Cobb pares road, sidewalk plans

By Mary Lou Pickel

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cobb County will apply the brakes on new roads and sidewalks because of a drop in sales tax collections.

The county faces a $40 million decrease in expected sales tax revenue from its 1 cent sales tax, or SPLOST, county officials said.

Each of the cities in Cobb will have to pare its road-building plans to conform to the smaller-than-expected budget. Marietta will face the steepest cut at $4 million.

“I’d rather be accused of being too cautious than not cautious enough,” said Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens about paring projects. “You can’t spend money you don’t have,” he said.

Olens glanced through a draft list of projects that could be cut from the official 2005 SPLOST list approved by voters.

One project likely to be “deprioritized” is the $1.75 million Powder Springs Road Connector to South Cobb Drive. Marietta knocked that one off its priority list recently, Olens said.

Another candidate is the widening of South Cobb Drive from Atlanta Road to Bolton Road. “Very unlikely,” Olens said. That project needs state money and the state has already said it’s not high priority, he said.

Other possible cuts include sidewalks on Floyd Road, Cooper Lake Road and Hurt Road, as well a driveway improvement for Pope High School and safety improvements to the western part of Lower Roswell Road, Olens said.

“We’ve never had a recession like this in decades,” Olens said.

Sales tax proceeds have dropped off dramatically in the last few months, said Dan Conn, Marietta public works director.

Marietta sent a letter to the county last week saying that it would postpone the widening of Barrett Parkway from four to six lanes between Stilesboro Road and Burnt Hickory Road, which is about a $2 million project, Conn said.

Cobb County Commissioners plan to discuss the SPLOST list at their meeting in late August.

On Tuesday, commissioners will look at the proposed $813 million county budget for 2010, which will continue to be lean. No layoffs, pay cuts or furloughs are expected, but the county does not plan to hire or give merit raises, Olens said.