Cobb Looks to Put Six-Year SPLOST Before Voters in November

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will determine next month whether the November general election should feature county residents voting on another 1-cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

A decision on the SPLOST, which is calculated to collect $750 million over a six-year period, is expected to be made on July 22.

The current SPLOST, which Cobb voters approved by just 79 votes in 2011, is expected to collect $492 million to help update existing infrastructure.

At a special meeting last Friday, Cobb Chairman Tim Lee presented the county’s six mayors with a $55 million list of projects that are of Cobb-wide benefit, and “therefore would come off the top of the SPLOST funding before the cities receive a 26-percent share of the tax revenue,” as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The projected annual funding for the six Cobb cities breaks down like this:

• Marietta, $9.4 million
• Smyrna, $8.5 million
• Kennesaw, $5.1 million
• Acworth, $3.4 million
• Powder Springs, $2.3 million
• Austell, $1 million

As The Marietta Daily Journal reports, Cobb commissioners must decide by July 22 exactly which projects to include on the list to be put before voters on Nov. 4, 2014. Read more from the MDJ here.

Would you like to see a SPLOST referendum on the ballot in November? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.