As opposition efforts gain steam, Augusta commissioners have not yet finalized the project list to be funded by special purpose, local option sales tax 9, which goes before voters Nov. 4.
The list remains largely the same one presented by Administrator Tameka Allen last month. The $407.6 million package includes approximately 27% infrastructure, 26% public safety and 21% “general government” projects, according to a city handout.
Commissioners were unable to form consensus Tuesday for adding approximately $22 million more in proposed projects and left the list as is, then postponed approving Allen’s list until a called meeting this Tuesday.
The rejected projects included $500,000 each for the Augusta Museum of History and Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, $2 million to continue the south Augusta water park project and $6 million for an indoor tennis facility at Fleming Tennis Center. Commissioners Jordan Johnson and Stacy Pulliam tried to add $10 million for affordable housing.
Among projects making the cut, public safety initiatives include a $65 million jail expansion and $15 million for fleet for the Richmond County Sheriff. Also under public safety is $14 million for two replacement fire stations and $535,000 for security upgrades for the Richmond County Marshal at Augusta Regional Airport.
Under general government, the list includes $2 million for animal services facilities, $15 million for a juvenile court facility, $10 million for a new fleet maintenance facility and $18 million to expand Augusta Convention Center. Another $10 million is designated for unspecified building renovations and improvements.
Engineering is designated about $80 million for named and unspecified projects. These include $22 million for stormwater grading and drainage, $20 million for road resurfacing, $4 million for traffic safety and operations improvements and $4 million for vehicles, machinery and equipment.
Among named projects, Walton Way is designated $2.5 million, Wilkinson Gardens, $3.5 million, and Willis Foreman Road, $4 million.
Mayor Garnett Johnson wants to use $14 million allocated in the current SPLOST – SPLOST 8 – to the riverfront depot project for his “reimagined” Boathouse and Riverwalk project, expected to cost $18 to $23 million. As of Friday its funding remained at just $8 million, from SPLOST 9.
Other projects on the current SPLOST 9 list in the Recreation and Parks category include $5 million for Diamond Lakes Regional Park and $3 million each for the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam park, the Fifth Street Marina and city-owned cemeteries.
Other Recreation projects are less specific, including $9.7 million for a “facility revitalization initiative,” $5 million for park landscaping, irrigation and amenities and $5 million for aquatic facilities improvements. An additional $10 million would go for a new park and community center at an unspecified location somewhere on the city’s west side.
Pulliam tried to get funds earmarked for Carrie Mays and Bernie Ward community centers and parks by name, but was told that part of the list needed to remain flexible.
“I need it named out to be very clear that I want those parks fixed and operational, the way they should be,” Pulliam said.
In addition, sometime next month the city is expected to get data back from its ongoing study of park usage, said Abie Ladson, the former engineering director now consulting for the city. The data is expected to inform decisions which of the city’s many parks and centers to shutter and sell, and how to phase in certain projects, he said.
A handful of area residents are questioning whether to approve Augusta’s ninth 1% sales tax. Among them, homeowner Lee Bennett is calling for “no audit, no SPLOST” to demand better accounting of the city’s spending. Signs with the same message appeared in front of several houses along Walton Way this week.
Former Commissioner Moses Todd, who has opposed earlier sales tax votes, was ordered out of Tuesday’s work session after he walked in with a sign saying, “Ax the Tax.” Johnson said the sign was a “political matter” and not allowed in the chamber.
