Henry County and Cities to Hold Joint SPLOST VI Meeting

Henry County and the four cities will hold a joint meeting this week to discuss SPLOST VI. The meeting will be at the county office on Thursday, June 27, at 6:30 pm.

The five governing bodies must meet to discuss whether to approve an intergovernmental agreement. The IGA, if approved, would allow the county to ask voters for a six-year SPLOST program this November.

Joint SPLOST VI Meeting

Planning for SPLOST VI began last fall. The county created a committee to review potential projects. The committee, comprised of county residents, held meetings throughout the first half of 2024. They made their project recommendations earlier this month.

Now, the county commissioners and city councils will meet to discuss the SPLOST program. They must decide how SPLOST collections should be split between the county and four cities. If enough parties agree, then the program can span six years.

Henry County finance staff have estimated the next SPLOST program could generate $380 million during a five-year span, or $470 million over six years. Henry County is proposing they receive 68% of collections. The rest would be divided among the cities. That split could look like the following:

All values are in millions of dollars.

According to the latest census population estimates, the county has about 66% of the population in unincorporated areas. The cities comprise about 34% of the population.

About SPLOST

SPLOST stands for special purpose local option sales tax. The sales tax amounts to one-percent on local purchases. Its proceeds may pay for road improvements and capital projects. They may not go towards ordinary operating costs.

Henry County is presently in its fifth iteration of SPLOST. Voters approved it in November 2019. They will now be asked to approve SPLOST VI this November. If voters approve it, then tax collections would start in April 2025. The current SPLOST collections will end in March. There would be no change in the county’s sales tax rate.

Featured image shows Interstate 75 and SPLOST VI road sign. AA Roads photo / Sign Maker by Brendon Strowe sign.