Commissioners Take First Step On Transportation Tax Referendum

Oconee County commissioners on Tuesday night took the first step to place a new 1 percent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax on the ballot in November.

Following a presentation by Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell, the three members of the Board present, without a formal vote, agreed that Daniell should meet on July 1 with representatives of the county’s four cities to outline the referendum.

At the meeting on Tuesday, Daniell said revenue from the tax would be used for four purposes: to cover transportation costs already being funded by the county by property tax, to create new revenue for multi-use paths, for intersection improvements, and for paving.

The county should be able to reduce the property tax rate as a result of shifting some of the current spending on transportation from the General Fund to projects covered by the new tax, Daniell said.

The new tax, if approved by the voters, would bring the sales tax in line with that of Clarke County, which approved a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax in November of 2018.

The current sales tax rate in Oconee County is 7 percent, and approval of the new tax would increase it to 8 percent.

For more on the story, with an embedded video of the meeting on Tuesday, please go to Oconee County Observations.