THE BALLOT LANGUAGE FOR NOVEMBER READS:

Shall a special one (1%) percent sales and use tax be imposed in the special district consisting of Gwinnett County for a period of time not to exceed thirty (30) years and for the raising of funds for transit projects?

GWINNETT TRANSIT TIMELINE

■ March 19, 2019: Gwinnett voters reject a referendum that would have extended MARTA service into the county.

■ April 2019: State legislators defeated a provision that would have prevented Gwinnett from holding another transit referendum until 2026. A microtransit service that was tested in Snellville concluded.

■ October 2019: Gwinnett’s transit review committee held its first meeting. The group made suggestions about what any future transit proposals should include.

■ January 2020: Commissioner Ben Ku proposed a new transit plan, called GEM, to members of the transit review committee. Members of the group said Ku’s proposal came too late and sent their own recommendations to the Board of Commissioners for consideration.

■ April 2020: Gwinnett commissioners approved a $6.7 billion list of projects they could send to voters, more than they could afford to build and operate.

■ May 2020: The Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority approved Gwinnett’s project list.

■ June 2020: City leaders weighed in on Gwinnett’s proposed list of transit projects. After months of debate, county commissioners moved forward with a transit plan that would include heavy rail.

■ July 2020: The ATL Board again signed off on Gwinnett’s plan, including the extension of heavy rail.

■ July 21, 2020: Gwinnett commissioners voted 4-1 to put a new transit plan on the ballot in November.

AJC FILE New ATL tax would raise $12.2 billion to extend MARTA’s heavy rail into the county and allow Gwinnett to develop and operate a transit system with four bus rapid transit lines, seven arterial rapid transit lines and more.