Clayton SPLOST funds, undone projects, stack up | www.myajc.com

Derwin Watkins works out at the South Clayton Recreation Center three to four times a week. The facility is a 2004 SPLOST project that was completed late last year.

Clayton County has amassed nearly a quarter-billion dollars in taxpayer money collected for road and building projects, many of which are unfinished or haven’t begun, according to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Some projects promised nearly a decade ago remain on the drawing board. The last two of six recreational centers voters approved in 2004, for example, have yet to be built.

The money and unkept promises lead some residents to question Clayton’s handling of the funds, as county officials prepare a new round of projects for voter approval in May. They also illustrate a challenge counties face in using special-purpose local option sales tax, SPLOST, revenue to finance projects years into the future.

As of Nov. 30, the county had nearly $103 million in the bank from money collected in the 2004 SPLOST and just over $120 million from the 2009 SPLOST. By next December, when the 2009 collections end, the SPLOST money total could balloon to a quarter of a billion dollars, if major movement on projects hasn’t occurred.

“That’s a lot of money to be sitting in the bank accumulating high interest,” said Hampton resident Henry Anderson. “It was highly successful in raising the money but promises haven’t been fulfilled.”

David Clark of Jonesboro said there’s been no accountability for past SPLOST projects. “Someone should be held liable for this,” Clark said. “We have infrastructure issues within the county. Almost a quarter of a billion dollars could have gone a long way to improve those issues.”

The county commission will decide on a final 2015 SPLOST list in late January. One idea, a $35 million civic arena to rival Gwinnett’s, raised concerns last week from some commissioners and residents who said it’s too much to take on when people are more concerned with public safety and sidewalks, bike paths and other improvements that would raise Clayton’s quality of life.

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