Coweta voters

gave a resounding yes to extending the county's special purpose local

option sales tax Tuesday night.

When all the

ballots were counted, 3,279, or 58 percent of the voters, supported the

extension, while 2,251, or 42 percent, voted against it.

Voter turnout

was pegged at 13 percent.

As the results

started trickling in, Coweta's government officials breathed a sigh of

relief. Many of the officials worried that the SPLOST would be voted down,

like the School System's effort was in March.

But when the

final vote total was posted, Coweta County public information officer

Tom Corker came bounding into the room, scattering confetti in his trail

to celebrate the victory.

The county

expects to collect nearly $98 million in revenue during the five-year

term, and will use the money for everything from roads in Palmetto to

a new county judicial complex in Newnan to a library in eastern Coweta

County.

While the vote

was occurring Tuesday, the Coweta County Commission took time during its

afternoon meeting to thank Corker and County Administrator Theron Gay

for getting the message out to the residents about what previous SPLOSTs

had built.

The one item

that Corker and Gay emphasized during their road show through the county

was the new fairgrounds on Pine Road.

Hundreds of

people turned out two weeks ago for an open house at the new facility

on Pine Road, and many officials are saying that's what sold the residents

on extending the tax.

After a long

day at the commission meeting, Chairman Robert Wood stopped by the results

rooms in the county administration complex to see the vote totals.

When he saw

the measure had passed, Wood broke out into a big smile.

"Now I

can go home and get a good night's sleep," he said.