Assembly Approves, Governor Signs Bill Allowing County To Hold May SPLOST Vote

House Bill 310, passed by the Georgia Senate on Jan. 14 and by the Georgia House on Jan. 17 and signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal yesterday, contains a provision that will allow the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to put the 2015 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax on the May 20 ballot.

The Commissioners are scheduled to make that decision at their regular meeting on March 4, but they could not have put the issue before voters until later in the year–probably in November--had the General Assembly not passed and the governor not signed the House bill.

Oconee County citizens will have their second chance on Feb. 10 to tell the Commissioners which of the requests totaling $97.7 million they want included in $47.3 million the county is projecting it will receive from the 2015 SPLOST, should voters approve it.

Following that meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. and be held at the Civic Center on Hog Mountain Road, the Commissioners will have to approve language for the referendum that specifies how the tax revenue is to be spent.

For details of this story, go to Oconee County Observations.