City of Toccoa Hoping for Continued SPLOST VII Distribution Talks
The City of Toccoa is hoping for continued talks with the County on how the next Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue will be divided.
City Commissioners are asking for $9-million to fund a number of large projects, most notably, the renovation and upgrading of the Toccoa Water/Wastewater facility.
City Commissioners are basing that figure on a 61% – 39% split of an expected $23.3-million in SPLOST VII revenue over a six-year period, which breaks down to a 3% increase in revenue annually.
However, County Administrator Phyllis Ayers said Monday the County does not expect to bring in that much revenue in SPLOST VII because, as pointed out in the last intergovernmental SPLOST meeting on June 10, economic growth in the County has been fairly stagnant.
Ayers said the County prefers to err on the side of caution and continue using the 70% – 30% split based on an expected revenue of $20.2-million or a 1% revenue increase annually.
“We’ve been looking at a more conservative number. Billy (Morse) has those numbers, a 1% increase annually and a 3% increase annually,” Ayers explained. “So each of those come up differently. But we are looking at the more realistic number and are wanting a 70/30 split. We are not asking for anything more than what we had in the last SPLOST. At a 70/30 split they would get more like $6-million.”
In a letter obtained by WNEG News to the County last week, Mayor Gail Fry and City Commissioners canceled a second intergovernmental meeting with County Commissioners stating, “The city has already compromised a great deal to reach our $9-million list of projects…For this reason the Toccoa City Commission submits that it is time to move forward with the Intergovernmental Agreement and Resolution adoption, so no more Joint SPLOST meetings will be necessary.”
The County responded with a short letter, obtained by WNEG News, that they are holding firm to their 70/30 split after the City of Martin and the City of Avalon’s share, that the split offered is quote, “non-negotiable,” and gave the City until 10a Tuesday morning to respond.
In a series of subsequent email’s to County Commission Chair Dean Scarborough obtained by WNEG News, Fry offered to hold the second intergovernmental meeting this week as originally planned, but Scarborough responded that no one on the County Commission, “was interested in another meeting.”
At Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, Fry again presented the City’s case for the $9-million, five million of which she said would go to renovate and upgrade the Water/Wastewater plant.
“Two-thirds of our water and waste customers are outside the City limits,” Fry explained. “And without a good upgraded water/wastewater plant, we can’t support existing needs or bring in new ones. Our goal is to complete this $9-million project. We need $5-million from SPLOST, and we will find the rest from somewhere else. Our goal is to do this without putting the cost on our utility rates and our customers.”
Fry said the City is aware of the County’s needs, but said the City projects will also benefit county residents and industry.
County Commissioners thanked Fry for her presentation, but made no decision, and the 10a Tuesday deadline passed with no Intergovernmental agreement between Toccoa and Stephens County.
Fry said afterwards she believes negotiations are still ongoing.
“The City has asked the County for further negotiations,” Fry said Tuesday. “We did not have until 10a to make a decision, we had until 10a to provide a response and we provided a response. They haven’t given us an answer. We asked for a response and hopefully we will get one.”
If no Intergovernmental Agreement is reached before the July 23 deadline, by law SPLOST VII will become a five-year revenue distribution to the County and the cities of Avalon and Martin, instead of a six-year distribution that includes the City of Toccoa.
According to Ayers, copies of the SPLOST VII project list for the County and all municipalities, as well as the distribution break down must be sent to the Georgia Department of Revenue no later than August 6.