City maintenance needs, such as road and water repairs, will be paid for whether the special purpose local option tax passes Tuesday, Richmond County Tax Commissioner Steven Kendrick told a group gathered for a special purpose local option sales tax roundtable Tuesday morning.
"These things will get done, and you and your neighbors will end up paying for it," Mr. Kendrick said. "With the 1-cent sales tax, the people around us, who use our roads, who buy gas in Richmond County share in the cost."
Mr. Kendrick, Mayor Deke Copenhaver and representatives from Heery International Inc., the project manager for such projects as the judicial center and the downtown library, advocated the benefits of passing the sales tax referendum and answered questions about the tax for a group of local residents, many of whom wore orange stickers supporting SPLOST VI.
Tuesday's meeting was the third in as many weeks conducted to inform people about the tax and encourage residents to vote yes, said Butch Gallop, the community liaison for Heery.
"We have had great attendance, and we've really been able to convey the impact passing SPLOST would have on the quality of life and jobs in this community," Mr. Gallop said.
As of Tuesday, 1,161 people have cast early votes in the referendum on a proposed $184.7 million package, according to the Richmond County Board of Elections.
Advance voting continues through Friday at the board's main office in the Municipal Building on Greene Street, the Henry Brigham Community Center on Golden Camp Road and the Warren Road Community Center.
Voter turnout is expected to be 10 percent to 15 percent, which would be between 11,000 and 16,000 people.
Staff Writer Johnny Edwards contributed to this article.
Reach Stephanie Toone at (706) 823-3215 or stephanie.toone@augustachronicle.com.
RELATED STORIES
June 16: Editorial: Say 'Yes' today for Augusta
June 16: SPLOST VI: Vote today
June 15: SPLOST VI: Taxes won and lost
June 14: Worth every penny?
June 13: Plan would revamp blighted inner city
June 10: Sales tax meeting answers questions
June 9: Beard motions for bond issue for revitalization
June 8: Advance voting begins
June 8: Live chat: SPLOST VI debate
May 27: Commissioners split on TEE center
May 22: TEE center stuck in neutral
May 21: Revised TEE center plan will be presented
May 11: Early voting starts today
SAMPLE BALLOT
View a sample ballot for this month's special election, in which voters will decide the SPLOST issue.
SALES TAX PROJECT BREAKDOWN
Of the money to be raised by extending the 1-cent sales tax, 67 percent would go toward infrastructure. The sales tax list also includes:
- $18 million for Municipal Building renovations
- $17 million to replace police vehicles and fire trucks
- $10.9 million for parks and recreation
- $10 million to pay off debt from money fronted to the Medical College of Georgia to buy Gilbert Manor public housing project
- $5.7 million for Hephzibah and Blythe
- $5.1 million toward the Augusta Symphony's restoration of the Miller Theatre
- $4 million to dredge Lake Olmstead
- $3.5 million to create a lake near Regency Mall, part of a strategy to spur redevelopment there
- $2.5 million for Paine College's Health Education Activities Learning Complex
SPLOST package grand total: $184,724,000
Infrastructure projects ($124,055,000)
| Airports | ||
| Augusta Regional Airport | Eastside Access Economic Development Program - Element 1 | 8,500,000 |
| Daniel Field Airport | Airport Terminal Renovation | 2,000,000 |
| Total: | $10,500,000 | |
| "Augusta projects" | ||
| Webster Detention Center | 18,000,000 | |
| Sheriff Administration Building | 6,000,000 | |
| Total: | $24,000,000 | |
| Fire department | ||
| Training Center Infrastructure | 2,000,000 | |
| Total: | $2,000,000 | |
| Engineering | ||
| Traffic Sign Upgrade Program | 300,000 | |
| Lake Olmstead Dredging | 4,000,000 | |
| Martin Luther King Drive | 1,250,000 | |
| Garden City Beautification Initiative | 500,000 | |
| Rocky Creek Drainage Plan / Regency Mall | 3,500,000 | |
| Total: | $35,675,000 | |
| Library | ||
| Maxwell Branch Library | 900,000 | |
| Friedman Branch Library | 600,000 | |
| Total: | $1,500,000 | |
| Augusta-Richmond County authorities | ||
