At a special called meeting, the mayors of the two cities in Gilmer County came to an agreement with commissioners on the split of a proposed sales tax for transportation.
Citizens of Gilmer County will get to vote in May whether to add a 1 cent sales tax which will be dedicated to transportation needs in the county.
Gilmer County commissioners voted in December to add the TSPLOST, short for Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, to the May ballot.
East Ellijay Mayor Mack West and Ellijay Mayor Al Hoyle agreed the county would get 92.35 percent of the TSPLOST with East Ellijay getting 1.93 percent and Ellijay receiving 5.72 percent. This mirrors the split of the SPLOST tax.
Gilmer County commission Chair Charlie Paris estimates the TSPLOST would bring in $4 million a year for five years for Gilmer County to be used on roads and bridges.
His goal is to pave as much of the 200 miles of gravel roads as he can in the county to make them easier to maintain. The money would also be used for equipment for the road department and road and bridge maintenance.
As a next step, commissioners and staff will be working on a list of proposed projects to define the scope of the TSPLOST.
Merchant speaks
Bill Craig, owner of North Georgia Diamond in East Ellijay, spoke to commissioners about the TSPLOST.
“Were there any meetings with retailers in this county about the impact of a 1 percent increase in taxes?” he asked. “Just speaking for us, and other retailers I have talked to, we kind of feel like we were left out of the loop.”
He said shoppers have a lot of choices of how to shop these days, and they will drive a long way to save money.
“I would prefer they buy here in Gilmer County and they buy from us, and I don’t have an additional roadblock which will send them to another county,” he said.
Paris said he apologized if Craig felt he was left out of discussions.
“If I could think of another way, the last thing in the world I would want to do would is be the guy to say, ‘Hey, let’s add a 1 percent sales tax’,” he said.
Paving and maintaining roads is a large expense for the county. Paris said the way to improve on the situation affecting 500 miles of roads quickly is the TSPLOST.
“Well, I mean, we all want something done now,” said Craig. “I mean, in a perfect world, a lot of things would get done right now, but, sometimes people just have to wait, I think.”
He said the net revenue might be less on the TSPLOST if there is an offset in retail sales. Visitors might decide to buy groceries in another county before coming to Gilmer based on the sales tax, he said.
“If I were going to buy a ring, I would buy it from you,” said Mayor West. “Say I pay $10,000, that is only $100. I’m not going to drive to Atlanta for $100. No way.”
He said if he goes to Pigeon Forge, he doesn’t take his groceries with him.