Augusta voters should look for a stand-alone referendum Nov. 7 on imposing a new half-cent sales tax to build an arena.
City commissioners also are preparing to give away an unused city park and rename two other recreation facilities for a former mayor who went to prison.
The sales tax item appears on the agenda for the commission’s rescheduled Thursday meeting.
The new 0.5% tax, made possible when Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 230, would create a funding source for construction of a new James Brown Arena. The bill did not specify an election date or require the issuance of bonds.
The resolution going for approval Thursday authorizes the collection of much more than the $250 million originally budgeted for the project.
It calls for collecting up to $433.2 million, which is $250 million plus the cost of borrowing $250 million by issuing bonds.
At a rate of $20 million per year, it would take Augusta residents and visitors more than 20 years to pay off the debt.
Voters defeated a similar referendum in November 2021 to fund the project through a property tax increase.
The city and state would have no other elections Nov. 7 unless the need for a special election arose.
Divesting neglected Sand Hills park on agenda
After much discussion, the city plans to give away one of its many unused parks. Recreation Director Maurice McDowell, who spearheaded an effort last year to “divest” 11 parks.
Seldom-used Blount Park, in the Sand Hills community, was not on the list of 11, but McDowell has placed giving the deed to Blount to Sand Hills Urban Development.
“With the Sand Hills Community Center and Park in close proximity, the parks and recreation department has no use for the park,” McDowell wrote in the agenda item.
Led by Timothy Wilson, the community housing development organization has been a developer for Augusta Housing and Community Development, though not necessarily in the Sand Hills area. Sand Hills Urban Development worked to build at least eight houses in the Sandridge subdivision near Hephzibah.
In 2002 the commission voted to transfer the deed to Blount to the neighborhood association while Wilson was its president, but never followed through.
Three commissioners – Bobby Williams, Francine Scott and Jordan Johnson – are seeking to rename two Augusta landmarks for former mayors.
Trio calls to name riverfront landmarks for former mayors
The trio is calling to rename Augusta’s Riverwalk for former mayors Edward M. McIntyre Sr. and Charles A. DeVaney.
McIntyre, who died in 2004, was Augusta’s first Black mayor but was later convicted of extortion, for accepting payment from a developer he claimed was a campaign contribution. He spent about 14 months in federal prison.
DeVaney, who died in 2007, served as mayor from 1984-1995, the period leading up to the consolidation of Augusta and Richmond County in 1996.
The mayor’s office had much power at the time, and DeVaney is credited with completion of the Riverwalk and a riverfront hotel. But city finances dwindled during his tenure to the point they were deemed to justify consolidation.
The three commissioners also want to rename the Eighth Street Plaza, where the Saturday Market is held, for McIntyre.
