Cherokee Commissioners To Discuss 'Fractional' SPLOST

A proposal to allow counties to call for voters to consider approving fractional pennies on a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax will be discussed by the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners during its meeting on Tuesday.

The board's meeting will start at 6 p.m., following its 3 p.m. work sesssion at the county administration building.

State Rep. John Carson (R-Marietta), who represents the extreme southeastern portion of Cherokee County, is sponsoring a bill in the Georgia State House that would allow counties to impose the SPLOST at less than one percent. 

Cherokee County Commission Chair Buzz Ahrens, who said the commission has asked the Cherokee legislative delegation at least three times to push such a bill, said the legislation would give the choice of choosing capital programs that don't need the full penny for funding.

"Many have been accused of creating projects just to fill the bucket," Ahrens said, referring to local governments.

For example, if the county needed projects over a six-year period that totaled $120 million, and the county's annual collections at $30 million per year, would bring in $180 million.

Instead of trying to use up the excess, the county could set the collection rate at two-thirds of one cent rather than the entire one cent.

See the attached .PDF to see what else is on tonight's agenda.