Fort Oglethorpe approves resolution for proposed Walker County TSPLOST
A pending vote on a proposed transportation tax could affect some Fort Oglethorpe residents living in a unique portion of Walker County.
While the majority of the city of Fort Oglethorpe lies in Catoosa County, a portion of the city crosses over into Walker County, where a proposed Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) is slated to be on the ballot in November.
On Monday night, Aug. 28, Fort Oglethorpe’s City Council unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with Walker County to take part in the county’s TSPOLST plan if it gets approved.
The tax is a onepercent sales tax increase, in which the collected onepercent would then be used for upgrades to transportation, maintenance, and roadwork upgrades
The resolution in support of the intergovernmental agreement with Walker County means that the Fort Oglethorpe roads that fall in Walker County could reap the benefits of any potential TSPLOST upgrades.
“The main thing to know is that this is a TSPLOST that is going to be on the ballot in November for Walker County,” Mayor Earl Gray said. “We are not approving a one-percent tax affecting the city of Fort Oglethorpe or Catoosa County. This is something Mr. Shannon Whitfield (Walker County sole commissioner) is working on for Walker County, and since we do have a few residents in Walker County, it does need our approval.”
Gray explained that those residents living in the area discussed can vote on the matter, and that it won’t impact the majority of the city.
“If it does pass in Walker County, the same percentages will be dispersed to our city to be used on those roads in Walker County,” Gray said. “We don’t want people thinking that we’re voting to automatically vote in a one-percent tax because that’s not what we’re doing. Mr. Whitfield has elected to give the citizens in Walker County the option to vote on this and we’re simply agreeing to it. Those residents in our city that live in Walker County will have the same option to vote on it as all Walker County residents do.”
In other roadrelated news, the council unanimously approved a paving contract for two streets.
“This project is for the milling, paving, and striping of two city roads — South Cedar Lane and Fort Town Drive,” said Jeff Long, director of Public Works and the city’s Recreation Department. “The bids came in for the asphalt resurfacing at $105 per ton, striping is $1,200 per line mile, and the milling is $4 per square yard. The estimated amount to do this is $196,000.”
Long says the funding will come from Georgia Department of Transportation 2017 funding and 2014 SPLOST funds.