Peach County T-SPLOST planned to be brought back to the ballot

PEACH COUNTY, Ga. — The Peach County Board of Commissioners is planning to move forward with bringing the T-SPLOST back to the ballot this November.

The T-SPLOST is a major funding source of multiple road improvement projects across the county and its municipalities. Peach County’s proposed project list is extensive, covering major projects including a $4.6 million congestion realignment project along the Highway 247 Connector, a $1.9 million repair on Smyrna Church Road, and $1.5 million improvements for Boy Scout Road. 

Earlier this year, Peach County voters rejected the T-SPLOST renewal by a margin of 54% to 46%. The votes cast were 1,548 against the T-SPLOST and 1,297 votes for the T-SPLOST.

Peach County Commissioner Wade Yoder took a moment to explain why the T-SPLOST is being brought back to the ballot and why he feels that the T-SPLOST is so important to the county.

“For the board of commissioners, city councils and public works departments, it can be easy to see the gap between infrastructure needs and available funding. I believe we too often take the T-SPLOST, E-SPLOST and SPLOST being voted back in for granted, and we have to make sure as many people as possible get the same information as we have to make an informed ballot decision. There is an extensive list of roads and streets that impact most of us (or will) in some way and if we don’t fund infrastructure with an amount that stays apace with the growth that is coming, it will have a negative impact on our community. We believe getting this back on the ballot this fall is vitally important to our community,” Yoder said.

Yoder mentioned multiple projects that would greatly benefit from a renewed T-SPLOST, such as resurfacing connector roads, repaving Ira Hicks Blvd, realigning Gunn Road, and connecting Ethan St. to the Pilot Parking lot to create better traffic flow in a routinely congested area. One of the larger projects the commissioner has planned is paving Lilly Creek, a connector road between Highway 96 and Highway 49.

“There are many other roads and streets on this TSPLOST list and while our primary goal is to get the main connector roads that are heavily traveled, the TSPLOST is helping us to get more of the smaller neighborhood roads as well. This is the same for the municipalities in Peach that have an extensive list of streets that will be getting resurfaced if the TSPLOST passes.”

As Peach County continues to grow, the roads have seen increased use from the growing population and regular visitors, whether they’re visiting or passing through. 

“There has been a large increase in traffic (revenue) flow coming through our county; Peach County is in the top 15 in the state on sales tax collection (per capita). The revenue from sales tax ties directly into helping offset property taxes while keeping county and municipal services, and infrastructure (repairs, maintenance and expansion) on track. Half of the sales tax revenue collected in Peach County comes back to the county, its municipalities and the school system,” Yoder said. “We should also see the effects of the property tax penny (FLOST) starting to lower property taxes this fall.”

Yoder explained that he, along with other government officials of the Fort Valley City Council and Peach County Board of Commissioners, believes the voters were uninformed about the T-SPLOST, thinking it was an additional tax. He said that he felt that there wasn’t enough information available to the voters about the T-SPLOST before the election. 

“I believe informed voters make the right decisions on ballot matters for the elected officials who work for them. I believe when a community sees enough value in something, they will vote accordingly. I do not believe we communicated enough about the value of the TSPLOST for our community and its network of roads and streets that the people of Peach County own. There should also have been more clarity in that this is not a new tax, but it is also not a continuation of the old TSPLOST. It is a new one with new roads and streets project list,” Yoder said. “The $18 million bond (an advance on a portion of expected TSPLOST revenues) was only around half of the projected amount that the TSPLOST penny has a proven track record of bringing in. Getting these projects kickstarted and done faster (instead of several years later), can save the county money on the inflationary costs of projects. This can really help in offsetting interest on the bond.”

Yoder took a moment to recognize his fellow government officials for their hard work both at the state and local levels. 

“I would like to say that it is an honor to serve an awesome community of folks, and it is also an honor to serve alongside the other elected officials (county, municipal and state) representing  you, that are working hard to make sure you like Peach County even more in the future!” Yoder said. “For more information on the TSPLOST list of roads, streets, and new infrastructure work (as well as the completed projects), you can go to the county website PeachCounty.gov >Commissioners tab >County Administrator and Clerk’s tab >click on the TSPLOST information tab. If you have any questions, please reach out to us!”