| Downtown Development Authority | 1,200,000 | |
| Development Authority of Richmond County | 1,200,000 | |
| Augusta Canal Authority | 4,170,000 | |
| Total: | $6,570,000 | |
| Public Services | ||
| Public Services | Municipal Building Renovations | 18,000,000 |
| Public Services | Grading and Drainage | 4,500,000 |
| Public Services | Green Space - CSR Land Trust | 500,000 |
| Public Services | Suburban Forces-Resurfacing | 3,000,000 |
| Public Services | Tree Removal, Pruning and Replacement | 1,000,000 |
| Public Services | Sidewalks-Rehab-Replacement | 1,000,000 |
| Public Services | Curb Cuts and Sidewalks | 500,000 |
| Public Services | Resurfacing - Contracts | 3,000,000 |
| Public Services | General Bridge Rehab and Maintenance | 3,000,000 |
| Total: | $34,500,000 | |
| Traffic engineering | ||
| I-20 Eastbound/Riverwatch Ramp | 1,100,000 | |
| Walton Way Signal Phase 2 and Streetlight Upgrade | 800,000 | |
| Gordon Highway Lighting Upgrade | 1,500,000 | |
| Reynolds Street Signal Improvements | 575,000 | |
| Signal Upgrades | 1,250,000 | |
| 15th Street Pedestrian Improvements | 800,000 | |
| Intersection Safety and Operational Initiative | 2,550,000 | |
| Total: | 8,575,000 | |
| Transit | ||
| South Augusta Transit Center | 190,000 | |
| Renovation Augusta Public Transit Facilities | 125,000 | |
| Transit Vehicle Purchase | 420,000 | |
| Total: | $735,000 | |
| Infrastructure Total: | $124,055,000 | |
Non-infrastructure ($60,669,000)
| "Augusta projects" | ||
| MCG-Gilbert Manor Debt | 10,000,000 | |
| Project Management | 2,000,000 | |
| Total: | $12,000,000 | |
| Fire department | ||
| Emergency Fleet Replacement | 9,500,000 | |
| Total: | $9,500,000 | |
| Fleet | ||
| Public Safety Vehicles | 7,500,000 | |
| Total: | $7,500,000 | |
| Library | ||
| New Headquarters Library | 1,000,000 | |
| Total: | $1,000,000 | |
| Outside agencies | ||
| Historic Augusta, Inc. | Wilson & Lamar Historic Sites | 125,000 |
| The Augusta Symphony | The Augusta Theatre District Project | 5,283,600 |
| The Augusta Symphony | Augusta Mini Theatre | 716,400 |
| Pendleton King Park Foundation | Pendleton King Park Connectivity Improvements | 200,000 |
| Delta House Inc. | Lucy Laney Craft Museum of Black History | 600,000 |
| Augusta Museum of History | Augusta Museum of History | 600,000 |
| Jessye Norman School of Arts | Handicap Access Project | 95,000 |
| Imperial Theatre | Theatre Improvements | 1,000,000 |
| Boys and Girls Club | E.W. Hagler Club Renovations | 500,000 |
| Augusta Urban Ministries | Roof Replacement | 175,000 |
| Paine College | Health Education Activates Learning Complex | 2,500,000 |
| Golden Harvest Food Bank | New Building | 250,000 |
| Total: | $12,045,000 | |
| Recreation | ||
| Capital Equipment | 150,000 | |
| Existing Structural Improvement Fund | 950,000 | |
| Augusta Common | 100,000 | |
| Dyess Park | 800,000 | |
| Lake Olmstead | 600,000 | |
| May Park | 150,000 | |
| Old Government House | 200,000 | |
| The Boathouse | 450,000 | |
| Elliott Park | 100,000 | |
| Fleming Park | 250,000 | |
| Fleming Tennis Center | 600,000 | |
| Augusta Soccer Complex | 150,000 | |
| Diamond Lakes Regional | 1,350,000 | |
| McDuffie Woods | 200,000 | |
| Augusta Golf Course | 300,000 | |
| H. H. Brigham | 250,000 | |
| Valley Park | 250,000 | |
| Wood Park | 50,000 | |
| Butler Creek & Hwy 56 | 500,000 | |
| Brookfield | 100,000 | |
| Eisenhower | 100,000 | |
| Warren Road | 150,000 | |
| Blythe Community | 500,000 | |
| Jamestown Community | 200,000 | |
| Augusta Marinas | 50,000 | |
| Lake Olmstead Stadium | 100,000 | |
| 4-H Camp | 50,000 | |
| Community Wide Tennis Court Resurfacing | 150,000 | |
| Community Wide Swimming Pool Renovations | 900,000 | |
| Recreation Planning - Master Plan | 200,000 | |
| Administration | 1,000,000 | |
| Total: | $10,900,000 | |
| Intergovernmental allocations | ||
| City of Hephzibah | 4,424,000 | |
| City of Blythe | 1,300,000 | |
| Total: | $5,724,000 | |
| Information technology | ||
| Network Assessment Remediation | 250,000 | |
| Redundant Fiber Ring | 250,000 | |
| Digital Orthophotography | 500,000 | |
| Software Application Consolidation | 1,000,000 | |
| Total: | $2,000,000 | |
| Non-infrastructure Total: | $60,669,000 | |
icon.
