The Henry County Board of Commissioners heard at its June 20 regular meeting a presentation on the possible impact from a special transportation SPLOST, should it be put before voters anytime in the near future. Some commissioners recently spoke in favor of putting the issue on the ballot to let citizens decide whether to use this tax to pay for transportation needs in the county, which already has a county SPLOST as well as a school SPLOST as part of 7 percent in local sales taxes.
The county would have to inform and meet with its four municipalities to move forward with such a plan, according to the county’s legal counsel, and develop a specific project list. It is possible to levy such a tax in the unincorporated county only if the cities chose not to participate.
The cost of a referendum in a special election this fall would be about $42,000 and there are time constraints related to that, in addition to the fact that voters in city elections would have to go to a separate polling place to vote on this issue, according to county officials.
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