Meriwether County and eight municipalities approve SPLOST intergovernmental agreement, set July 7 for final referendum resolution

Meriwether County commissioners and representatives from eight municipalities approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on June 9 to place a proposed continuation of the county's Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) on the Nov. 4, 2025, ballot and set July 7 as the date to bring a referendum resolution back to each governing body for final adoption.

The IGA, discussed and reviewed at the June 9 special meeting, lays out a 24-quarter SPLOST beginning Jan. 1, 2026 (or a different start date if approved by the Georgia Department of Revenue), projects to be funded, and a distribution of proceeds: 66.83% to Meriwether County and 33.17% to participating municipalities. County staff recommended approval of the agreement; commissioners moved and the motion passed.

The nut of the agreement is the division of a projected $14,000,000 in SPLOST receipts. Assuming collections meet that projection, the county's share is listed as approximately $9,356,200. The municipalities' combined population (per the 2020 census figures included in the IGA) is recorded as 6,838; municipal allocations are prorated by each municipality's share of that population. The agreement text (Exhibit A) and the meeting discussion list individual municipal allocations and project categories for each participating municipality and for county projects.

Under the IGA, municipal allocations and project categories include: Greenville (projects listed as public works, public safety, recreation, general building and downtown development authority work; municipal allocation shown in the agreement text as approximately $539,011.61, about 3.85% of the total), Town of Gay (water-system upgrades, building renovations/expansion, parking/paving, parks and recreation, security projects; approx. $74,200, 0.53%), Town of Lone Oak (building upgrades, streets and sidewalks, historic preservation, recreation; approx. $77,000, 0.55%), City of Luthersville (downtown and city hall repairs, water system upgrades, street repairs, parks, public safety, recreation upgrades; approx. $527,800, 3.77%), City of Manchester (vehicles and equipment, building renovations, water/sewer improvements and expansion, streets, storm drains, infrastructure repairs, recreation, information technology; approx. $2,434,600, 17.39%), City of Warm Springs (streetscape and sidewalks, walking trails, water/sewer, transportation, vehicles, building renovations, equipment, recreation, IT; approx. $315,000, 2.25%), City of Woodbury (building renovations and additions, public safety vehicles and equipment, recreation, public works vehicles and expansion, IT, water/sewer improvements, redevelopment, streets/transportation/sidewalks; approx. $617,400, 4.41%), and Town of Pine Mountain (street and road repairs, waterline improvements; approx. $58,800, 0.42%).

The agreement specifies administrative and procedural rules: the county will create and hold a dedicated SPLOST fund and remit municipal distributions monthly; municipalities must create separate SPLOST funds and may not commingle proceeds with other funds. The IGA requires annual independent audits of SPLOST receipts and expenditures and states that any excess funds or funds remaining after five years following SPLOST termination will be handled under OCGA provisions referenced in the agreement.

County staff told the assembled officials that the staff recommendation was for the board to approve the IGA so the resolution calling the election could be prepared; staff said the county intended to present the resolution to each municipal governing body by July 7 so elections officials have the time required to advertise the referendum by the end of July. "Staff recommends board to approve the IGA," a county staff member said during the meeting.

Commissioners and municipal representatives reviewed and corrected typographical items in the draft IGA and asked municipal delegates to confirm Exhibit A (the project lists) beginning on page 22. The IGA language repeatedly references statutory requirements and procedures in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) governing SPLOST elections, collections, and use of proceeds; the agreement conditions the parties' obligations on the county adopting a resolution to call the SPLOST election and on voter approval in the referendum and subsequent collection and transfer of proceeds by the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Meeting discussion also covered process points: the county will be reimbursed for actual administration costs of the SPLOST fund and the per-capita cost of holding the SPLOST election; municipalities share in election costs on a per-capita basis. The IGA requires municipalities to file certificates of completion for their projects within 30 days of completion and specifies that if a municipality dissolves before distribution is complete, its share reverts to the county unless a legislative successor is created.

The board voted to approve the agreement and gave direction to proceed with the administrative steps needed to place the referendum on the Nov. 4, 2025, ballot; commissioners also set July 7 as the date to adopt the formal resolution calling the referendum. The IGA and its project lists remain subject to the conditions the agreement itself lists: adoption of the county resolution, voter approval at the referendum, and the State Department of Revenue's collection and remittance of SPLOST proceeds.

Additional procedural points recorded in the IGA include mediation provisions for disputes between the county and municipalities, record-retention and notice addresses for each municipality, and a requirement that all approved SPLOST projects remain publicly owned and maintained unless excess proceeds are handled as provided by OCGA.