SPLOST advisory committee begins drafting recommendations; goal is to have final proposals by first week in December

Published 8:37 pm Thursday, November 14, 2019

They don’t have a final proposal yet.

But members of a citizens advisory committee that will make recommendations for projects that would be funded by a proposed 2020 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) now have a better idea of the projects requested by Whitfield County government that they may recommend.

“We have to have a final proposal by the first week of December, and we won’t be meeting Thanksgiving week, so we have a lot of work to do,” said Chris Shiflett, chairman of the SPLOST advisory committee.

The committee won’t determine the final projects that would be placed on the ballot. Those decisions would be made by the county Board of Commissioners in consultation with the councils of the county’s four cities.

Committee members spent almost three hours Wednesday night at the Edwards Park Community Center going over requests by various Whitfield County government departments.

Committee members had previously set a goal of having a SPLOST of no more than four years, which would be expected to collect some $66 million. A SPLOST is a 1% sales tax collected on most goods sold in the county.

Some “Tier 1” items could be paid for off the top of the sales tax, such as work at the county courthouse or jail, and the rest of the money would be divided among the county and the cities based on their share of the county’s population.

Committee members tentatively agreed to reimburse the county for $6 million in repairs and renovations that are planned for the courthouse, including a new roof on the old portion of the courthouse, and for $850,000 in repairs and security system upgrades at the jail. Those would all be Tier 1 projects.

That would leave about $38.169 million as the county’s share of the remaining funds.

Among the projects the committee tentatively approved are $13 million for a proposed Riverbend Park near Southeast Whitfield High School; $2.3 million for renovations at Westside Park, including two turf/soccer fields and resurfacing of the Miracle Field, a special turf diamond for baseball for those with special needs; new vehicles for the sheriff’s office and new engines for the fire department; and money for resurfacing roads and repairing bridges and culverts.

Committee members are scheduled to meet on Monday at 6 p.m. at the Edwards Park Community Center to go over the City of Dalton’s SPLOST requests. The committee’s meetings are open to the public and can be livestreamed at https://livestream.com/accounts/25637515/events/7960637.

The city’s share of the SPLOST would be about $19 million. Its departments’ requests include $8.5 million to replace the aging John Davis Recreation Center, $2.6 million for a ladder truck and two new pumper trucks for the fire department, and $4 million for road resurfacing.