Monroe County voters will decide in a countywide referendum on the Presidential Primary election ballot on Tuesday, March 12 whether to extend the current one-cent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) for an additional five years.
Below are some questions and answers to help voters better understand the TSPLOST:
Q.) Why are Monroe County Commissioners putting a penny Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) back on the March 12 ballot? Didn’t we already approve the TSPLOST back in 2021?
A.) Yes, Monroe County voters approved a five-year TSPLOST by a nearly 60 percent to 40 percent margin via county-wide referendum in November 2021. That TSPLOST took effect on April 1, 2022 and was projected to bring in a total of about $17 million in revenue ($14.1 million for Monroe County, $2.6 million for Forsyth, and $300,000 for Culloden). However, over the 21 months since TSPLOST collections in Monroe County began, the penny tax has generated much more revenue than was initially anticipated. In fact, Monroe County has already collected more than 60 percent of its projected $14.1 million total. Therefore, the capped estimate of $17 million for the county and both municipalities is projected to be reached in about 31 months, rather than the full 60-month (5-year) time period allowable for the TSPLOST to be imposed.
According to Georgia state law, for any TSPLOST imposed prior to May 2, 2022, the TSPLOST ceases to be imposed either at the completion of the five-year period or at the end of the calendar quarter in which the initial $17 million estimate is reached. That means Monroe County’s TSPLOST, which was expected to last through March 2027, will expire as soon as fall 2024 if collections remain the same for the remainder of this year.
On May 2, 2022, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into legislation House Bill 934, which now allows TSPLOST to be collected for the entire five-year period even if the initial projections have been exceeded. However, this legislation only applies to counties that passed TSPLOST after May 2, 2022 and is not retroactive to Monroe County even though collections in Monroe County only began one month prior to passage of the legislation.
But state law does allow for counties to renew their existing TSPLOST prior to the end of the time it is being imposed, meaning Monroe County will ask voters via referendum on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 to continue the penny transportation tax prior to full collections of the initial tax. The March 12, 2024 referendum will coincide with Georgia’s Presidential Preference Primary.
Q.) Is this upcoming TSPLOST a new tax?
A.) No, this TSPLOST is only a continuation or extension of the previous penny 2022 TSPLOST and will take effect after the quarter in which the maximum $17 million in revenue from the 2022 TSPLOST is reached. The TSPLOST tax extension is projected to bring in an estimated total of $32.5 million over a five-year period with Monroe County receiving about $27 million, the City of Forsyth receiving about $4.8 million, and the City of Culloden receiving about $583,000. Because this TSPLOST referendum will take place after the May 2, 2022 legislation, TSPLOST collections in Monroe County will not cease until the five-year collection period is complete, even if the $32.5 million estimate has already been reached. That means Monroe County, the City of Forsyth, and the City of Culloden will be eligible to receive over and above their estimated totals should TSPLOST revenues be higher than currently projected.
Q.) How much revenue has the 2022 TSPLOST generated so far for Monroe County, the City of Forsyth, and the City of Culloden?
A.) In the first 20 months of collections spanning April 2022 through November 2023, about $10.8 million (of the $17 million total) have been collected and disbursed with Monroe County receiving about $9 million, the City of Forsyth receiving about $1.6 million, and the City of Culloden receiving about $200,000.
Q.) What has Monroe County done with its 2022 TSPLOST collections?
A.) Monroe County has paved many miles of road, probably as much as four times the amount of road mileage as in previous years. Specifically, Montpelier Station Road, Parks Road, McCowen Road, Josey Road, Jenkins Road, Rumble Road, Stokes Store Road, and Lakeshore Drive were paved in 2023. In 2024, Monroe County plans to resurface Johnstonville Road, High Falls Road, Estes Road, and Juliette Road with more to come. Additionally, we have purchased our own paving equipment and trained our existing road department to pave our own roads. This $1.2 million investment has pretty much already paid for itself with many more years of use available. Additionally, Forsyth has many projects it is working on, and Culloden has paved nearly every public road in the city.
Q.) How much on average does Monroe County receive from the Georgia Department of Transportation in Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) funds?
A.) LMIG funds for road repairs average about $675,000 annually with a 30 percent county match. This would equate to about 22 percent of the funding we now have to invest in our roads through TSPLOST.
Q.) What is the current value of one mill of tax? If Monroe County Commissioners increase the millage rate to equal the amount of revenue received through TSPLOST, how much would the millage rate go up?
A.) One mill is the equivalent of just under $1.55 million in revenue. Therefore, replacing TSPLOST with a millage rate increase would drive the millage rate up 3.5 mills. This is an option that Commissioners would never want to consider. In fact, Commissioners have either maintained the same millage rate or lowered the millage rate for six consecutive years.
However, as an example, Monroe County’s current millage rate is 12.004 mills, which means a Monroe County homeowner with a home valued at $250,000 and a Homestead Exemption paid $1,056 in county property taxes in 2023. If Commissioners were to increase the millage rate by 3.5 mills, the same homeowner would pay $1,364 in property taxes, an increase of $308. And this increase would be a tax burden exclusively for property owners instead of on the 70,000-plus daily visitors traveling I-75.
Q.) How many miles of road does Monroe County have?
A.) Monroe County has 466 total miles of road, of which 76 miles remain unpaved as of now. The City of Forsyth has 42 miles of road.
Q.) What are the current costs of paving one mile of unpaved road and resurfacing one mile of paved road?
A.) The county’s last paving job from dirt to paved surface cost $910,000 per mile. Resurfacing costs can vary but are presently averaging around $500,000 per mile. This is up substantially from 2019 when the same resurfacing projects could be done at about $109,000 per mile.
Q.) What is the estimated percentage of TSPLOST revenues that are generated by people outside of Monroe County?
A.) A study in Lowndes County conducted by Cory Hull of the Southern Georgia Regional Commission estimated that over half of TSPLOST revenues collected in Lowndes County, which is also along I-75, were paid from visitors rather than residents of the county. Therefore, Monroe County has estimated that between 50 to 55 percent of its TSPLOST revenue will be received from out-of-towners.
Q.) How does Monroe County decide which roads to resurface using TSPLOST funds?
A.) Monroe County Public Works Director Kimbel Stokes has adopted a long-range transportation plan developed by professional engineers and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) in which all Monroe County roads are categorized as either local, collector, or arterial. An independent engineering firm, Neel-Schaffer, has already completed a pavement study of Monroe County road surfaces. Using the data collected by Neel-Schaffer, Stokes, who has decades of experience in road reconstruction, scored the road surfaces based upon greatest need of pavement repair. Whether roads receive full-depth reclamation or less-drastic enhancements, such as asphalt patching or micro-surfacing, would depend on the level of pavement repair needed.
All Monroe County funds collected from the upcoming TSPLOST would go toward continuing repairs on local, collector, and arterial roads. City of Forsyth and City of Culloden leaders have indicated that their TSPLOST collections will also go toward road resurfacing projects in their municipalities as well as sidewalk additions and enhancements.
Q.) Do other counties in Georgia impose a TSPLOST?
A.) Yes, presently 108 of 159 Georgia counties have a TSPLOST, including 44 of which that have a single-county TSPLOST only, such as what is being proposed on the March 12 referendum. That means that anytime you spend money in one of the other 107 Georgia counties that impose a TSPLOST, you are helping to maintain and upgrade their county’s road system. Continuing a TSPLOST in Monroe County will allow other Georgians and travelers from other states to help Monroe County maintain its roads.
