County pulls Tier One from 2015 SPLOST – Times-Georgian: News

The proposed 2015 special purpose local option sales tax referendum will not contain a Tier One project, county commission Chairman Marty Smith said Wednesday.

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners last month announced it plans to put a $100 million SPLOST on the Nov. 5 ballot. Commissioners on June 27 discussed including a new county administration office building as a Tier One SPLOST project. That meant proceeds from the one-cent SPLOST would have gone first to fund the administration building before the remainder was divided up among the county and cities.

But Smith said he met with city mayors Monday and all were in agreement that the Tier One should be taken off.

“Everybody is on board with it,” he said. “I hope this will help each city more in the big picture.”

Under the new plan, SPLOST funds will be divided among the county and cities, based on population. Villa Rica Mayor J. Collins said he feels that type division is the best way to go.

“When you look at the history of the SPLOST, you’ll find that the jail and courthouse were both built without a Tier One project,” Collins said. “The Tier One plan was going to penalize not just small cities, but every city. If it wasn’t for the infrastructure in the cities, you wouldn’t have the businesses to collect SPLOST.”

Nevertheless, Smith said the county administration building is “still on the table” as a feasible project for SPLOST funds.

via County pulls Tier One from 2015 SPLOST – Times-Georgian: News.