Fulton asks voters to extend transportation sales tax
Fulton County voters will decide this fall whether to extend a 0.75-cent sales tax that pays for transportation projects throughout the county.
County commissioners and representatives from 14 cities in north and south Fulton County have approved a list of projects that could proceed if the T-SPLOST, or transportation special purpose local option sales tax, is OK’d by voters.
The sales tax has been in place since 2017 and was renewed once already. The current T-SPLOST passed in 2021, with 61% of voters in favor. November’s vote would extend it another five years and is estimated to raise $662 million total, if sales tax revenue projections hold.
The current T-SPLOST has raised $506 million through April, the most recent month for which sales tax revenue is available. That’s about 98% of the projected total.
Transportation sales tax money can be spent on a range of pedestrian, cycling and road projects. The first two T-SPLOSTs were earmarked for 715 projects, 96% of which are on schedule.
Each city is responsible for determining its own projects, and the money is distributed based on population. Atlanta, which has its own transportation sales tax, is not part of the county’s referendum.
The largest chunk of money, $227 million, is planned for pedestrian, bicycle and streetscaping projects. Maintenance and safety improvements get the next-largest amount, roughly $183 million.
Here’s some of the top projects:
- Alpharetta: $31 million to maintenance improvements and $22.5 million to pedestrian and bicycle upgrades, including to the Brookside Corridor and the Kimball Bridge Road sidewalk;
- Chattahoochee Hills: $2.9 million to maintenance and safety improvements;
- College Park: $11.8 million to citywide road resurfacing;
- East Point: $17 million to pavement, sidewalk and ADA accessibility improvements; $10.8 million to sidewalk upgrades and traffic calming initiatives;
- Fairburn: $5.4 million to road congestion relief;
- Hapeville: $4 million for pavement resurfacing and restriping;
- Johns Creek: $35.5 million for citywide streetscape projects;
- Milton: $11 million for roundabout and other street improvements;
- Mountain Park: $485,000 for citywide maintenance;
- Palmetto: $4.5 million for citywide road resurfacing and sidewalk improvements;
- Roswell: $41 million for pedestrian, bicycle and streetscape improvements, including the Vickery Creek Trail rehabilitation and the Norcross Street multiuse trail;
- Sandy Springs: $46 million to congestion relief projects on the Hammond Drive Corridor and on Riverside Drive at Hearts Ferry Road;
- South Fulton: $32 million for pedestrian, bicycle and streetscape projects;
- Union City: $12.6 million for multimodal and streetscape improvements outlined in the city’s master plan.