Will voters say yes to SPLOST?
Residents to decide on 1 cent sales tax
By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor
Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

The Jenkins County Commissioners and Millen City Council agreed during a joint meeting Tuesday, Oct. 9, to ask local voters to renew the present SPLOST which was initiated in 2004. The current tax will expire March 2008, almost a year earlier than anticipated, due to the fact that the $2.5 million approved for collection will have been reached. The 2004 referendum approved by voters does not allow for over-collection of SPLOST funds.

The county, however, plans to ask for a waiver, as allowed by law, to continue the tax for three additional months so that there will not be a lapse in collection of the tax, pending voter approval of the new SPLOST.

The new SPLOST referendum is expected to appear on the Feb. 5, 2008 Presidential Preference Ballot and, if approved, will be enacted for a 6-year period. The total anticipated income is predicted to be approximately $6 million with the county receiving 65 percent and the city 35 percent. The revenue will be used to fund capital improvement projects. Those projects will be listed in the referendum.

Both county and city officials noted the importance of the SPLOST revenue to their efforts to prepare for future industry that may be recruited for Jenkins County. Mayor King Rocker commented that the city plans to construct a new water well in order to meet any new industrial needs, and the commissioners noted their plans to provide road construction at the industrial parks.

"We are actively recruiting industry everyday, and we have got to be ready to serve them," said Mayor Rocker.

It was also noted that SPLOST revenues fund many capital improvement projects for both the county and city.

The two groups agreed to enter an Intergovernmental Agreement outlining specific provisions of the SPLOST referendum with the request for the election to be presented to the state by Nov. 1.