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Monday, March 19, 2007
Has SPLOST Passed Its Prime?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lots of talk in recent days about the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax elections, which are being held in several metro school systems Tuesday, including Atlanta, Decatur, DeKalb, Fulton and Henry.
If approved, during the next five years the taxes could generate more than $2 billion for area school facilities.
The “penny sales tax” — as it is often, although incorrectly, called — has been a popular way for systems to raise money for building new schools and upgrading aging campuses. But raising revenue from an additional 1 percent charge on purchases hasn’t always been foolproof.
Remember a few years ago when Gwinnett County had an estimated $300 million budget shortfall because SPLOST wasn’t generating enough money? Board members there had to turn to the county development authority to bail them out with an unusual lease-purchase arrangement.
The taxes up for renewal Tuesday are now 10 years old. If a majority of voters agrees to another extension, those SPLOSTs will live on for five more years. So answer me this: Is it time to find a new way to finance school construction or is the current system working?
UPDATE: Apparently voters are happy using SPLOSTs to pay for schools. According to my colleague Kristina Torres’ story, all of the taxes were renewed Tuesday by overwhelming margins.
