SPLOST Passage Signals “Good Day for Franklin County”

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

It’s a good day for Franklin County.

That’s the conclusion of Franklin County leaders on the voters’ decision to pass both a continuation of the special purpose local option sales tax and the bond referendum.

Voters had been asked to pass both referendums Tuesday as a way to pay the county’s hospital bond debt while continuing to work on county projects.

The County had launched an education campaign over the summer months after the sale of the Lavonia hospital to St. Mary’s Healthcare.

As part of that $12 million deal, the hospital would not incur the bond debt left by Ty Cobb Healthcare System and it would fall to Franklin County.

However, a shortfall in Franklin County cash reserves coupled with two $600,000 bond payments a year left the county scrambling to find a way to keep county services going and make those payments at the same time.

Franklin County Manager Beth Thomas came up with the idea of putting the SPLOST continuation up for a vote a year early.

Then, working with the its bond attorney, Franklin County developed a refinancing plan for the bond debt that would lower the annual payments.

Franklin County Commission Chair Thomas Bridges said that he is encouraged by the support the county received at the voting booth from taxpayers.

“It takes off a lot of pressure regarding how we’re going to fund projects,” he said. “We can move forward with confidence that we can pay for the capital outlay and move forward with the projects by continuing the SPLOST.”

Some of the main SPLOST projects Franklin County is hoping to get done over the next six years include road work.

Bridges said Franklin County plans to focus on one particular road near Franklin County Middle School.

“Taking care of Turkey Creek Road by the middle school is a top priority,” Thomas said. “The road is too narrow for the traffic and the school buses. So that’s going to be a priority to get that project completed.”

Other SPLOST projects over the coming years for Franklin County include continuing work on running water and sewer lines along Interstate 85, as well building a new wastewater treatment plant in Carnesville, expanding the Franklin County Jail, and continuing expansion of Franklin County’s water lines and natural gas lines.