The Fayette County Commission has given the county’s municipalities until Aug. 30 to submit final project lists for the November vote on the two-year Core Infrastructure Special Purpose Location Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referendum.
Commissioners will hold a final public hearing on the county’s stormwater projects list on Aug. 29 followed by a vote on county projects at a Sept. 5 called meeting.
County Clerk Floyd Jones on Monday said each of the municipalities has been asked to submit an officially approved list of projects to the county by Aug. 30.
If the new tax is approved by voters in November, Peachtree City is planning to use its share of the funds to pay for road and cart path maintenance, though a final project list has not yet been proposed.
Tyrone’s list includes stormwater, sewer, road resurfacing and sidewalk/multi-use path projects.
Fayetteville has not made a final decision on which projects it might fund with sales tax revenues, although city staff has been tasked with preparing such plans.
As for the county, Jones said hard copies of the 181 stormwater projects on the Core Infrastructure SPLOST list are available for review at the Fayette County’s administration building in suite 100 in downtown Fayetteville, at the Fayetteville library, Peachtree City Hall library, Fayetteville City Hall and Tyrone Town Hall and library.
Based upon public comment, the commissioners specifically chose to do a two-year SPLOST covering only core infrastructure maintenance and repair concerns, Jones said. The Core Infrastructure SPLOST would end once the budgeted funds are collected or at the close of the second year, whichever comes first.
The idea for the SPLOST came after commissioners held three stormwater town hall meetings in February and March to solicit public citizen input for alternatives to imposing a stormwater utility fee for unincorporated residents.
“Having almost no funding to repair crumbling stormwater infrastructure was cited as a major setback. Additionally, residents asked for another funding mechanism, and a SPLOST was determined to be a viable way to pay for ignored and overlooked infrastructure maintenance with out of county shoppers contributing to the tax,” said Jones. “As a result of public remarks and observations made in the town hall meetings, the current board of commissioners altered the structure of the stormwater utility by creating credits for large lots and farm ponds as well as other regulations.”
The county will have a final public hearing on its final stormwater project recommendations at the Aug. 29 commission meeting. The list of projects is available on the county website at www.fayettecountyga.gov.
The official vote on the county’s projects and the referendum will take place at a special called meeting on Sept. 5.
The county government has created a special email address for citizens to ask questions or express opinions on the Core Infrastructure SPLOST. Jones said citizens can communicate with the county staff on projects at stormwaterinput@fayettecountyga.gov.
If the Core Infrastructure SPLOST referendum passes in November, residents in the unincorporated county will not have to pay annual stormwater fees for the following four years, said Jones.
