SPLOST restrictions
Georgia law sets tighter constraints on the use of SPLOST money than it does for ELOST funds.
When voters get their ballots, they’ll see it reflected in the wording that allows the schools to collect “up to $80 million” and the governments to seek “an estimated $63.8 million.”
That’s because the SPLOST can be levied even after the targeted dollar-amount is raised.
“We’re guaranteed our full five years because we have an intergovernmental agreement with the cities to continue,” Assistant County Manager Gary Burkhalter explained.
However, if the SPLOST raises more than the targeted amount, the additional funds can’t go toward other, unlisted special projects.
“We don’t have a tier. That’s why we’re so conservative with our estimate,” County Manager Jamie McCord said.
The extra money must either be allocated toward the projects in the package — (“We could do them better,” McCord said.) — or used to pay down county debt. Under certain conditions, it also could be put into the general fund to offset property taxes.
County Finance Director Susie Gass initially projected a five-year SPLOST would raise about $62 million, based on previous collections. She said she added together the lowest collections in each month for the past 10 years and discounted the total by 5 percent to come up with an estimated revenue of just over $12.3 million a year.
The SPLOST Citizens Advisory Committee asked for a review as they were trying to narrow down the project list. Acknowledging the original period included the recession that started in 2008, officials approved a slight increase in the limit.
“Our current SPLOST is $1.4 million ahead of projections, and that’s even with the money we had to give back,” McCord said.
The Georgia Department of Revenue approved in 2015 an unidentified local entity’s request for a refund of sales taxes it said it overpaid between 2005 and 2013. It cost the governments and school systems a combined $4.5 million, including $1.3 million in interest.
The 2013 SPLOST package was set at a projected collection of $64.9 million over a period of five years. Susie Gass