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Photo: Eugene Peretz on Flickr
Voters have approved a TSPLOST referendum by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.
Turnout was predictably low. Out of the 25,904 registered voters in Baldwin County, 23,039 of them didn't vote. The final tally was 2,120 "yes" votes (74.07 percent) and 742 "no" votes (25.93 percent).
The new TSPLOST goes into effect on April 1, 2024, which is when the local sales tax will increase from 7 cents to 8 cents.
Baldwin County has had a "school SPLOST" and a "local government SPLOST" for more than 30 years now, although the new "transportation SPLOST" will be a new concept around here. TSPLOST is expected to raise roughly $45 million over a span of five years for road repairs and other transportation projects.
TSPLOST revenues will be divvied between the county commission and the Milledgeville City Council. The county government previously released its list of "county roads" that would benefit from TSPOST, hitting many of the high notes, like Lake Laurel Road and Log Cabin Road. County Manager Carlos Tobar said that the goal is either to resurface every road on the list and in some cases repair the road base prior to resurfacing.
"You have to make sure that the base is solid before you resurface," he said.
Below is the list of county roads...
It's an ambitious list, but Tobar said that he's "pretty confident" that every road on the list can be completed within the five-year timeframe. Tobar added that the county also would utilize Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) money from the state, which is basically a 50-50 match from the Georgia Department of Transportation.
So, which roads on the list would be fixed first? If TSPLOST passes, Tobar said that the county commissioners will "prioritize" the list. Tobar added that it likely would be "prioritized" by some combination of the most traveled roads and the roads most in need of repair.
THE "CITY" LIST
CLICK HERE to view City Hall's most recent "street resurfacing ratings" list, which was compiled by an engineer and recently released to the public. It's an especially long list (11 pages worth), and there's a lot to read. While perusing, keep in mind that the higher the "rating number," the sooner that that stretch of road would be repaired.
