ANTHONY JONES: T-SPLOST: You decide!

The city of Albany and Dougherty County have hammered out an intergovernmental agreement with all the details authorizing a 1 percent sales tax for a period of five years to be used specifically for transportation needs throughout the city and county. This will be placed on the ballot for you to decide if it’s beneficial to our community.

Now T-SPLOST is a decision for you to decide at the ballot box on March 19. The penny you’re going to be voting on is one of those shiny pennies you find on the ground – a shiny penny someone drops, because it’s not enough money to bend down and pick up. This is one of those handfuls of pennies some of us pay forward with at a convenient store for someone who comes in later needing a penny to complete their purchase. The only thing about this shiny penny is that if you decide to vote yes, the shiny penny materializes into $80 million in five years to pay for the much-needed infrastructure improvements to provide a better quality of life for the citizens of Albany and Dougherty County. And you decide!

Here’s the breakdown and proposed usage: If approved by you, the split would allow the city of Albany to get a $53.6 million allocation, while Dougherty County would get $26.4 million. Both governments would share on larger projects, and the lion’s share of the funding would go toward roadway improvements, $30.9 million; multipurpose trails, $11.2 million, and alley paving at $8.5 million.

As you may or may not know, when T-SPLOST was brought up for discussion at our November commissioner meeting, I was in opposition, because there was not enough data to completely demonstrate the need after Hurricane Michael. Once Dougherty County Administrator Michael McCoy and City Manager Sharon Subadan finalized the actual data and a proposed project list was provided for our review, it became a business decision in the best interest of Albany and Dougherty County for me to flip my vote from a “no” vote to a “yes” vote, and to let you decide for yourselves if T-SPLOST is what you want.

My beloved constituents of District 6, as I promised you, there will be town hall meetings for you to attend and be educated and informed. And then you decide! In February, I will hold two meetings: one on Monday at 6 p.m. at the Government Center at 222 Pine Ave., Room 100, and, again on Feb. 12, at 6 p.m., at the East Albany Police Precinct at 1721 E. Oglethorpe Blvd. Please make plans to attend the one that fits you best.

For more information, please contact me directly at (229) 344-8770 or email [email protected].

Until next time, I am yours truly.

Anthony Jones is the Dougherty County Commission’s District 6 representative.

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