Augusta Richmond County Special Local Option Sales Tax

Augusta Richmond County
Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)

What is SPLOST?

The SPLOST law, enacted by Georgia legislators in 1985, authorizes a county tax of 1% on items subject to the state sales tax for funding capital projects. It is neither a municipal tax, nor a joint county-municipal tax such as the regular Local Option Sales Tax (LOST). As a county tax, only the Board of Commissioners can authorize SPLOST.

The county controls the money, which must be used for specific capital outlays (operations and maintenance
expenditures are not authorized) such as courthouses, jails, roads and bridges. Projects financed via SPLOST are intended to benefit the county as a whole—either standing alone or in combination with other county capital outlay projects or municipal capital outlay projects.

SPLOST Documents

Sample Election Ballots

Sample Ballots for the November Election are now available on the Board of Elections site.
Click here to select and view your sample ballot.

SPLOST I-IV Update

The following document provides a concise summary of unspent SPLOST budgets from SPLOST I-IV, as of June 30, 2005.

SPLOST I-IV Concise Report (PDF)

Recreation SPLOST V

This is the list of SPLOST funds for Recreation projects.

Recreation SPLOST (PDF)

Commission Approved SPLOST V

This is the Commission Approved SPLOST Document for September 2, 2005.

Commission Approved SPLOST (PDF)

City Administrator's SPLOST V Recommendation

This is the City Administrator's Office SPLOST V Recommendation.

SPLOST 2005 Recommendation (PDF)

SPLOST V Projects on 2004 Referendum

This document contains a list of projects that were on the 2004 referendum.

2004 SPLOST Projects (PDF)

Update on Previous 2004 Projects

This document contains updates of previous SPLOST projects.

2004 SPLOST Update (PDF)

SPLOST V Tentative Timeline

Date	Item
February 10th	Commission Workshops
	The Commission will be presented with the Recommended SPLOST V Timeline. They will review and discuss the timeline, the period of years for the SPLOST, bond inclusion, etc.

February 17th	SPLOST Information Advertised/Media News Release
	An advertisement is put in the paper informing the citizens of the process for requesting funds from SPLOST V.

February 23rd & 24th	Training/Public Meetings
	Training on completion of the SPLOST V Request form will be provided to all requesting agencies.
February 25th	Training on completion of the SPLOST V Request form will be provided to all Augusta Departments.
Week of February 28th	Informational Meeting with Blythe & Hephzibah
February 28th - March 18th	Public Meetings will also be held in each of the districts in order to provide the Commissioners with some feedback prior to the submission of requests.

March 25th	SPLOST Request Forms Due
	This is the deadline for all SPLOST requests to be submitted to Administration for review and compilation.

March 28th - April 22nd	Compilation & Review of Requests
	All requests will be reviewed to verify all necessary information is presented. All information will then be entered into a database to establish a final complete requested list to provide to Commission.

Week of April 25th	Tentative SPLOST V List Provided
	The Requested SPLOST V List is provided to the Commissioners for review.

May 5th - May 31st	Commission Workshops(Presentations & Discussions)
	Commissioners will have workshops to discuss the SPLOST V list of projects. All requested and or required presentations will be conducted during the first two weeks of this month.

June 1st - June 24th	Commission Workshops/Public Meetings
	Commissioners will deliberate over the projects with the ultimate goal of having a Final SPLOST V List by July 1st.

	Public Meetings will also be held in each of the districts in order to provide the Commissioners with input on the priority/discussion of the projects.

June 27th	Final SPLOST V List Due
	The Final SPLOST V List is due to begin the next process for the referendum.

	Pass resolution at the Commission Meeting to authorize Mayor to convene a meeting of the governing authorities of Augusta, Hephzibah, and Blythe, to discuss proposed SPLOST projects and give timely notice thereof.

July 1st	Notices Mailed to Inter-Governmental Agencies
	Mayor's Office mail notices of meeting of governing authorities to the Mayors of Hephzibah and Blythe to discuss inter-governmental agreement for distribution of SPLOST V proceeds. Notices must be mailed or delivered 10 days prior to the meeting.

July 13th	Inter-Governmental Meeting
	Local governments will hold meeting to discuss inter-governmental agreement for distribution of SPLOST proceeds. They must meet no less than thirty (30) days prior to the Call of Election by the Board of Elections.

July 18th - July 29th	Staff Preparation
	The Staff and City Attorney will prepare all necessary documentation.

August 2nd	Commission Passes SPLOST Resolution
	Commission passes SPLOST Resolution for November ballot. This is the 1st Tuesday in August.(Must be at least 60 days prior to election)

August 8th	Board of Elections Convenes
	The Board of Elections convenes in regular session to issue Call of Election.

September 1st	Department of Justice
	Submission of election to Department of Justice (DOJ) for pre-clearance. DOJ requires a 60 day period from date of receipt of the same to review the proposed election.

September 28th	Notice to Newspaper
	Send Notice of Election/Resolution to newspaper for publication. Notice must be published once per week for four consecutive weeks prior to the election.

September - November	Public Meetings
	Public Meetings will be held in each of the districts in order to provide the citizens with the information on SPLOST V.

October 11th, 18th, 25th	Legal Notices Published
November 1st	Legal Notices Published

November 8th	Date of Election