It’s crunch time for SPLOST in Chatham County.
SPLOST, or special purpose local option sales tax, is a 1% county-wide sales tax approved by voters to fund specific capital projects.
The Chatham County Commission has until July 18 to formally notify county election officials of its wish to include a SPLOST measure on the November 4 ballot, a measure that is expected to include projects totaling up to $700 million.
If the commission does so, it will be the eighth time since a state law went into effect in 1985 giving the state’s 159 counties the option of raising funds through a special sales tax. County voters have approved it each time.
According to a timeline provided by commission spokesman Will Peebles, a listing of county-wide projects is set to be publicly released June 13, followed two weeks later by a vote of the eight-member commission and its chairman, Chester Ellis.
Meanwhile, each of Chatham’s eight municipalities — Savannah, Pooler, Garden City, Bloomingdale, Tybee Island, Vernonburg, Thunderbolt and Port Wentworth — has until July 16 to submit a wish list of capital projects to county officials.
Finally, at a meeting currently scheduled for July 18, the deadline for informing election officials of the county’s plan to hold a SPLOST referendum, the commission will decide on the package that goes to voters for their approval in November.
Beyond a share of SPLOST money roughly allocated to projects according to population size in each of Chatham’s eight municipalities, what criteria the commission will use to decide the final shape of that package hasn’t been publicly disclosed.
Soliciting public input
Efforts by both county and municipal officials to solicit the views of Chatham residents on what projects should be funded through SPLOST have been substantial.
Savannah, for instance, posted an online survey to solicit feedback on the public’s priorities and preferences. And last month, each of the county board’s eight commissioners held a meeting in their district to field comments about possible SPLOST projects. The commission has also conducted an online preference survey.
Since Chatham put up its first SPLOST measure for a vote four decades ago, county voters have been favorable to sales taxes as a way to finance capital projects partly because they’re dedicated funds — municipalities are not allowed by law to use SPLOST funds to balance their budgets or cover general operating or maintenance costs. For example, funds can be used to buy police cars but not pay the officers who drive them.
The most recent SPLOST, in November 2019, was approved with 67.5% of the vote. An education-focused SPLOST — or ESPLOST — earlier this year, drew 64.3% of the vote.
According to Savannah officials, the tax has helped fund more than $1.5 billion worth of projects, nearly $600 million of which has been paid for by visitors who live outside Chatham County.
Of that $1.5 billion, Savannah’s share has totaled more than $500 million, with almost 40% of those dollars spent on drainage and other funds spent on such projects as the redevelopment of Savannah Gardens and Ellis Square, the city says.
Demand exceeds supply
County and city officials estimate the revenues from a renewed SPLOST of between $625 million and $700 million.
But demand by the county and its municipalities for SPLOST funds, of course, exceeds supply — there will be winners and losers. That’s why the process and metrics for deciding the final shape of the project list is crucial.
At the online listening session led by Ellis last week, participants mostly urged SPLOST funding for more affordable housing. Meanwhile, topping the draft SPLOST wish list of Savannah, Chatham’s largest municipality, is $25 million each for Civic Center redevelopment and Skidaway Road improvements, and $20 million for Springfield Canal improvements.