The money likely won’t start until early 2027, but Augusta commissioners are already eyeing ways to spend it, if voters approve.
The plan is to raise $300 million in Augusta’s ninth special-purpose, local-option sales tax, or SPLOST, city leaders said at a recent workshop.
Project requests have already gone out to Augusta department heads, Interim Administrator Takiyah Douse said. They’ve been known to come back with far more than the target amount in requests, she said.
SPLOST 8, approved in 2021, was expected to last six-and-a-half years. But sales tax collections have been higher than expected and the city will likely reach the target amount of $250 million 18 months early, at the end of 2026, she said.
Earlier SPLOSTs focused on roads and infrastructure. The 2012 passage of the Transportation Investment Act added another 1% to Augusta’s sales tax and TIA 1 and now, TIA 2 are the primary local sources of road funding.
SPLOST 8 focused heavily on parks, drainage and law enforcement. It included $6 million for new sheriff’s office vehicles, $11 million to rebuild the Richmond County Correctional Institution, $23.5 million for road resurfacing, $20 million for unspecified grading and drainage and around $25 million for the new James Brown Arena.
It also included $16.5 million for the Georgia Cyber Center parking deck and $14 million for the depot project, hoped to occupy the city-owned former train depot on Reynolds Street.
Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle said fire vehicles omitted from SPLOST 8 need to be in the new package, along with help for Augusta’s riverfront facilities, the former GreenJackets stadium and Augusta Animal Services.
“We’ve also got roads and stormwater issues even though the stormwater (fee) isn’t taking care of it for some reason,” he said.
Commissioner Brandon Garrett said infrastructure and facility needs should be addressed, as well as extending sewer infrastructure in south Richmond County.
Projects in prior year packages, such as Wrightsboro Road improvements, have become phased multi-SPLOST projects that draw funding from multiple state and local sources, Deputy Finance Director Tim Schroer said.
Commission elections are in May. Commissioner Bobby Williams said if the commission decides to allow non-government entities to get SPLOST funding, he had several in mind.
“I would like for us to decide early on if we’re going to allow outside agencies to be a part of our SPLOST package,” Williams said.
“We shouldn’t consider NGOs because it’s going to put this SPLOST package at risk,” Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle said.
When SPLOST 7 failed at its first referendum in 2014, many voters cited its inclusion of numerous allocations for local nonprofits as a reason to vote against it.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson said he had a “bit of a different view on that.”
Johnson, who is also up for re-election in May, said funding for nonprofits could help entities such as the Miller Theater, Imperial Theatre and others expand to create an Augusta theater district.
Douse said several nonprofits have already submitted their requests.
Items that need to be addressed include the expansion of the Charles B. Webster detention center, which Sheriff Richard Roundtree said is in horrible condition.
Other items in need of consideration are the riverfront Boathouse, a juvenile court facility, cemeteries, a fleet management facility, expansion of Augusta’s riverfront trails and additions for the Richmond County Coroner, Douse said.
The Augusta Canal Authority has requested $25 million for a whitewater park, she said.
A $5 million allocation called “seed money” for a south Augusta water park in SPLOST 8 remains in limbo. Douse said she’d not heard any update from Augusta Parks and Recreation.
Splost Report 12-31-2023 by augustapress on Scribd
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
