Senate considers letting counties band together on transportation

The Senate Transportation Committee took up legislation Monday that would allow multi-county regions to levy themselves a one-cent sales tax for transportation projects in their regions.

If passed, the legislation would open the door for projects including roads, rail mass transit, or perhaps even intercity high-speed rail, said Sen. Jeff Mullis, (R-Chickamauga), chairman of the committee.

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SB39 and SR44, if passed by the General Assembly, would still need a constitutional amendment to be enacted. That amendment would have to be approved by Georgia voters.

Metro Atlanta’s region would be defined by the 10 counties served by the Atlanta Regional Commission, though counties could vote to opt out of it.

Elsewhere in the state, counties that border each other could vote to join each other in a region.

After the regions are formed and their projects’ list drawn up, each region’s voters would vote on the projects and tax to pay for them.

Mullis said his proposed legislation was a first draft and would change. It now includes tax exemptions for fuel, products used in generating energy, or energy used by manufacturers.

Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) is expected soon to introduce a house bill on transportation that would propose a one-cent tax statewide to raise money for projects.