MOULTRIE – When asked if they knew why they paid 8% sales tax and where their tax pennies were going, some Colquitt County residents seemed unaware of the special option sales taxes and what they were for.
Mae Anderson of Moultrie said she didn’t know where the sales tax came from exactly and was only slightly familiar with SPLOST.
“It still sucks paying for it but I understand what it’s going for,” she said after she was given a brief summary of the four local option sales taxes.
Anderson’s husband Malcolm added that it was okay, “As long as there’s clarification of where the money is going.”
When a question asking how many people knew “why and where your tax pennies are going” was posted on The Observer’s Facebook page, it got a few mixed responses.
Leigh Hall Weakland commented, “Not sure but it would be nice to see it spent on roads that people actually drive on in the city.”
Another response was also that the roads needed to be fixed and another response mentioned the SPLOST by name.
Michaeld Blackstock commented, “Yes. Best way to tax. It’s a level tax across the board and everyone pays.”
Four different taxes
When customers pay the 8% sales tax, 4% (half of it) goes to the Georgia Department of Revenue under state law. The rest is made up of four local option sales taxes, which Colquitt County voters agreed to enact upon themselves.
Those sales taxes include:
• The Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds operations of the Colquitt County School District.
• The Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds capital projects for the county, municipalities and some local authorities.
• The Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) funds capital projects for the school system.
• The Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) funds transportation projects for the county, municipalities and some authorities.
Re-consideration
The Local Option Sales Tax, LOST, was approved by the Colquitt County voters as an amendment to the state constitution decades ago. Its intent then was to shift some of the burden of financing the county’s schools from property owners to consumers. Colquitt County is one of seven counties in Georgia to enact a LOST this way, and because it’s done through the constitutional amendment, voters don’t get to reconsider it.
They do get to vote again on the others. Each expires after five or six years and voters can consider whether to let the tax die or start another round.
Residents of Colquitt County voted to continue SPLOST in November of last year, expiring in 2030; the ESPLOST in March of last year, expiring in 2028; and TSPLOST in May of 2022, expiring in 2026.
The SPLOST, which was voted on in November of last year, passed with 1,290 votes in favor versus 367 opposed.
The projects
Since the money collected from these special option sales taxes are divvied out among the county, municipalities in the county, the hospital authority, development authority, recreation authority and the school system, each of the entities has projects in mind before they ask voters to agree to the taxes.
The projects are then put on the ballot and advertised in The Observer so that voters are aware of what they are being asked to fund with their tax dollars.
“I wish we could vote on each individual project. … I think there are more pressing issues that need to be dealt with and things are not being prioritized correctly,” said Jackson Ward, who also said that he wasn’t familiar with the different special option taxes until he was given a brief summary of them and how they work.
Some of the projects that the current SPLOST, which expires this year, has funded or was slated to fund are a remodel project for MFD Fire Station 2 on West Boulevard Southwest, partial funding for improving drainage infrastructure to prevent flooding in Northeast Moultrie, water/waste water treatment plant upgrades in Norman Park and renovation of city buildings in Doerun.
The SPLOST that voters approved in November will begin collecting tax money when the current one expires. It’s expected to bring in about $44 million that will be used to fund, among other things: jail construction and justice center renovation, building improvements for the EMS Department, well system improvements for Funston and construction of a community activities center for Ellenton.
The primary projects that the current ESPLOST will be used for are to renovate Willie J. Williams Middle School, Colquitt County High School and Charlie A. Gray Junior High School and to build an agricultural facility and canning plant for the school system.
Some of the current TSPLOST projects that are in the works are to complete road striping improvements throughout the City of Moultrie, partial funding of a street resurfacing project from Ninth Avenue Northwest to South Main Street and MLK Drive, partial funding for phase two of a runway rehab at Spence Field, improvements for surface water drainage within city limits for Norman Park and building a new bridge for the Tom White Linear Park.