Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Supports the Renewal of the County SPLOST
Friday, October 17th, 2014
The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors supports the renewal of the County’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). The results from the Chamber membership who participated in a survey revealed that 78 percent support the renewal of the county’s SPLOST.
The Chamber, representing more than 880 businesses and organizations, believes that SPLOST is one of the fairest ways of funding major capital improvements in Columbia County. The sales tax is a consumer-based tax and not a direct property tax imposed only on property and business owners. Anyone who buys a product in the county will pay the one extra penny per dollar. Every six years the Columbia County Board of Commissioners develops a list of SPLOST projects to be reviewed by residents at town hall meetings. After public comments, the commission votes to approve a final list to be presented on the ballot for an upcoming election. If approved by a majority of voters, the tax collection will take place over six years, 2017-2022, for the identified projects.
Approved projects for the SPLOST include:
- Debit Retirement of $25 million
- County buildings expansion, sheriff administrative buildings, and detention center dorm
- Technology improvements, transportation and storm water improvements
- New library for Harlem, Evans library upgrades, recreation park upgrades and property acquisition, a cultural arts center and museum
- Funding of $30 million for the sole community hospital if need to build a hospital in Columbia County. If hospital does not require funding from the county, funds would be used for additional recreational areas, etc.
A full detailed list can be found at:
http://www.columbiacountyga.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11231
SPLOST has been a successful tool to fund our quality of life since 1990. Many of the features you enjoyed in Columbia County were funded with the previous SPLOST. Let me break down some of the projects that were built with previous SPLOST.
- Recreational Facilities: Patriots Park, Riverside Park, Blanchard Woods Park, and many upgrades to other parks
- Savannah Rapids Pavilion, Columbia County Library and Performing Arts Center, Evans Town Center Park / Lady Antebellum
- Intersection improvements, traffic signals, widening of many roads, water and sewerage expansions
- County operations buildings additions and expansions
- Law enforcement and fire department buildings.
We have invested in the great quality of life we enjoy in Columbia County. It’s our money and we have reaped the rewards of these capital improvements.
If you are new to the area, we also want to inform you that Columbia County has two other SPLOST initiatives. Voters have also passed an Educational SPLOST to fund new school buildings. Columbia County Board of Education has no debt on the school buildings and the E-SPLOST will come back to the voters for a renewal in 2015. Lastly, voters in Region 7, which includes 13 area counties, passed a Transportation Splost to fund an estimated $841 million in road projects. For Columbia County, these projects include the extension of Riverwatch Parkway, widening of Flowing Wells Road, Fury’s Ferry, Lewiston Road, Horizon South Parkway, Wrightsboro Road, and Robinson Avenue. Additional discretionary transportation funds were used to build sidewalks around schools. Since Columbia County grew more than 38 percent from 2000 to 2010, adding more than 35,000 new residents, a SPLOST is a way to fund many infrastructure needs in the county without having to wait on state funding.
As Chairman of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, I urge you to vote yes on November 4th for the renewal of the County SPLOST for 2017-2022.
Sincerely,
Rick Crawford
