SPLOST project list released

Published 8:00 am Sunday, August 5, 2012

Lowndes County, the City of Valdosta and other municipalities have announced a list of projects which the seventh cycle of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax will fund if it is voted into law Nov. 6.

The county projects penny sales tax collections through SPLOST VII to total at least $150 million during a six-year period, a sum that could fund a library complex, an auditorium, the installation of a mandated public safety radio system, an array of municipal water and sewage improvements, new equipment for police officers and firefighters, and road maintenance projects.

There is not adequate funding for these projects if the SPLOST referendum does not pass, according to city and county planners. SPLOST funding has been regularly approved by Lowndes voters for many years. Approving SPLOST would maintain the same sales tax currently paid, with all benefits staying within Lowndes County and its municipalities. It has no relationship to the T-SPLOST tax defeated in last week’s election.

The library facility is the most expensive project, with an estimated cost of $22 million. That price tag includes the building itself as well as parks and recreation facilities planned to surround and enhance the facility.

“As a county government, Lowndes is responsible for local library facilities,” County Manager Joe Pritchard said in a statement. “Many have expressed their support for a new main library to be built on property at the current Five Points location. If SPLOST VII does not pass, there is no additional funding available in the county’s budget to build the new facility.”

The library would be constructed in Valdosta’s Five Points shopping area alongside a $20 million city auditorium that SPLOST would also fund.

The auditorium will be offered to citizens of Valdosta and the county, and will serve more uses and offer a more modern setting than the existing 50-year-old Mathis City Auditorium, said Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson.

The auditorium will feature a “pre-function area,” Hanson said, as well as a large space for plays and concerts and a multi-purpose space with smaller rooms engineered for a variety of community functions. The county is taking special care to ensure the rooms are the right size, so functions don’t interfere with one another.

If the SPLOST passes, Mathis City Auditorium will be sold to South Georgia Medical Center to provide additional space for patients and equipment.

“Our hospital needs to grow,” Hanson said. “They’re land-locked. That’s one of the primary reasons we’re doing this. I guess they will continue to use it, and probably renovate it.”

In this sense, the construction of a new municipal auditorium will kill two birds with one stone, giving residents an entertainment venue and more hospital space for the price of one building and renovations.

The price of road improvement projects comes in at a close second to these new facilities. The county expects to spend more than $18.5 million of the projected SPLOST revenues if the referendum passes, and the city projects their streets will cost more than $12.7 million to improve.

But these lower price tags don’t mean these projects are any less important.

“We feel all our projects are necessary,” Hanson said. “We pared our original budget of $280 million down to $74.8 million. It’s hard to pick out individual projects to highlight. We’ve made a lot of progress, but there are still some projects we need to address.”

Water and sewer projects have the third highest price tag in both the city and county. The county plans to spend $16 million, while the city projects a cost of $14 million. These improvements help keep city water and sewer rates low, Hanson said.

Valdosta also plans to spend $11.4 million of projected SPLOST income to pay existing bond debt and loan obligations for past water and wastewater improvements. Hanson said if the SPLOST referendum doesn’t pass, these loan obligations may factor into the rate of service for each user.

The county and the city have allocated $4 million each to comply with a new national mandate for a public safety radio system, brought about by changes in the Federal Communications Commission.

“This system supports nearly all first responders in Lowndes County to include law enforcement, fire, EMS and animal welfare,” Pritchard said. “Changes in federal law have mandated upgrades to the radio system beyond normal maintenance and service costs.”

The city plans to spend $3.5 million to improve drainage infrastructure to solve existing problems and provide capacity for future growth.

“We’ve completed about 40 drainage problems, but there are still some, yes,” Hanson said. “Some of these are adding capacity as the city grows and develops. What was originally grass, now has asphalt, and that creates more runoff and faster runoff.”

In Hahira, water and sewer facility expenditures are projected to cost $1.25 million and may include a project that would re-route treated gray water to Hahira Nursery Inc., allowing the company to shut down irrigation from the aquifer, said Hahira City Manager Jonathan Sumner.

“When the project is fully realized, the nursery could potentially take their six freshwater wells offline,” Sumner said. “If we could conserve that water, it would be an ideal solution.”

Other SPLOST expenditures include city and county police and fire departments. The county plans to spend $5 million for fire and law enforcement, and the city plans $4.1 million. The funds would purchase new fire trucks and safety vehicles, and better safety equipment for law enforcement.

 “You need the best technology you can have to protect your public-safety officers,” Hanson said.

Pritchard said better safety-services equipment can lower the county’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating, leading to a decrease in property insurance premiums.

Lowndes County will devote $2 million of the funds to complete the renovation and restoration of the historical county courthouse, which is still used by the county court to hold proceedings.

The courthouse grounds are also used by many groups for community events like Valdosta’s Farm Days, the Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series and the annual 100 Black Men of Valdosta Barbecue Competition. The facility remains on the national registry of historic places.

Voters may be wary to support a new SPLOST in light of overwhelming defense against the Transportation SPLOST, voted down Tuesday, but city and county officials remind voters that the two referenda are not related, and will fund separate projects.

“You really can’t draw a comparison between SPLOST and T-SPLOST. I think citizens understand that,” Sumner said. “SPLOST has been around almost 20 years. Sales tax is a great way to fund infrastructure from a service-delivery standpoint. It goes a long way to keep property taxes and water and sewer rates low.”

Projects that SPLOST will fund:

Lowndes County

Library and Parks at Five Points: $22 million

Road Improvements: $18.5 million

Water and Sewer: $16 million

Police and Fire Equipment: $5 million

Public Safety Radio: $4 million

Courthouse Renovations: $2 million

Valdosta

Municipal Auditorium at Five Points: $20 million

Water and Sewer: $14 million

Road Improvements: $12.7 million

Bond Debt for Existing Wastewater Improvements: $11.4 million

Police and Fire Equipment: $4.1 million

Public Safety Radio: $4 million

Drainage Infrastructure: $3.5 million

Sanitation Vehicles (Garbage Trucks): $2.4 million

Parks and Recreation: $1.2 million

Master Plan Projects (Downtown): $1 million

City Hall Improvement: $500,000

Hahira

Water and Sewer (Nursery Re-route): $1.25 million

Police and Fire Equipment: $800,000

Roads, Drainage, Sidewalks: $750,000

City Hall Improvement: $558,000

Parks and Recreation: $400,000

Remerton

Municipal Facilities: $692,000

Water and Sewer: $450,000

Public Safety Vehicles: $250,000

Road Improvements: $150,000

Dasher

Road Improvements: $438,000

Museum and Library: $438,000

Parks and Recreation: $250,000

Water and Sewer: $125,000

Lake Park

Water and Sewer: $350,000

Road Improvements: $250,000

Police and Fire Equipment: $150,000

Equipment and Property for City Maintenance: $100,000

City Hall Improvement: $57,000

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