VALDOSTA – The Executive Committee of the Southern Georgia Regional Commission Roundtable has unveiled a Draft Constrained Investment List for the counties representing the Special District for the proposed Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST). 

The Southern Georgia Regional Commission is a regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency that serves 45 municipalities and 18 counties. The commission’s Valdosta office displayed the draft investment list for public review and comment Thursday, Nov. 30, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The list covers the following counties Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner, and Ware. 

The TSPLOST or Transportation Investment Act (TIA) process is a mechanism for Georgia voters to enact a regional sales tax for transportation purposes, the regional commission said in a press release. 

The current TSPLOST revenue collection began in the Southern Georgia region in October 2018 after a majority of voters in the 18-county Southern Georgia region passed the referendum to initiate the collection of a one-cent transportation sales tax. 

Public comments collected from the meeting will be presented to the Regional Transportation Roundtable’s Dec. 7 meeting, according to Transportation Director Amy Martin.

She explained, “The Regional Transportation Roundtable will also have the ability to amend the list during this meeting before approving the list to move forward as the Final Investment List that will be voted on via a TSPLOST/TIA referendum.” 

The list will not be presented to the public in open house meetings if the roundtable makes an amendment; however, it will be available for anyone to access it via both the SGRC website and the GDOT TIA website or by contacting the Southern Georgia Regional Commission Valdosta office.

Martin said the vote for the newest draft project list will occur in the May 21, 2024, general primary election. Its approval would not add an additional tax. Rather the 1% sales tax would replace the current TSPLOST list and tax. Funds would begin collecting starting in 2027 if passed with majority approval.

“During the time between the approval of the list and the referendum, the Regional Transportation Roundtable can amend the list if absolutely necessary, typically nothing substantial, an example would be something like if there is an error that was not noticed, such as a street name change,” she said.

Documents displayed that the project funding total for the drafted TIA investment list is approximately $466 million, and the Georgia Department of Transportation’s contribution is projected to be about $202 million.

Southern Georgia Regional Commission Planner Torrence Weaver explained that TIA funding is divided in two ways: regional and local. About 75% of a region’s TIA proceeds are used to fund all projects on the region’s final project list as approved by that region’s roundtable. The remaining 25% of a region’s TIA proceeds is divided among local governments and is based on population. 

That 1% sales tax is used to fund transportation projects such as pavement, road, bridge, safety, transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects.

Martin said the current TIA is set to accumulate funds for up to 10 years. Thus far, the 2018 Southern Georgia TIA has collected $325 million with $244 million going towards approved projects and $81 million going to local governments for use at their discretion per the investment criteria.

The Georgia Department of Transportation’s TIA website listed 11 projects for the Tift County area under the current 2018 TSPLOST. The resurfacing of 2nd Street and Taxiway Improvements at Henry Tift Myers Airport have been completed. Tifton’s remaining nine projects are scheduled in Band 2: 2022 – 2025 and Band 3: years 2025-2028.

A few of the listed remaining projects were I-75 at County Route 421/Chula Brookfield Road – Phase II (Exit 69), McCormick Drive Widening and Realignment, and 18th Street Ditch Bridge Replacements (5 Culverts).

Surrounding counties with projects under construction or completed under the current TIA/TSPLOST are the following: 

• Berrien County has a total of 4 projects, all complete.
• Cook County has a total of 9 projects, with 7 complete.
• Irwin County has a total of 4 projects with all complete.
• Turner County has a total of 4 projects, with one complete.

This does not include any projects that each local government may have completed using the discretionary funding from TIA/TSPLOST.  If you would like to see the projects, they can be viewed at this link:https://www.ga-tia.com/Project/List/soga.

“There are a total of 346 projects on the Southern Georgia TIA/TSPLOST II Draft Investment List,” Martin said. 

The displayed documents listed 16 proposed projects for Tift County, including the unincorporated area, Omega and Tifton. Some of the shown proposed projects were the widening, grading base and pavement improvements of Carpenter Road (unincorporated), Tifton-El Dorado Road (Tifton) and King Road (Tifton).

Shared documents showed that the newest draft project list would be active from 2027 to 2036 and the counties will have three band time frames to complete all projects. 

For more information about the Regional Transportation Roundtable and/or the Regional TSPLOST Process, please contact Amy Martin, transportation director, at (229) 333-5277 or amartin@sgrc.us.