Cash registers across Habersham were updated this morning and consumers started paying a penny more on every dollar spent as the county’s new special local option sales tax went into effect today, April 1. The tax was approved by voters last November.
SPLOST VI – which was first proposed as an extension of SPLOST V but was voted down in 2013 – is expected to raise $37.5 million over the next six years to pay for roads and bridges, public safety, recreation and infrastructure projects aimed at improving the quality of life in Habersham County and its seven municipalities. Part of the tax will be used to pay off the bonds for Habersham Medical Center.
“It’s just going to make the tax rate go back up to 7% which is what it was several years ago,” says Habersham County Tax Commissioner June Black. Black, whose office does not handle sales tax collections – that’s done by the Georgia Department of Revenue – but who does field many questions about it, reminds vendors to make whatever accounting changes are necessary to insure they’re collecting the right amount of sales tax.
As for the consumer, Black says, “You’re not going to see that big of a change.”
The biggest change will be noticed in public projects. All funds generated by SPLOST VI must be spent on projects that were designated by local governments and approved by county voters. SPLOST VI funds can not legally be used for any other purpose (see video).
Keeping a close eye on expenditures will be a six-member Oversight Committee selected by the SPLOST VI Committee. The panel will monitor tax revenue and spending and report back twice a year through local media to the taxpayers on how much money is being raised and how it’s being spent. Members of the panel are: Cliff Brown, Keith Boger, Ivy Hall, Kelly Woodall, Jo Carroll and Keith Stapleton. Brown will serve as chairperson.
Of the now 7% sales tax being collected in Habersham County, 4% goes to the State of Georgia, 2% goes to the Habersham County Board of Education and 1% goes to Habersham County and the cities of Alto, Baldwin, Clarkesville, Cornelia, Demorest, Mt. Airy and Tallulah Falls.
