UPDATE: Special meeting could determine how Decatur spends sales tax money
Decatur City Hall.
Decatur City Hall.
This story has been updated.
The Decatur City Commission has announced a special called meeting for Thursday, July 14, at 6:30 p.m. to consider approving a list of projects to be funded with proposed penny sales tax.
But the project list wasn’t available on Wednesday, July 13. The city published the list on July 14, hours before the meeting at 6:30 p.m. To see the list, click here.
When Decaturish asked City Manager Peggy Merriss when the public would have a chance to consider and weigh in on the list, which contains millions in proposed projects, she said there will be a public comment opportunity at Thursday’s meeting.
“Section II of the agenda is for public comment,” she said.
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Here is the full agenda:
Commissioner Tony Powers said the City Commission is working to meet a deadline set by DeKalb County. He said the deadline was July 18th or 19th, but wasn’t sure. He said the biggest project on the list will be fixing the crosswalk at the Valero gas station on East Howard.
“The plan is to turn it into a traditional four-way intersection,” Powers said. “Right now you’ve got funky angles coming both ways. … You’ve got a mess when it comes to cars, vehicles and pedestrians.”
The Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST, will be on the ballot in November. That tax is expected to generate $540 million in revenue over five years for projects such as roads, sidewalks, police stations, fire stations, parks and libraries. There’s another question on the ballot that must also be approved for the sales tax to take effect. The other question asks if voters would consider dedicating 100 percent of the Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax proceeds to property tax relief, or EHOST. If the measure passes, property taxes would be lowered and residents living in cities would likely see the greatest benefit. For a more detailed explanation, click here.
The July 14 meeting is open to the public and will be held at City Hall, located at 509 North McDonough Street in Decatur.