The Tallulah Falls Town Council Thursday night signed two Intergovernmental Agreements that pave the way for Habersham County’s T-SPLOST referendum to proceed as originally planned. Mayor Mike Early signed one IGA supporting T-SPLOST and another stipulating Tallulah’s portion of the tax will be used to help offset maintenance fees for the town’s 911 radio system.
Tallulah Falls council members voted to approve the IGAs during a special called meeting on July 28. With Mayor Early’s signature, the county can now forge ahead with its plan to put a full penny-on-the-dollar transportation tax before voters this fall. Without Tallulah Falls’ support, the county would only have been able to collect three-quarters of a penny, resulting in a projected “loss” of around $11 million over five years.
The radio maintenance agreement is contingent on T-SPLOST’s passage. If voters reject the referendum, Tallulah Falls will have to come up with another way to pay for the town’s 911 maintenance fees.
“We still have some work to do, but at least we have a decent starting point,” says Early.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Habersham County Manager Alicia Vaughn laid out the terms of the negotiated deal.
“In this agreement, the city would agree to partner with the county and allow the county to utilize the city’s portion of the TSPLOST collections to maintain the easement leading up to the tower site in Tallulah Falls for the radio system. The county will agree to give Tallulah Falls credit towards the maintenance cost for this system in an amount equal to the TSPLOST collections.”
T-SPLOST is expected to generate between $150-$200,000 for Tallulah Falls.
Asked if it is legal to pay for 911 maintenance costs using T-SPLOST funds, Vaughn tells Now Habersham, “It is completely legal for Tallulah Falls to partner with the county on a transportation project as long as it is within the special district (county). The county in turn can agree to assist with the maintenance of the radios for Tallulah.”
The county has called a meeting for Monday, August 1, to finalize the agreements and issue a formal call for the referendum to be held during the general election on November 8.
Tense talks Tuesday
The two sides did not arrive at this negotiated deal easily. It was preceded by tense talks Tuesday during a special called meeting at the county recreation department. Approximately 50 people attended the meeting, mostly senior management from the county, Tallulah Falls, and other municipalities.
WATCH Joint T-SPLOST meeting here
After a T-SPLOST presentation and brief question and answer session led by Vaughn, Mayor Early went into his presentation about the radio costs and radio fees associated with the new 911 system. With a limited number of road miles in Habersham County (most of Tallulah Falls is located in Rabun County) Early pointed out that the town does not need the T-SPLOST as badly as it needs emergency radios, but he said the cost of the system approved by voters in SPLOST VII is more than the city can afford.
Because Tallulah Falls hosts nearly 600,000 tourists a year at Tallulah Gorge, he stressed the importance of its 911 operating system. The possibility of obtaining financial assistance from Georgia Power and the Department of Natural Resources, both of which operate at the gorge, was briefly discussed before Commission Chairman Bruce Palmer interrupted to redirect the conversation back to the agenda. Commissioner Bruce Harkness pressed for more conversation about Tallulah Falls’ public safety concerns. He stated that, since the radios were an issue and causing an issue for TSPLOST, they needed to “get the elephant out of the room” so T-SPLOST could move forward. Chairman Palmer clearly was not pleased.
Seeking common ground
Commissioner Harkness questioned Mayor Early about the radios, asking if they could reduce the number requested. Early responded that the radio count had an effect on their ISO rating, but he would look into it. The mayor also stated they have to hand out radios to the high-angle rescue team when they respond to emergencies at the gorge. One commissioner responded that the county should be doing that.
Mt. Airy Mayor Ray McAllister weighed in on the conversation, stating that his town had to “bank” their Local Maintenance and Improvement Grants from the state for three years to pave one mile of city roads. He said T-SPLOST would help them pave their streets more quickly. McAllister said Habersham’s municipalities gave up some of their SPLOST VII funding to help Tallulah Falls, and it’s now time for Tallulah Falls to repay the favor. [Editor’s Note: It was Habersham County that gave up a portion of its SPLOST VII funding to provide more funds to Clarkesville, Cornelia, and Tallulah Falls.]
Palmer again tried to redirect the discussion away from 911 to T-SPLOST but Harkness pressed on stating that “since we have everyone at the table, now is the time to resolve the issue.” Former Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black and county 911 director Lynn Smith offered a historical perspective. They said the 911 talks began in 2019 and numerous meetings were held to discuss purchasing a new radio system. They indicated that no one from Tallulah Falls attended the vast majority of those meetings, including the one where officials graded the proposals the county received and the meeting where they discussed radio costs and maintenance fees. There was a clear indication it was unfair at this time to discuss this matter since so many meetings in the past had taken place and Tallulah Falls did not send a representative nor provide input.
The meeting adjourned without an agreement, but Now Habersham has learned that in discussions after the meeting, officials pressed to reach a mutually beneficial agreement, resulting in the proposed second IGA.
