Gwinnett commissioners agree on three-year SPLOST

SPLOST distribution:

Source: Gwinnett County

Gwinnett County’s proposed special sales tax renewal came into sharp focus Tuesday after commissioners approved an agreement with the county’s 16 cities that spells out the length of the $498 million tax program, how the money would be shared with those cities and the uses of that revenue.

If approved by voters Nov. 5, cities will receive about 21 percent of those funds. The exact amount going to each city is determined by a complex formula that takes into account population and lane miles of roadways in each.

The measure passed unanimously without any substantive discussion among the commissioners, and without a single question being asked of Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash or county administrator Glenn Stephens.

Nash said she kept her colleagues up to date on the deal through “one on one” sessions.

“The board trusted me with negotiating with the cities; I kept them briefed and informed on those discussions,” Nash said after the meeting.

Commissioners are expected to pass a resolution Aug. 20 that will officially place the tax renewal on ballots in November. If penny sales tax is approved the county’s rate will remain at 6 percent.

The bulk of the tax revenue would be spent on transportation projects. The county has agreed to spend 70 percent of its estimated $393 million on repaving or widening roads, bridge repair, drainage, building sidewalks and other pedestrian safety improvements.

The county will also take an additional $25 million off the top for joint transportation projects with its cities, which have agreed to collectively spend 65 percent of their funds on various transportation projects.

Dacula Mayor Jimmy Wilbanks said negotiations with the county were tough but fair.

“We always want more money. That’s just a given,” Wilbanks said. “I thought the negotiations went well. The county wants to spend a lot of the money on transportation improvements, and that works right in with our program here.”

If approved by voters, collections for the tax renewal would begin April 1, 2014 and end March 31, 2017. The county was considering three- and five-year versions of the tax renewal. Nash said they settled on a three-year program because it is easier to justify to voters.

“It’s very easy for us to demonstrate the need for this money and we figured the shorter time period allows us to be more concentrated because it doesn’t look as far into the future,” Nash said. “We tried to honor what we think is important to the community and restrain ourselves.

“We just felt like we need to focus on the absolute essentials.”

A committee of appointed residents will prioritize the particular transportation projects that would be funded with the new tax proceeds.

In addition to transportation projects, the county plans to spend money on public safety, parks, libraries and senior facilities.

Nash said the revenues from the renewal would be used to complete funding for replacement library branches in Deluth and Norcross; to purchase guns, police cars, ambulances and fire apparatus; and to pay for renovations or expansions of existing senior citizen facilities.

Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson said his city is negotiating a complicated deal that could lead to a new library being built overlooking Lillian Webb Park. That would involve the city buying the existing library branch on Buford Highway from the county, which would then combine that money with revenues from the 2004 and new SPLOST programs to fund the new branch.

Johnson said the city would relocate its police department into the existing library branch, if the deal comes together.

“We’re still in negotiations, but the general consensus is that it would be a good idea if we can work on the details on that,” Johnson said.