Questions answered by Lamar Paris, County Commissioner
On October 5th, the Georgia Mountains Regional Transportation Roundtable, made up of the commission chairman and one mayor from each of 13 counties (of which I was elected Chairman) met and approved the Final Investment List (transportation projects), which will be presented to voters in July of 2012. For the next couple of weeks, I will answer questions related to the TSPLOST. Some of these questions have come from the public and some from the GDOT web site. If you have any questions that are not answered here please contact my office by mail (65 Courthouse St., Blairsville), email (unioncounty@uniongov.com) or telephone (706-439-6000).
Q. What is the purpose of the proposed regional sales tax (TSPLOST)?
A. The purpose of the region-based tax is to allow voters in each of twelve (12) special districts in the State to determine whether to increase their sales tax by 1% to fund state transportation projects in the future. In other words, the sales tax would go from 7% to 8%.
Q. How are transportation projects funded currently?
A. State wide transportation projects are currently funded by the gas tax, however, gasoline use has declined in recent years due to more fuel-efficient vehicles and people simply are driving less. This has led to a decline in gasoline tax revenues, leaving the state short of revenue to build and maintain existing transportation projects.
Q. Why not just raise the state gas tax?
A. By state code, the state motor fuel tax can only be used on roads and bridges. The funding mechanism created by HB 277 allows more flexibility in transportation investments. Additionally, HB277 allows each region to determine its own transportation priorities. Finally, state motor fuel taxes continue to be negatively impacted by more fuel efficient vehicles, carpooling and transit use. Even a sizeable increase in the motor fuel tax would likely be insufficient in the next few years as consumers continue to change their driving habits.
Q. Who's idea was this new proposed sales tax?
A. It was proposed and voted on by the Georgia Legislature to provide a means to adequately fund transportation on a state wide level for the next ten years. The House and Senate spent three years coming up with the state wide plan and the result is HB 277.
Q. Will the money raised stay in our county or region?
A. Yes. All but one of the 26 member transportation roundtable members agreed on the projects region wide. Each county has their individual lists and most counties will receive revenue close to what is estimated to be collected from their county.
Q. Does the project list have politician’s personal wish list?
A. No. All projects have been thoroughly discussed and agreed to by not only the executive committee and members of the roundtable, but also approved by GDOT. Most all projects, as they should, are to have a regional impact and not just for a single county.
For example, if passed, White Co. will receive funding to complete their by-pass and to four lane most of Hwy 19/129 South to Gainesville. While these are certainly not projects located in Union County, they will be a great benefit for our county residents since the vast majority of our outside medical emergencies are transported to the Gainesville Regional Hospital and many of our residents are hospitalized there.
Q. Does the state have a backup plan if this 1% tax does not pass?
A. Unfortunately, the answer is no. The state’s economic development future is based on this sales tax passing. Many states all over the nation are using the fact that Georgia has gridlock around the metro area to talk corporate companies and new businesses into relocating to their states instead of Georgia. If Georgia is to continue to compete for jobs in the future, this tax is crucial.
Q. Will some of our sales tax dollars go to Atlanta?
A. No. All sales tax collected in our 13 county region stays in our region.
Q. What region is Union County in?
A. Union County is part of the Georgia Mountains Region composed of Union, Towns, Rabun, Lumpkin, White, Habersham, Stephens, Dawson, Forsyth, Hall, Banks, Franklin, and Hart Counties. The boundaries are the same as the geographic boundaries of the State’s twelve regional commissions. These boundaries were set in 2009 under the direction of the Department of Community Affairs.
Q. Since Hall and Forsyth Counties are in our region, won’t they get most of the money from the sales tax?.
A. Both of these counties will only be receiving revenue close to the amount that is produced within their county, so the revenue from each county in the region will mostly stay in their county with very few exceptions.
Q. What happens if the voters of my region reject the regional sales and use tax?
A. If voters of the region reject the regional sales tax, the region will not be eligible to collect the additional tax for needed transportation infrastructure. Also, an increased match of 30% will be required from local governments within the region for locally funded projects like LARP, which are now 100% funded by the state.