Columbia County Chamber Supports SPLOST, Redevelopment Powers for Grovetown
Wednesday, October 26th, 2022
The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce encourages you to vote ‘Yes’ for the SPLOST renewal on November 8. The decision to support SPLOST was made by the Chamber’s Political Action Committee, which is represented by Chamber members who volunteer throughout the year on pro-business legislation to ensure Columbia County remains a community where businesses can thrive.
Special Local Option Sales Tax, SPLOST, is not a new tax. It is a continuation of a one cent sales tax that has been approved by voters since 1990. The SPLOST includes projects that are important to the community’s safety as well as projects that maintain the quality of life residents have become accustomed to enjoying.
“Without SPLOST, future safety, recreation and transportation projects will likely have to be paid for by increased property taxes,” Columbia County Chamber President & CEO Russell Lahodny emphasized. “SPLOST benefits the community by capitalizing on the influx of people that come to the region during the first part of April every year. We can, in turn, leverage that to grow and improve our fire departments and improve our quality of life through our parks and public facilities.”
The Chamber also encourages residents in Grovetown to vote ‘Yes’ on the Redevelopment Powers Referendum. Redevelopment Powers are economic development tools that can be used to redevelop distressed areas of Grovetown that are slow to develop, contain older properties with declining value, have lower employment, or areas that need infrastructure improvements. Those powers can result in new construction, renovation or expansion of old buildings, new public work projects or improvements, new housing, arts and recreation projects, and green spaces.
“Columbia County already has Redevelopment Powers so it really just brings Grovetown in line with the County to hopefully spur some private investment into parts of Grovetown that might otherwise be overlooked,” Lahodny said.
For more information regarding SPLOST and its benefit to our county or Redevelopment Powers, visit columbiacountychamber.com and click on the voter info tab housed on the home page.
