Assuming that voters in November approve a six-year extension of the 1 percent sales tax, there would be $5 million set aside for a university campus in Fayette County.

The big question is: which institution will make Fayette its home? The answer is not that simple, and there may be multiple institutions involved with room at least for two, said Fayette County Commission Chairman Jack Smith.

The Georgia Board of Regents has said for it to consider locating in a particular area, the community has to show substantial support, Smith said.

“I consider this $5 million our substantial community support,” Smith said.

Smith said he is envisioning a process in which the county would seek proposals from colleges, universities and technical schools. The county could then select those which best fit Fayette County’s needs at the time, giving the county “the best bang for our buck.”

The county would be assisted in the process by a committee consisting of residents who, once the institutions are selected, would then work with the winners to work out the building plans for the campus, Smith said.

Currently Clayton State is operating in a temporary campus in an office building in Peachtree City. And Atlanta Christian College — now in East Point — has also expressed an interest in coming to Peachtree City.

But the county has been in touch with other institutions who have interest in coming here, Smith said.

“They’re saying, ‘Build it and we will come,’” Smith said.

One such school is Griffin Technical College, which has long expressed its wishes to locate in Peachtree City’s industrial park, Smith said.

The plan is for the county to build the campus buildings and lease them to the selected higher education institutions, Smith said.

Clayton State’s presence in Fayette includes dual enrollment for high school students, undergraduate core courses and even master’s programs in Peachtree City. As such, Clayton State has shown the need for higher education in Fayette County, Smith said.

The question will be whether Fayette voters are willing to approve extension of the SPLOST, and the university campus is far from the only item up for consideration.

The centerpiece of the SPLOST is paying off the county’s justice center, which has $55 million remaining to be paid off.

Doing so will save the county $21.5 million in interest payments and also will allow the county to have SPLOST funds assume the current payments on the justice center until the payoff amount is captured by the six-year SPLOST.

The new SPLOST, if approved by voters, would start collections at the end of April 2010 when the county’s current transportation SPLOST expires. It would collect up to $135 million over six years. Some of the major spending proposals for the SPLOST include:

• $3.5 million to replace county fire stations located in the cities of Fayetteville and Tyrone.

• $2 million for a new emergency operations center.

• $8.7 million on road, street and bridge improvements on arterial and collector roads and $7.8 million on intersection improvements in the unincorporated county.

In Peachtree City, the big ticket items for SPLOST funds includes $6 million set aside for street resurfacing and $2.9 million for cart path resurfacing, extensions and construction.

The city is also proposing to pay down $2.6 million in debt from the library and airport bonds along with another general bond issue. The city also would spend $2.81 million to pay off a lease purchase debt instrument.

Fayetteville’s proposed SPLOST projects include $1.2 million for bike, pedestrian and multi-use path improvements, $1 million for street resurfacing and another $1 million for citywide grid/connectivity projects.

Fayetteville is also projecting to spend $750,000 on intersection improvements citywide, $950,000 on median improvements and $400,000 for a roundabout at Redwine and Ramah roads.

Tyrone would receive up to $2.7 million over the six-year SPLOST, with $1.4 million going toward street resurfacing, milling, patching and shoulder enhancement. Tyrone is also expecting to spend $490,000 to pave gravel roads and $485,000 to realign roads.

Tyrone also projects to spend $200,000 on miscellaneous cart path extensions and $127,000 on intersection improvement projects.

The town of Brooks would receive $663,000 from the SPLOST, with $250,000 going toward sidewalks and $70,000 to a library renovation.

The town of Woolsey would receive $256,000 from the SPLOST and is proposing to use it on a community center.