Roads & Bridges SPLOST Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
What is a Roads & Bridges SPLOST? The Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or Roads & Bridges SPLOST, is a sales tax used to fund transportation purposes only. O.C.G.A. 48-8-260(5): “ transportation purposes ”. (5) 'Transportation purposes' means and includes roads, bridges, public transit, rails, airports, buses, seaports, including without limitation road, street, and bridge purposes pursuant to …. • Effective July 1, 2017, the state legislature authorized counties to levy a 1% sales tax, if approved by a referendum. • To qualify, a county must already impose a regular SPLOST, and can not be in an existing TIA region. • Roads & Bridges SPLOST can be levied up to 5 years at a rate of 1%, collections cannot exceed the published budget amount. • If the referendum is approved by voters, the collections will begin April 1, 2019 2
Roads & Bridges SPLOST Information • Fair Tax: The proposed one cent Roads & Bridges SPLOST is a fair tax. It applies to all who purchase goods in our county, not just those who own property. All who use the roads will contribute. The County & cities currently receive only 1% in sales tax. • Helps Keep Property Taxes Low: This sales tax will allow the cities and County to keep property taxes low and improve our road maintenance capacity. • Improves Repaving Cycle: This sales tax will cut the repaving cycle in half from 40 years to 20 years, closer to the recommended 10-15-year lifespan of pavement. • Grant Match Funds: Local R&B SPLOST can be used to match transportation grant funds from State and Federal Governments. The $27.1 million in sales tax funds will likely generate an additional $14 million in grants. 3
Property Tax Millage Rate Comparison Comparing Habersham County’s general fund millage rate to the 159 counties in the state, we rank at the 8 th percentile; meaning 92% of counties in Georgia have higher comparable millage rates.
What Transportation Projects are in Habersham County? These are pictures of just some of the current transportation project needs throughout the County and cities that would be funded by Roads & Bridges SPLOST. 5
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Bridge Repair or Replacement • Habersham County maintains 56 bridges. • 11 of those bridges have a sufficiency rating between 50 and 80 , which qualifies them for rehabilitation. • 5 of those bridges have a sufficiency rating of less than 50 , which qualifies them for replacement. • 6 bridges are reported as functionally obsolete and • 2 are reported as structurally deficient. 16
Riegel Access Rd. 2015-2016 Before After 17
Willingham Ave. 2015-2016 After Before 18
Wall Bridge 2015-2016 Before After 19
New Liberty 2016-2017 Before After 20
Watts Mill Rd. Bridge 2016-2017 County worker sandblasts area preparing for new header 21
Crane Mill Rd. 2016-2017 22
With an agreement between the cities and County, the Roads & Bridges SPLOST can be up to 1% and collections cannot exceed the published budget amount. • 30% of the projected revenues must be used on projects consistent with the Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan (SSTP). The SSTP is a policy document and does not include an exhaustive list of projects. • Existing Pavement – Repave roads • Existing Bridge – Resurface bridge decks • Roadway Capacity – New and widen roads • Safety – Interchange improvements • Aviation – Runway extensions, expanded aircraft parking areas, expanded maintenance areas • Population and Road Miles: Distribution between the County and cities is based on the terms of the IGA, which uses population and road miles to distribute funds.
Distribution Calculation for Roads & Bridges SPLOST 2010 2010 Road R & B SPLOST $ Revenue v. Population Population % Miles Road Miles % Combined % Distribution Road Miles Unincorporated Habersham County 30,748 71.44% 506 81.1% 76.3% 27,127,827 $10,722 Alto 658 1.53% 6.15 1.0% 1.3% 447,177 $14,542 Baldwin 2,538 5.90% 10.87 1.7% 3.8% 1,358,499 $24,995 Clarkesville 1,733 4.03% 15 2.4% 3.2% 1,143,612 $15,248 Cornelia 4,160 9.67% 48 7.7% 8.7% 3,087,055 $12,863 Demorest 1,823 4.24% 21 3.4% 3.8% 1,351,826 $12,875 Mt. Airy 1,284 2.98% 14 2.2% 2.6% 929,589 $13,280 Tallulah Falls 97 0.23% 2.87 0.5% 0.3% 121,887 $8,494 Habersham County 43,041 100.00% 624 100% 100% 35,567,472 $11,402 24
Roads & Bridges SPLOST Project Lists: Habersham County Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 9,721,488 Restriping Roads, Adding/Replacing Guardrails and Signs $ 1,493,522 Repairing/Resurfacing Bridges $ 7,033,147 Adding/Replacing Culverts, Adding/Maintaining Ditches $ 488,789 Widening Roads, Paving Dirt and Gravel Roads $ 5,050,822 Equipment for Local Road Department $ 1,330,593 Aviation: Flightpath Clearance, Airport Hangars, Aircraft parking $ 2,009,466 Total $27,127,827 25
Roads & Bridges SPLOST Project Lists: Town of Alto Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 170,000 Restriping Roads, Adding/Replacing Guardrails and Signs $ 158,177 Adding/Replacing Culverts, Adding/Maintaining Ditches $ 15,000 Widening Roads, Paving Dirt and Gravel Roads $ 104,000 Total $ 447,177 City of Baldwin Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 1,133,499 Restriping Roads, Adding/Replacing Guardrails and Signs $ 75,000 Adding/Repairing/Replacing Sidewalks $ 150,000 Total $ 1,358,499 26
Roads & Bridges SPLOST Project Lists: City of Clarkesville Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 458,000 Adding/Replacing Culverts, Adding/Maintaining Ditches $ 172,000 Adding/Repairing/Replacing Sidewalks $ 343,000 Equipment for Local Road Department $ 170,612 Total $ 1,143,612 City of Cornelia Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 2,000,000 Repairing/Resurfacing Bridges $ 20,000 Adding/Replacing Culverts, Adding/Maintaining Ditches $ 100,000 Widening Roads, Paving Dirt and Gravel Roads $ 67,055 Adding/Repairing/Replacing Sidewalks $ 900,000 Total $ 3,087,055 27
Roads & Bridges SPLOST Project Lists: City of Demorest Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 1,045,000 Restriping Roads, Adding/Replacing Guardrails and Signs $ 50,000 Adding/Replacing Culverts, Adding/Maintaining Ditches $ 190,000 Widening Roads, Paving Dirt and Gravel Roads $ 40,000 Equipment for Local Road Department $ 26,826 Total $ 1,351,826 28
Roads & Bridges SPLOST Project Lists: Town of Mt. Airy Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 902,200 Repairing/Resurfacing Bridges $ 27,389 Total $ 929,589 Town of Tallulah Falls Repaving/Resurfacing/Repairing Existing Paved Roads $ 60,944 Widening Roads, Paving Dirt and Gravel Roads $ 60,943 Total $ 121,887 29
Currently 75 counties have passed a Transportation SPLOST. There are 12 counties considering adoption of a Transportation SPLOST. 30
Concluding Points • Fair Tax: distributes the burden for roadway repair, maintenance, and expansion to everyone who uses the roads, not just property owners. • Doubles resurfacing funds • Improves Road and Bridge Safety • Grant match leverages more State and Federal Funds. • Those who live outside Habersham County but travel on our roads to work, visit, vacation, or pass through would contribute to the cost of maintaining the roads they use. • Those pennies will add up to approximately $35.5 million to go towards much needed funding for our Roads & Bridges Improvement Program. 31
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