Gwinnett County, GA: History & Overview

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History & Overview

The Georgia legislature gave counties the option to implement a one cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, commonly known as SPLOST, starting in 1985. The sales tax program requires voter approval of the 1 percent, or one penny per dollar, collected for specified capital improvement projects.

While the state mandated that municipalities receive a share of county SPLOST revenues in 2005, Gwinnett began sharing its penny sales tax with its cities in 2001. The County uses sales tax to fund transportation, parks and recreation, public safety, library, and court facilities. The cities use SPLOST to pay for many of the same types of projects as well as administrative, water and sewer, and parking facilities.

In 1997, school boards gained the option to use a similar one cent sales tax program for school construction, called E-SPLOST.

The state of Georgia also collects a sales tax of 4 percent.

Why SPLOST?
By investing more than $2 billion in sales tax funds for these improvements, Gwinnett County Government has minimized long-term debt and saved more than $1 billion in financing costs compared to issuing bonds.

Monitoring your money
Citizen committees have reviewed financial audits of SPLOST programs since 2005. These committees have studied and prioritized proposed projects and made recommendations to the Board of Commissioners using the County's long-range planning and master plan documents for guidance.

SPLOST over the years

Gwinnett voters have approved a series of SPLOST programssince the mid-1980s. Over the years, SPLOST has paid for such projects as the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, the Gwinnett Center convention facilities, thousands of acres of greenspace, new parks and recreation facilities, Sugarloaf Parkway, Satellite Boulevard, and hundreds of other road improvements, new police and fire stations, and libraries around the county.

2009 SPLOST
Approved by voters:
November 2008 (56.1% in favor)
Collection dates:
April 2009 – March 2014
Total revenue:
$500.34 million as of December 2012
($11.1 million/month average)

Purposes:
Transportation: $308.3 million
Parks and Recreation: $131.1 million
Public Safety: $53.7 million
Libraries: $10.5 million
Courthouse: $76.9 million
Cities Share: $107.5 million

2005 SPLOST
Approved by voters:
November 2004 (65.2% in favor)
Collection dates:
April 2005 – March 2009
Total revenue:
$581.5 million as of March 2009
($12.1 million/month average)
2005 SPLOST Program transportation project list (PDF)

Purposes:
Transportation: $190.3 million
Parks and Recreation: $190.3 million
Public Safety: $92.6 million
Libraries: $14.6 million
Cities Share: $93.7 million

2001 SPLOST
Approved by voters:
November 2000 (55.0% in favor)
Collection dates:
April 2001 – March 2005
Total revenue:
$496.1 million
($10.3 million/month average)
2001 SPLOST Program overview (PDF)

Purposes:
Transportation: $201.1 million
Parks and Recreation: $201.1 million
Public Safety: $59.5 million for public safety
Libraries: $12.4 million
Cities Share: $22 million

1997 SPLOST
Approved by voters:
November 1996 (53.5% in favor)
Collection dates:
April 1997 – March 2001
Total revenue:
$414.8 million
($8.6 million/month average)
1997 SPLOST Program overview (PDF)

Purposes:
Transportation: $295 million
Parks and Recreation: $60 million
Public Safety: $60 million

1996 SPLOST
Defeated by voters:
November 1995 (49.5% in favor)

Purpose:
Transportation

1992 SPLOST
Approved by voters:
November 1991 (52.7% in favor)
Collection dates:
April 1992 – March 1996
Total revenue:
$249.1 million
($5.2 million/month average)

Purposes:
Transportation

1988 SPLOST
Approved by voters:
November 1987 (66.5% in favor)
Collection dates:
April 1988 – March 1992
Total revenue:
$162.7 million
($3.4 million/month average)

Purposes:
Pre-Trial Detention Center

Gwinnett County Civic Center
Gwinnett Historic Courthouse renovation
Transportation

1985 SPLOST
Approved by voters:
June 1985 (88.5% in favor)
Collection dates:
October 1985 – September 1987
Total revenue:
$65.7 million
($2.7 million/month average)

Purpose:
Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center