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Fayetteville council throws its support to transportation SPLOST

Voters have final say on penny tax proposal

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The Fayetteville City Council is throwing its support behind the plan to approve a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for transportation projects in Fayette County.

The tax, which would add an extra penny for each dollar of a purchase, would collect an estimated $121 million over five years, but only if it is approved by voters in the November general election.

At its regular meeting Thursday night, council approved a resolution supporting the transportation SPLOST.

Mayor Ken Steele noted that when Fayette County and its municipalities joined to create a transportation plan in 1996, Fayette was the first county in Georgia to do so.

“All of the municipalities had input into it,” Steele added.

The SPLOST proposal, initiated by the county commission in June, calls for 70 percent of the revenue to be used as seed money to fund the county’s long-range comprehensive transportation plan. Those funds will be used to provide local matches for state and federal grants the county and cities will seek.

The remaining 30 percent of the SPLOST proceeds will be split among the county’s five municipalities: Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Tyrone, Brooks and Woolsey.

Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown opposes the SPLOST, saying Peachtree City isn’t getting its fair share. But critics of Brown’s stance have pointed out that Peachtree City is getting a tremendous amount of work done now as the far western leg of Ga. Highway 54 heading into Coweta County is being widened from two to four lanes.

Also in the near future for Peachtree City is the widening of Ga. Highway 74 south from Crosstown Road all the way to Ga. Highway 54, state officials have said.

A forum about the transportation SPLOST, sponsored by the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at Sams Auditorium in Fayetteville on the former campus of Fayette County High School, now known as the LaFayette Educational Center.