A proposed extra penny-on-the-dollar tax in Habersham County is moving closer to the ballot box. The Habersham County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a called meeting Wednesday to formalize intergovernmental agreements with the county’s seven municipalities. Once that is done, the county is expected to issue a formal call for a T-SPLOST referendum this fall.
The August 3 meeting will begin at 5 p.m. and will be held in the commission conference room at the Habersham County Administration Building at 130 Jacob’s Way, Clarkesville.
The meeting is a formality to get the referendum placed on the ballot in time for the November 8 general election. Habersham County voters will get to decide whether to raise the local sales to pay for transportation-related projects. The county has widely discussed the issue, saying the money is needed to fund roads and bridges but has still not yet identified specific projects that would be funded by the proposed tax hike.
Informational meetings about the proposal have mostly been addressed in general terms. The reasons for that are two-fold. One, the county was waiting for all seven municipalities to sign the IGAs allowing the referendum to move forward at the full 1% rate. Tallulah Falls was the last to sign on last Thursday. Second, once the county identifies specific projects, it is legally bound to complete those projects if SPLOST passes whether the money comes in as planned or not. As a result, voters may expect the specifics of the proposed T-SPLOST to remain somewhat vague to allow the county more discretion in allotting those dollars.
The proposed T-SPLOST is projected to generate $44 million over five years.
If voters approve the T-SPLOST in November, Habersham County’s sales tax will rise from 7% to 8% beginning in April. It is so far proving to be a tough sell to voters, many of whom are still angry that the county commission approved a millage rate increase on top of reassessed property values back in July. Commission Chairman Bruce Palmer, who has held a steady stream of meetings and live question and answer sessions about T-SPLOST, voted in favor of the millage rate increase along with commissioners Ty Akins and Dustin Mealor. Commissioners Bruce Harkness and Jimmy Tench voted against it.
Wednesday’s special called meeting will be streamed live on the county’s website for those who wish to view it but are unable to attend.
