Chatham County SPLOST vote placed on hold | savannahnow.com

The Chatham County Board of Elections on Monday denied calling for the proposed special purpose local option sales tax referendum in November.

The board made the decision in a 3-0 vote due to the county and city of Savannah’s intergovernmental agreement not being signed. The move means that SPLOST will not be on the Nov. 5 ballot.

However, there is time for the matter to be corrected, said board Chairman Joseph Steffen. But board members cautioned that it will make holding the election more challenging for election workers and possibly more expensive.

The intergovernmental agreement — which designates how SPLOST revenues are to apportioned between the county and municipalities — was approved by the city of Savannah with the county last Thursday, its deadline for a November election.

But Steffen said City Manager Stephanie Cutter had not signed it.

Furthermore, the draft of the intergovernmental agreement was not received by the board of elections until Monday morning at the request of Russell Bridges, election superintendent, said Steffen.

“I personally will not put my name on a call for an election when the intergovernmental agreement is still missing,” Steffen, an attorney, told board members. “And the intergovernmental agreement is not in front of us. We do not have a signed contract.”

via Chatham County SPLOST vote placed on hold | savannahnow.com.