Joint Work Session for TSPLOST Project and Distribution
Business, Community September 13, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Lumpkin County Commissioners and the Dahlonega City Council held a joint work session on Sept. 12 to continue discussions about the TSPLOST joint project and the TSPLOST distribution amount.
The two governments began discussing adding a TSPLOST to the ballot in Nov. back in Aug. That joint meeting can be found at https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/08/02/county-and-city-begin-tsplost-discussions/. That meeting formed a committee to review the potential projects and how the TSPLOST would be distributed between the two.
Commissioner District 3 Rhett Stringer while presenting the committee’s recommendations to the meeting.
The committee consisted of both elected officials and staff from both governments. Commissioner District 3 Rhett Stringer was present at both of the meetings the committee had because of that he was the one that made the recommendations to the meeting.
The City Council approved the project and the distribution ahead of this meeting at their regular meeting on Sept. 6, contingent on the future IGA between the two. To read about that meeting visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/09/07/ahead-of-tsplost-joint-meeting-council-votes-on-distribution-and-project/. The commissioners have taken no prior action on this subject.
There were two projects that were brought before the committee for the consideration of being the TSPLOST joint project. The first was Mechanicsville Rd. straightening project. The City is already working on a project on that road to working on the storm sewers and because of this, the City is able to use current TSPLOST money to complete the rest of the work for this project.
The other project that was presented was the Auraria Road, Hwy 52/9 West, and Torrington Road intersections. This is the project that both governments agree needs their attention. They will work with the DOT on how best to tackle this project.
For the distribution of the funds, the committee discussed using 75% of the population and 25% road miles to determine the split. This gives the county 81% and the city 19% of the funds.
Heard in the clip above is Mayor JoAnne Taylor expressing the City’s view on the divide. To review the memo presented to the Council at the regular meeting visit https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/dahlonega-pubu/MEET-Packet-39991ca72e2e4d00b62932c8a9711a47.pdf, it begins on page 85.
Now that the project and the distribution have been decided the two have to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and call for a resolution to have the TSPLOST added to the ballot. The council is holding a special call meeting on Sept. 19 and it is likely they will vote on the IGA at that meeting. The Commissioners will vote on the IGA and the resolution at their meeting on Sept. 20 at 6:00 p.m.
For more voter information and to view sample ballots visit https://www.lumpkincounty.gov/183/Elections-Registration.
Joint Meeting and Special Call Meeting
Announcements, Community September 9, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Lumpkin County Commissioners and Dahlonega City Council are holding a joint meeting to discuss the TSPLOST further and after both governments will hold a special call meeting on Sept. 12 beginning at 2:00 p.m.
The meetings are open to the public. This is the agenda for the joint meeting and special call meeting.
Joint Meeting:
Call to Order Chairman Dockery
• Determine Joint TSPLOST Project
• Determine TSPLOST Distribution Amount
• Adjourn
Special Call Meeting:
CALL TO ORDER Chairman Dockery
• CONSIDERATION OF AGENDA
• RESOLUTIONS
1. TSPLOST Resolution to Call for Election
2. TSPLOST Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)
• ADJOURNMENT
The City Council will meet in the 1st-floor conference room their agenda will be the same. The special call meetings are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. unless the joint meeting goes longer.
County and City Begin TSPLOST Discussions
Community, Police & Government August 2, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Commissioners and the City Council held a joint special call meeting to begin discussions for adding a new TSPLOST to the Nov. ballot and the projects they would tackle with the funds collected.
The TSPLOST is a 1% sales tax collected for transportation projects. Under the previous law, counties and cities were only able to collect the amount they specified on the ballot now however they can collect for five years.
County Manager Alan Ours while explaining the TSPLOST process.
In order for the referendum to appear on the ballot, the city and county must outline the revenue they hope to receive, the projects they will use the funds for, and the distribution of the taxes. The joint meeting held on Aug. 1 was to begin to establish a course of action to meet the rest of the schedule that has to be followed in order to have the referendum.
Both government entities brought with them some projects they have already begun to look at for the TSPLOST funds. One project the DOT told them they would not be able to help with is the 400 and 60 project. This is because it is a federally funded project and using TSPLOST could actually slow down the process instead of helping speed up.
One project both were interested in tackling as a signature project is Auraria Road and Route 9. The DOT is already aware of the interest in improving that intersection have begun coming up with ideas on how to improve it.
To best serve the citizens and establish a way forward that benefits both parties they have established a committee to review the projects, revenue, and distributions. The committee is made up of staff members from both governments with an elected official from each also, for the Commissioners the representative is Rhett Stringer and for the City, it is Johnny Ariemma.
“Our citizens are paying for this and I can’t think of something better than a nice bike path, you see no bikes around here and I would just like to look at a bike path that supports both the city and the county,” commented Councilmember Lance Bagley.
Once the committee has had time to meet a few times and get their list together they will then present it back to both the City and County. County Manager Alan Ours suggested that they hold another joint meeting between the City and County in three to four weeks so they have time to review the list and make any changes before they are required to vote.
The Official Timeline for the referendum process
By Sept. 20 they have to have a list of projects and join in an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). Then the Commissioners have to approve a resolution to call for a referendum to be added to the ballot. They have until Oct. 5 to inform the paper and the election will be held on Nov. 8.
Ours took a survey of how other counties divide up the distribution and came back with many different options. They could choose to divide it up like the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), like the SPLOST, or take into account the number of roads. This is what the committee will have to decide.
Heard in the clip above are Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Chris Dockery and Interim City Manager Bill Lewis expressing their opinions on the distribution. This is an ongoing process and all staff and elected officials were encouraged to bring any projects they think of to the committee for consideration. To bring attention to any other projects the county manager’s contact information can be found at https://www.lumpkincounty.gov/182/County-Manager or the city manager at https://dahlonega.gov/department/city-manager/.