Athens - Clarke County issued the following announcement on Jan. 6.
The Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) 2023 Advisory Committee recommended a list of projects to the Mayor and Commission on December 14, 2021 as part of a possible TSPLOST 2023 program for Athens-Clarke County. The committee consists of residents appointed by the Mayor and Commission to review the submitted projects and provide recommendations for the Mayor and Commission to consider including in the program.
Comments will be accepted from the public on the projects through the Mayor and Commission's final program vote, tentatively scheduled for February 1, 2022.
A virtual public input forum was held on Thursday, January 6. The forum was recorded and is available for on-demand viewing at www.accgov.com/tsplost2023 or on the ACCGov YouTube channel. A second similar virtual public input forum will take place on Thursday, January 13 at 6:00 PM. Links to join or watch the meeting are available at www.accgov.com/tsplost2023.
Upcoming meetings related to the TSPLOST 2023 program include:
- Jan. 11 - 4:30 PM - Virtual Mayor and Commission Work Session with City of Bogart and City of Winterville
- Jan. 13 - 6:00 PM - Virtual TSPLOST 2023 public input forum #2 (links to join or watch at www.accgov.com/tsplost2023)
- Jan. 18 - 6:00 PM - Virtual Mayor and Commission Agenda Setting Session for the Feb. 1 Regular Session
- Feb. 1 - 6:00 PM - Mayor and Commission Regular Session (location TBA) that tentatively includes an agenda item for a vote on projects for the TSPLOST 2023 program
The advisory committee heard presentations during the fall from those who submitted the projects. Each project's webpage at www.accgov.com/tsplost2023 includes a video of the meeting presentation, a project description, project documents and source materials, estimated costs, and links to an online story map and comment form.
The online story map and comment form provides a map of all of the submitted projects, along with descriptions and categories. The comment forms allow residents to provide ratings for any or all projects on a one to five scale and comments about the project. The story map also includes the TSPLOST 2023 Advisory Committee's list of the potential projects at 150% of the available budget and the committee's recommended list of the 100% budget.
Georgia law allows local communities to use TSPLOST proceeds for transportation-related purposes, if approved by voters in a referendum. The first TSPLOST for Athens-Clarke County, TSPLOST 2018, was a 1% sales tax approved by voters in November 2017. Collections began on April 1, 2018 and are scheduled to end in late 2022 or early 2023 after collecting an estimated $109.5 million for 19 projects.
If voters approve a TSPLOST 2023 program on May 24, 2022, TSPLOST sales tax collection will continue uninterrupted at the expiration of the current TSPLOST 2018 collections. The local sales tax rate of 8% would not increase as a result of the TSPLOST 2023 program.
The general TSPLOST website at www.accgov.com/tsplost contains information and links related to both the potential TSPLOST 2023 program and the current TSPLOST 2018 program. The SPLOST/TSPLOST Program Management Office, which oversees the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and TSPLOST programs for Athens-Clarke County, is coordinating the TSPLOST 2023 process.
For more information about the TSPLOST 2023 process, visit www.accgov.com/tsplost2023, call 706-613-3025 or email tsplost@accgov.com.
TSPLOST 2023 Committee Recommended Projects
Original source can be found here.
Source: Athens - Clarke County
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