and the many other commuters, visitors and travelers, we have millions of opportunities to collect sales tax dollars, which would contribute to our roads and infrastructure throughout the County without placing the burden solely on property owners.”
The SPLOST IX program, which is estimated to generate approximately $440 million, would help fund several notable projects, which may be found on the Hall County website at hallcounty.org.
All nine municipalities in Hall County have approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for the SPLOST IX program, including the allocation of funds and the proposed project list.
The next step in the process is for the Hall County Board of Elections to formally call the referendum for placement on the November ballot, which will happen at the July 15 Board of Elections meeting.
To learn more about SPLOST, visit www.hallcounty.org/398/SPLOST or email questions to [email protected].