TSPLOST: What Does It Mean For North Fulton?

Editor's note: the following op-ed was submitted by Fulton County Commission Vice-Chair Liz Hausmann, who represents District 1.

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Not voting for president? I wouldn’t miss it! But the opinion of many is otherwise. You need to know that there are many other important reasons to vote this November.

One is traffic relief. The citizens of Fulton County will have the opportunity to approve a .75-cent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or TSPLOST, on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot.

If approved, an estimated $570 million dollars could be raised to fund transportation improvements throughout Fulton County - outside of the city of Atlanta.

The city of Atlanta has two separate votes to approve a .4 cent TSPLOST and a .5 cent MARTA expansion for a potential .9 cent increase in Atlanta.

Confused? What does it mean for you? What does it mean for your city? What happens to the money raised? And how did we get here?

With four new Fulton County commissioners taking office on Jan. 1, 2015, came long desired changes to the county government. New districts brought new faces and a new direction. Beginning with hiring a new county manager, and leading to the development of a Strategic Plan that focuses on customer service, outcomes and impact to the citizens, and a reduction in the millage rate, the new Board of Commissioners also established regular communication with the leadership of the 14 cites and two school systems in Fulton County.

Early in 2015 the Fulton commissioners and mayors began meeting to discuss ways we could partner together to improve service delivery to the citizens we mutually represent.

Residents throughout Fulton County identified transportation as the single most important issue facing the metro Atlanta region in the 2015 Metro Atlanta speaks survey conducted by the Atlanta Regional Commission, so naturally transportation was high on the early list of topics of concern.

The Georgia legislature and the governor had just approved House Bill 170, which reorganized the fuel tax revenues to add over $900 million a year to the Georgia Department of Transportation for statewide transportation improvement projects.

A provision in H.B. 170 allowed Fulton County for the first time to call for a 1 cent (or up to) TSPLOST for transportation improvements. Historic, as the Fulton County sales tax had been capped for over 40 years with the 1 cent MARTA sales tax. But, the devil was in the details. The H.B. 170 language required 100 percent agreement of all 15 jurisdictions in Fulton County, including agreement on the projects and agreement on the amount of the 1 cent to be requested.

Atlanta insisted on including a MARTA expansion, and many of the Fulton cities objected to including MARTA expansion funding. All it took was one city to opt out, resulting in an impasse without an agreement. No agreement could be reached.

Recognizing the situation, the Fulton County Legislative Delegation, led by Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, passed new legislation in Senate Bill 369 allowing for a compromise funding plan. S.B. 369 created two separate tax districts; one for the city of Atlanta and one for the rest of Fulton County that included all 13 cities and unincorporated South Fulton for up to 1 cent each for a five year period.

This time, 60 percent of the Fulton cities and the county had to agree to go forward. Transit expansion could be included for Atlanta.

Atlanta voters will have two ballot questions: MARTA expansion at .5 cents for 40 years concurrent with the MARTA Act; TSPLOST for roads, bridges, connectivity at .4 cents for 5 years; a total of .9 cent increase to 8.9 percent for Atlanta if both measures are approved.

Fulton County voters have one question:

• .75-cent TSPLOST for roads, bridges, congestion relief and connectivity;
• Projects developed by each city;
• Projects managed by each city;
• Revenue divided by population of each city;
• The TSPLOST is collected for a 5 year period beginning on April 1, 2017; and
• If the maximum amount of $660 million is collected earlier than five years, the tax will sunset and expire.

Full details that include project lists, priority list, and revenue estimates can be found online. Take a look and see what it means for you. It’s your money and your decision. And it’s last on the ballot! Don’t be left out of the decision!

Yours in service,

Liz Hausmann

Image via Fulton County