Hall SPLOST VI list at $240 million

GAINESVILLE - Hall County commissioners looked at the $240-million capital projects funding list for SPLOST VI during Monday morning’s work session.

Commissioner Billy Powell said the extra penny on the dollar keeps property taxes down because everybody pays a sales tax, including people from outside Hall County, because the county is a regional trade area.

“That’s $80 million of this $200 million that we get funded from citizens outside our county and I’m excited about it,” Powell said. “This is a great way to fund these projects with the sales tax because the citizens of Hall County don’t pay.”

County projects on the proposed SPLOST list add up to $195 million.

The two big ticket items on the county’s list are new road construction and intersection improvement, including the Sardis Road Connector and Spout Springs Road widening; that project list totals $45 million; sewer expansion projects total $53 million.

The City of Gainesville has the biggest municipal funding list at $35 million, with more than half of that request to finance the new police and municipal court building for $16.5 million.

Final city/county agreement on SPLOST funding is set for December; the voter referendum is set for next March.

STREET LIGHTS AND NO PARKING

Two contentious public works issues are back to commissioners this week, this time for a final vote.

Commissioner Bobby Banks questioned why the Commission should even be involved with one of them, a conflict over a taxing district for streetlights in the Country Walk Subdivision.

"Is it our place to get involved in this and make sure that we do what half the citizens want," Banks asked.

Public Works Director Ken Rearden said 53 percent of the homeowners indicated support; residents are also divided over a no parking resolution in the Southern Trace Subdivision that is also coming up for a final vote Thursday.