DeKalb lays groundwork for sales tax vote
DeKalb County is preparing for a March 1 referendum to raise sales taxes by 1 percentage point, with proceeds paying for road resurfacing, transportation and infrastructure projects.
DeKalb solicited firms this month to develop a project list and organize a public input process for a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST). The county asked contractors to submit quotes under $50,000.
Then voters will decide next spring whether to increase their sales taxes to a total of 8 percent under a proposal that would also lower property tax bills under DeKalb's existing homestead option sales tax (HOST).
The change would allocate HOST distributions entirely for the purpose of reducing residential property tax bills. Currently, 80 percent of HOST funds go toward property tax relief, and the rest is distributed to city and county governments.
Adjusting the HOST formula would result in about $21 million worth of additional discounts on residential property tax bills each year.
Because DeKalb lacks dedicated infrastructure funding through a SPLOST, it’s at a competitive disadvantage to counties like Gwinnett and Cobb, according to the county’s solicitation.
The SPLOST would generate about $108 million a year that would be distributed to cities and the county, and it was authorized by the Georgia General Assembly earlier this year through House Bill 215.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
