On July 31st, voters in Georgia will head to the polls to vote on a referendum important to both the people of Georgia and the Civil Engineering Profession.
Georgia’s 12 Economic Development Regions. Click on the map to go to the T-SPLOST website.
Each of Georgia’s 12 economic development regions will separately vote on whether to impose a new 10-year Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST).
These referenda will offer Georgians an opportunity to vote for a one percent regional sales tax to fund transportation improvements in every corner of the state. If approved July 31, 2012, the sales tax would generate an estimated $18.67 billion over a 10-year period, which represents a significant investment in Georgia’s transportation infrastructure.
If approved, local governments in each region would receive 25 percent of the revenues (15 percent in metro Atlanta) from the sales tax to spend at their discretion on transportation projects. Using a pre-determined formula, the money would be divided among all local governments in that particular region to fund projects such as bike lanes, pedestrian bridges or sidewalks or safety, transit and road improvements. Local governments would control their share of these discretionary funds, and the project list has not been finalized.
ASCE recommends that adequate funding for operating, maintaining, and improving the nation’s transportation system be provided by a comprehensive program with dedicated elements at the federal, state, and local levels, including state and local sales taxes. (ASCE Policy Statement 382 – Transportation Funding)
The Georgia Section of ASCE has been advocating in favor of these referenda. If you live in Georgia please VOTE in general, and please VOTE in support of T-SPLOST.
For more information from the Georgia Section on T-SPLOST visit their website:
To see the condition of Georgia’s infrastructure check out the 2009 ASCE Georgia Infrastructure Report Card’s website.
