Henry County calls SPLOST V referendum

The Henry County Board of Commissioners have adopted a resolution calling for the SPLOST V referendum this November. If approved by the voters, SPLOST V is estimated to collect $204 million dollars over a five year collection period.

Twenty percent of the estimated collections ($40.8 million) have been designated for level two projects. Association County Commissioners of Georgia describes level two projects as “capital projects benefiting the citizens of the entire county.” State law allows level two projects to include building and renovating county facilities, repaying debt on existing facilities, and equipping and furnishing facilities.

The most expensive level two project is a new aquatic center to be built centrally located near Interstate 75. Commissioners budgeted $22 million dollars for the project. Other level two projects include a recreation facility likely to be constructed in the Hampton area, a police precinct in Fairview, and four fire stations. The stations include rebuilds in Hampton (station 5) and Fairview (station 6), and new stations in Ola (station 17) and Flippen (station 18).

Remaining Collections will be divided based on Population

After twenty percent is collected, the remaining funds will be divided between Henry County and the municipalities proportional to the most recent US Census. In 2010, 70.5% of the county’s residents lived within unincorporated areas and 29.5% lived within cities.

The below chart shows the estimated collections for each city and the county:

*70.51% represents the unincorporated population ONLY.

The additional $115 million that would be distributed to Henry County is planned to be spent in a variety of ways, including $77.1 million for transportation projects and $19.6 million for parks & recreation. The project list also includes a fleet replacement program and three police precincts to be located in commission districts 2, 3, and 4. A final list documenting individual projects has not yet been published.