Lee officials start making plans for T-SPLOST
Lee voters approved a special 1 percent sales tax for transportation in the November election
By Gypsy Crow
LEESBURG — Lee County voters, according to results from the Nov. 6 election, were split on whether to implement a new special 1 percent sales tax to benefit the county’s transportation infrastructure, but by a narrow margin the item on the ballot passed in favor of a T-SPLOST.
“The vote showed it could have gone either way,” Lee Commissioner Rick Muggridge said. “There was obviously a little bit of opposition that kind of made theirself known at the end of the campaign there. But just to know as we consider … we just had a list of projects in tonight’s (commission meeting) agenda and to know that as we move forward, we’ll have the revenue there to do the kind of things that people want to see their government do.”
The vote for a countywide T-SPLOST came in at 52.52 percent to 47.48 percent, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website with 6,804 votes in favor of and 6,151 votes against.
What having a T-SPLOST means is that funds that would have gone to transportation can now go to other services county citizens have asked for, such as emergency services, new sheriff’s vehicles, ambulances and firetrucks, according to Lee County Commissioner Billy Mathis. Mathis also added that the county needs a firetruck with a ladder because of the planned hospital, and those trucks cost close to a million dollars.
Another thing that hits the million-dollar mark is something many people may not consider — road pavement. According to Lee County Commissioner Bill Williams, it will cost the county around $1 million per mile to pave the dirt roads in Lee County. There are about 200 unpaved miles of roads in the county.
According to Mathis, there was a large growth in the county within the last 20 years, and with that came the need for paved roads. The approximately 200 miles of paved roads in Lee County require resurfacing, which costs about $150,000 per mile. Whether funded by SPLOST or T-SPLOST, roads need maintenance, the commissioners noted.
“I think it’s going to be a great thing for Lee County,” Mathis said. “The citizens of Lee County like nice infrastructure, and one of the biggest challenges we’ve had in the past is not only paving our existing dirt roads but resurfacing the roads we already have. With the great growth we had in the last 20 years, it’s a struggle to keep up, but now we will have the nicest roads in southwest Georgia.”
The T-SPLOST will bring in an estimated $19 million in revenue for transportation projects over the next five years.
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