Voters in Toombs County to vote on TSPLOST next week

TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - TSPLOST is a 10 year vote, so the last time folks in Toombs County had this on their ballot was in 2012. People at the chamber say in 2012 it passed only by a small margin, so they hope to have a greater turnout this time around.

TSPLOST, or Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, is a one cent sales tax that people in Toombs County have already been paying. A vote for it on Tuesday would renew it for the next 10 years.

Ann Owens with the Greater Vidalia Chamber and Toombs County Development Authority says Toombs County is part of region 9. 17 other counties make up this region and they will all vote on TSPLOST.

Owens says if it doesn’t pass in one of the counties, but passes in the region as whole it still goes through. Owens says 75% of the several million TSPLOST dollars goes to the region and 25% stays local.

She says about 70 of the proposed projects for the next ten years are in Toombs County. Owens says the way it reads on the ballot can be confusing to voters. She wants voters to know this is not an extra tax but a renewal of the one that people are already paying.

“It does seem to appear that you are going to be assessed an extra $0.01, but you’re not. It is a continuation of the tax that we already have, but it means probably $400 million worth of revenue to our region.”

Owens says a couple roundabouts and a widening project on 292 are a few of the projects TSPLOST would fund for the county, if passed. A reminder that early voting ends tomorrow. The primary election day is on Tuesday.

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