Gwinnett voters to consider sales tax for roads, other projects

SOURCE: Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners

For the 10th time in 31 years, Gwinnett County voters must decide whether to tax themselves to pay for a slew of roads, parks, libraries and other construction projects.

On Nov. 8, voters will consider 1 percent special local option sales tax (SPLOST) that’s expected to generate $950 million for construction projects over six years. If history is a guide, it will pass easily.

County officials say they can’t imagine what Gwinnett would be like if voters had not consistently approved the sales tax over the decades. It has raised nearly $3 billion for improvements that have helped Gwinnett keep pace with its booming population of nearly 900,000 – improvements supporters say might not have been possible without the tax.

“I’m not a tax guy, but I like the SPLOST,” said County Commissioner Tommy Hunter. “Because we have a lot of say about how it’s spent. Then you can go out and see how it was spent.”

Critics say the sales tax allows politicians to wiggle out of tough budget decisions and allows local governments to live beyond their means.

“If the county budget is not big enough to cover the road projects that need to be done, the commissioners need to vote to raise (property) taxes,” said David Hancock, co-chairman of the United Tea Party of Georgia. “But they know that, if they do, they will lose the next election. So they find a way to trick the residents into raising taxes for them.”

If so, it’s a trick that almost always succeeds. Only once in the last three decades have Gwinnett voters rejected a call to renew the temporary sales tax. After narrowly rejecting the SPLOST in 1996, they approved a modified proposal the following year, and renewals have passed by comfortable margins ever since.

The current SPLOST – which expires next March – passed with 58 percent voter approval in 2013.

The biggest share of SPLOST dollars – more than $1.5 billion – has been used to pay for roads and other transportation improvements.

Parks and recreation ($602 million) and public safety projects like fire stations ($312 million) also received a large portion of the funds, with lesser amounts going to local cities, libraries, senior services and county facilities like the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in Lawrenceville.

Gwinnett officials got a first-hand look at how the SPLOST money has been spent on a recent bus tour. Among the finished projects they saw: a new I-85 interchanges at Pleasant Hill Road, the extension of Sugarloaf Parkway to Ga. 316 and the construction of Ronald Reagan Parkway.

“We would not be able to take this trip at all or drive on any of these roads if not for the SPLOST,” county Transportation Director Alan Chapman said during the tour.

The tax also has paid for the recent redevelopment of South Gwinnett Park near Snellville and the new City Hall and library in Lilburn.

This year’s proposed SPLOST renewal would generate about $748.2 million for county projects, with Gwinnett’s 16 cities splitting nearly $202 million. Though the county has not produced a specific list of projects the tax would pay for with its share, transportation would get the biggest share ($486.3 million), followed by recreation facilities ($108.5 million).

Hancock doesn’t doubt the projects are worthy. But he believes the sales tax allows elected officials to be careless with property taxes – the county’s main source of revenue. Still he acknowledged his opinion likely won’t carry the day on Nov. 8.

“Coming out against this is always a losing battle,” he said. “They pass almost every time.”