What has been a contentious negotiation in the past was a congenial meeting last week for Jones County Commissioners and Gray City Council members.
The July 14 Special Local Option Sales Tax sessions began with a meeting of four of Jones County’s five county commissioners at 4 p.m. with Commissioner Daylon Martin absent.
The renewal of the one-cent sales tax will be on the November ballot, and the meeting was about the division of the sales tax collections with the city.
The SPLOST is considered a fair tax because everyone pays the additional penny on purchases in the county, including those passing through to eat, shop or buy gas.
The commissioners appeared in agreement from the beginning of staying with the 82-18 split with the city.
And there is little doubt that the increase in SPLOST collections over the last five years helped in the overall spirit of cooperation. Collections that were estimated at $14 million for the current SPLOST that will expire in 2027 are estimated at $25 million for the next SPLOST.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens presented his ideas at the county session that started with joint projects with the city. He talked about a city park, sidewalks along Eatonton Highway from Northside Villas to the crossing in Gray and the repaving of the approximately six miles of former state roads now under responsibility of the city and county for maintenance. He also talked about the debt service for the renovation of the Jones County Courthouse.
Kitchens said the county would be paying 82 percent of those joint projects.
The joint projects would take an estimated 47 precent of the sales tax collections with the remainder to be split 82-18 with the city. When they ran the numbers, after deducting the joint project costs, the entities were not far from the amounts projected in the previous SPLOST.
The commissioners said the priority for their remaining funds would be to finish the projects that were already underway, but they agreed to look at projects submitted by department heads.
Jones County Administrator Jason Rizner said the county has $7 million remaining from current SPLOST collections. Commissioner Wendy Vaughn suggested using what was needed to grade the industrial park.
The county work session concluded at 5:30.
Joint meeting
City Council members joined the commissioners at 6 p.m. The city met prior to their monthly business meeting to discuss their priorities for the funds. Their July 7 meeting had a similar theme of setting aside SPLOST funds for joint projects before the split.
Council members were all in attendance with the exception of Councilman Terry Favors.
When all the parties were seated, Mayor Pro Tem James Collins stated that he had listened to the county’s session and suggested the council listen to the commissioners’ proposal.
Kitchens laid out his plan that included the joint projects of a city park, sidewalks along Eatonton Highway, the former state highways resurfacing and courthouse debt service. He estimated $11 million in joint projects, before the 82-18 split of remaining funds.
Collins immediately expressed his support.
“I think it’s a great plan. It allows us to work together and leaves us a fair amount,” he said.
Chairman Chris Weidner said he is good with the plan because it allows the city and county to work together as a community.
“We need to show people we are working together, and we need to educate them on the importance of renewing the SPLOST,” he said. “This takes the burden off the rooftops.”
Councilman David Tufts said he was in agreement and hoped the city’s past sacrifices would be noted.
“We are growing as well,” he stated.
Mayor Ed Barbee said he felt the city needed two parks, and the commissioners readily agreed to make that work.
Kitchens said it was his hope the public would see the city and county working together. He said both the city and county benefit from the intergovernmental agreement that allows the sales tax funds to be collected for an additional year.
Rizner said the council and commissioners need to formally agree before the end of the month to allow time for the necessary advertisements. That will probably require called meetings for both entities to approve the intergovernmental agreement.
