Loading...Georgia Chamber, Get Georgia Moving back consensus approach to transportation funding
Business leaders, elected officials and others gathered Thursday to support a consensus plan for new transportation funding that would put voters in every region of Georgia in the driver’s seat.
Charles Tarbutton, chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and co-chairman of Get Georgia Moving, a coalition of more than 50 groups, brought the media up to speed on the consensus approach during a press conference at the state capitol.
“You've been hearing for months how we don’t have enough money for transportation ... that we're dealing with a multibillion-dollar shortfall,” Tarbutton said. “You know we’ve had to cancel hundreds of projects. You've experienced the congestion, and you've written about the companies who are picking other states over Georgia.”
“Well, we’re here to tell you today that we are closer than ever to a consensus solution for regional funding to do something about all that.”
The concept supported by the Georgia Chamber and Get Georgia Moving is a voluntary regional penny sales tax for transportation, often referred to as a TSPLOST (transportation special purpose local option sales tax). It is similar to SPLOSTs for education and other purposes that have proven popular with voters across the state.
After approval by the Georgia General Assembly, the entire state would vote to establish regions and give them the authority to enact the tax. Individual regions would then be able to call for a SPLOST-like regional vote, should they choose to do so.
Each region that passes a TSPLOST would set a sunset date, appoint an oversight committee and develop a list of local projects to be built in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Transportation. One hundred percent of the funds raised in each region would be required to stay in that region.
The Georgia House of Representatives and Senate are closer than ever to a compromise that incorporates many elements of the regional consensus plan. The Senate has already passed a bill that would allow one or more contiguous counties to band together for regional funding, while the House is expected to consider legislation that uses the pre-established boundaries of Georgia’s multi-county regional development areas.
