Questions answered by Lamar Paris, County Commissioner
TSPLOST Questions Continued - Some of the details below may still be preliminary.
Q. How much money is estimated to be collected from the TSPLOST (Transportation) 1% sales tax in the Georgia Mountains region if the voters approve it in 2012?
A. According to the Georgia Mountain Region Final Transportation Investment List Report 2011, the Georgia Mountains region is estimated to collect $1,259,664,582 over the 10 year life of the T-SPLOST and of that amount, $314,916,146 would be returned to the local jurisdictions for construction of their own city and county projects.
Q. How much of the estimated $1.2 billion in sales tax collection would be generated by Union County?
A. Based on 2010 sales tax revenues received by Union County ($3,234,553), the estimated collection for the ten year term of the TSPLOST (2013 – 2022) would be $45,283,742. Union County would collect approximately 4% of the total region wide collection.
Q. How much of that revenue would be returned to Union County to provide road work?
A. Union County and the City of Blairsville have two main projects. One is the intersection improvement at Hwy 19/129 S. and Gooch By-Pass. This intersection would be converted to a truck route and receive a red light, turn lanes and the entire Gooch By-Pass would be resurfaced. The other main project would be the widening of Hwy 19/129 N toward North Carolina. This is the most dangerous highway in the county based on traffic accidents. The new Pat Haralson/Pat Colwell intersection improvement recently completed has already enhanced safety and reduced accidents at these two intersections. Further improvements to this highway will save lives and positively impact economic development in Union County for years to come. There may not be enough money collected over ten years to complete this entire project, so the first phase would probably extend to Gumlog unless Federal matching funds could later be obtained should North Carolina also widen and improve their four miles connecting to Hwy 64.
Q. We understand that a portion of the sales tax money would come back to our county directly so that we can work on and improve our own county roads. Do we know how much this will be?
A. Under the old LARP formula (now called LMIG), 25% of all funds collected in our region through the TSPLOST sales tax would be disbursed to individual counties and cities based on this formula. This formula is based on 4/5 road miles and 1/5 population. This formula tends to favor smaller counties and will certainly help Union County. The estimate is that Union County would receive approximately $20 million dollars over ten years for local county road work. This is huge and would mean that we could widen, improve and pave many new roads over the next ten years. In addition, it would allow us to increase our maintenance on our existing paved roads. This could also have a positive impact on keeping our future property tax rates lower.
Q. What if the voters of Union County or some other county reject the tax while the rest of the region approves it?
A. The law specifically addresses this issue and states that individual counties are not allowed to opt out of the regional sales tax. Therefore, if the majority of voters in a region support the new tax, then all member counties of the region will be required to collect the new tax regardless of how an individual county votes.
Q. So you are saying that if my county votes NO for the tax, but the rest of the region votes YES, my county will still have to pay the extra 1% sales tax?
A. You must remember that the Georgia Legislature and the Governor all had input into the details of the TSPLOST. The purpose of the TSPLOST is to improve roads that will have a positive impact for the entire region, not just one county. Therefore, if an individual county voted to opt out and the other counties in the region voted to support the new tax, then you could not very well build a new highway to the edge of one county and stop and not continue through the county, especially in the metro area. Generally, highways are seamless and are not impacted by county lines. The theory is that either the entire region votes to participate or the entire region votes no. It will be an all or none process.
Q. Will my region’s sales tax increase if my region does not approve the regional sales tax, but the majority of regions in the State approve it?
A. No. This is a regional tax, not a State tax. If a region does not approve the tax, that region’s sales tax will not be affected, regardless of what other regions do. Likewise, if our region votes it in then we will have the benefit regardless what other regions do.
Q. If the regional transportation sales tax is approved in my region, what will the money be spent on?
A. Similar to a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), the increased revenues will be spent on a list of specific state highway projects that is provided to the voters prior to the vote. Additionally, local governments will receive a portion of the revenue by formula to spend on discretionary transportation projects specifically for their jurisdictions. The money raised in a region may only be spent within that region. In other words, none of the money raised from the Blairsville area would be spent in the Atlanta region or vice versa.
Q. How much money will be raised by a regional sales tax, if approved by voters?
A. This varies greatly by region. Current estimates place the amount within a range of nearly $37 million annually for the lowest earning region, to over $700 million for the highest earning metro region. If the voters in all twelve regions approve of the tax, the current estimate is that as much as $1.5 billion could be raised throughout the State each year.
Q. If approved, how long would the regional sales tax last?
A. The new regional sales tax would be in place for a period of ten (10) years. At the end of those ten years, the current TSPLOST would stop and only be reinstated if a majority of the voters voted to renew the sales tax and would require a special act of the General Assembly.
Q. I am confused about what we will be voting on. Will we vote on just the projects for our region or on all the projects statewide?
A. We will only be voting for the projects in our region, including our county.
Q. If the TSPLOST passes when will the 1% sales go into effect?
A. January of 2013.
Q. When will the election on the TSPLOST take place?
A. July 2012.
Q. Where can we find the final list of projects for each region?
A. www.it3.ga.gov. will provide you with a host of details about all the projects, their location, estimated cost, and schedule of work for each county in our region.