One cent sales tax would be continued for six years
Voters will have the option to renew the current SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) this November.
Gilmer County commissioners voted to add the SPLOST to the Nov. 4 ballot.
In past meetings, Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris has stressed the SPLOST is simply a renewal of the current one cent sales tax.
“There is a lot of information out there right now that we are asking for a new SPLOST,” he said at the Aug. 14 hearing. “This is not a new SPLOST.”
Gilmer County has a SPLOST, which is a one cent sales tax, that is about to expire. The sales tax is used to pay bonds which were used to build several buildings in the county including the courthouse and update equipment.
Paris said this SPLOST has been in place and renewed for 20 years or more and is about to expire. The board is moving to renew it for another six years, which should handle the final payments on the bond notes.
“I would like to caution people, given what is out there, this is not new, this is just what we already got,” he said.
If the SPLOST is not approved, the county could be looking at a two to four mil increase to pay for the bonds.
“When this debt was incurred, property tax of the county was pledged to support that debt,” Paris said. “If it is not paid, the state just comes in and takes the property tax and pays it. Not something we want to happen.”
Post Commissioner John Marshall said he did some rough calculations, and if the SPLOST failed, a resident with taxes of $1,000 would go to $1,500 to handle the debt.
Paris said he would rather pay one cent sales tax rather than 50 percent more property tax.
Gilmer County receives 92 percent of the one cent, Ellijay gets 6 percent and East Ellijay receives 2 percent. These percentages were agreed to by all three boards.
Gilmer County brought in a little more than $8 million in 2024 with the current SPLOST, according to Gilmer County Finance Officer Sandi Holden.
Paris said the SPLOST is paid by visitors and residents alike, but according to state projections he has seen in the past, 60 percent of the revenue comes from visitors to the county.