County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner

I have received several questions regarding the new SPLOST projects that ran in the November 21st edition of the NGN.  We will be having public hearings on the SPLOST projects Tuesday, December 18 at 6 pm and Tuesday, January 15 at 6 pm at the Courthouse, (Jury Assembly Rm.-Lower Level just past Clerk of Court) but in the mean time, if you have any other questions, please call my office at 706-439-6000 or email to unioncounty@uniongov.com.

Number one question
Q.  We just voted on a SPLOST sales tax so why are we doing it again?
A.  The one we just voted on, November 6, 2007, was a sales tax for the school system and had nothing to do with the county government.  The school’s  E-SPLOST
(Education- Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) was for the school system only.  Remember, the school system is governed by the Board of Education and is completely separate from county government and the Commissioner’s office.

Q.  Will we be voting for an additional sales tax?
A. No.  We will only be voting for an extension of the current sales tax. Our sales tax rate will remain the same at 7%.

Q.  Who gets the seven pennies tax on each dollar spent?
A. The State of Georgia gets the first 4 cents of sales tax.  The next penny (LOST-Local Option Sales Tax) is for the operation of county government.  This amount comes directly off your property taxes.  Without this penny your county government property taxes would be approximately 48% higher than they are today.  That penny brought in over $3 million last year (2006).  The next penny, (SPLOST-Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), is for capital improvement projects for county government only and not operation. This includes roads and bridges, new and remodeled or restored buildings, land purchase, and some other select items such as fire engines, ambulances and sheriff’s cars. This is the SPLOST that you will be voting on February 5th of 2008.  It is also why some people confuse this and the school sales tax, which is technically called an E-SPLOST (Education-Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax). We just voted to renew the E-SPLOST sales tax on November 6, 2007.

Q.  Have we ever voted on the two sales taxes (SPLOST AND E-SPLOST) so close together?
A. No and that is why some people are confused.  We are voting a little early on the county SPLOST because we are going from a five year cycle to a six year cycle.  New legislation now allows the county and city to work together on the SPLOST.  This means that the city will get a portion of the sales tax receipts. By law, it can not be less than the pro rata portion of sales tax collections based on population.

SPLOST - Continued next week

Back to List Page