Elections board, county settle SPLOST dispute | savannahnow.com

The special local option sales tax will be placed on the November ballot, without contention, after the Chatham County Board of Elections approved the call for the referendum on Monday.

A special called meeting was held following last Friday’s ratification by the county commission of a resolution it had already approved in August that called for the SPLOST referendum. The commission’s action, however, was enough to ease the concerns of the elections board.

While the role of elections board has been debated over the course of the past week, its actions Monday essentially ensures that the SPLOST referendum will be on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Seldom, if ever, does any mayor attend an elections board meeting.

But Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson’s presence at the 13-minute meeting was evidence of just how much the city has on the line in the SPLOST vote.

Officials have projected that the sales tax would raise $370 million over a six year period, beginning in October 2014, if voters approve the sales tax. High on the city of Savannah’s list of projects it wants to see the tax fund is a new arena.

“As you know this SPLOST is important to all of us,” Jackson told board members.

“We could not do these kinds of projects that we have with infrastructure, neighborhood centers and other kinds of things like highways. When you look particularly at the city’s list, we could not do it without raising taxes on the taxpayers.”

via Elections board, county settle SPLOST dispute | savannahnow.com.