Jones County Commissioners hosted Gray City Council members last week for the first meeting about the renewal of the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Chris Weidner opened the June 30 meeting with a welcome to all in attendance. Weidner called on County Administrator Jason Rizner to give an overview of the current SPLOST and explain the renewal process.
All city council members were in attendance as were all the commissioners with the exception of Daylon Martin.
County Attorney Ashley Brodie, City Attorney John Newberry and Main Street Director Ashley Roberson were also at the meeting.
Rizner said the current sales tax was approved by voters in March of 2020 and took effect July 1, 2021. The one-cent tax expires June 30, 2027. He said the current split between city and county was 82 percent for the county and 18 percent for the city.
The purpose of the joint meetings between the city and county is to negotiate an intergovernmental agreement, namely the percentage of the split for the tax collections.
Over the past two decades, the city’s portion of the sales tax has fluctuated. In 1999, the split was 21.7 percent but that was reduced to 16.7 in 2004. The reduction was blamed on low sales tax collections.
The city’s amount went back up to 19.2 percent in 2009 but was lowered to 17.5 in 2015.
Contentious negotiations between the entities in 2020 got the city’s share to the current 18 percent for the SPLOST that took effect in 2021.
Last week’s meeting was upbeat due to the unexpected over performance of SPLOST collections. Rizner said recent monthly collections from the 2021 SPLOST were averaging $308,000. The projected monthly collections were $190,000.
Using those numbers, the administrator said the estimated collection for the next SPLOST is $25 million.
He went over the dates the city and county need to adopt resolutions for the intergovernmental agreement and run the required notices in the newspaper.
Rizner said it was up to each of the entities to come up with projects for the use of the tax funds to be included on the ballot. He also raised the question of when the SPLOST renewal would be put on the ballot. The options are to get it ready for the November election or wait until next year.
Gray Mayor Pro Tem James Collins said he was fine with the current split, but he would like for the city and county to consider joint projects that would benefit both entities.
“We can use the money so we all feel like we are winning,” he said.
One of the joint projects on the forefront is creation of sidewalks along Highway 129 that has been the location of two fatal accidents. One of those victims was on a bicycle and the other was a pedestrian. Portions of the area are in the city and county.
Councilman David Tufts said he would like the city to look at creating community parks.
Weidner said everyone pays sales tax, which makes it a fair tax for all. He said his opinion for county projects would be to finish what has already been started.
The chairman said he was definitely in favor of working with the city.
“It just makes sense for us to work together. We work with the Board of Education; there is no reason we can’t work with the city,” he said. “We are one community; we need to act like it.”
Commissioner Sam Kitchens asked city officials if they had any problem with putting the renewal on the November ballot, and there was none.
Weidner said it was a pleasant surprise to be getting the extra money with the collections. He said coming up with projects was the next step.
Mayor Ed Barbee said the county was responsible for recreation, according to the joint service delivery strategy. He posed the question of how that would work with city parks.
Commissioner John Wood said city residents pay county taxes and already pay their fair share.
Council members and Commissioners have agreed to meet again July 21 for further discussion about the percentage split. Kitchens said he would like the split to remain at 82–18. Councilmen Terrell Fulford and Terry Favors both said they preferred an 80-20 split.
Each board agreed to bring a list of proposed projects for use of the one-cent sales tax funds for the July 21 meeting. The list of projects the tax money will be used for must be included on the ballot, and the funds are limited for that use.
Before the meeting adjourned, Collins took the opportunity to remind the commissioners that the community branding project was another joint issue that needed attention.
Barbee also invited the commissioners to attend the council’s upcoming meeting with the Georgia Department of Transportation concerning the maintenance of highways in the city that were former state routes.
