Camden County board approves SPLOST 9 intergovernmental agreement and calls March referendum after heated debate

The Camden County Board of Commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) laying out projects for a proposed SPLOST 9 and voted to request a March 18, 2025, referendum on the ballot after extended debate among commissioners and members of the public.

The IGA groups projects into level-1 and level-2 categories and lists an estimated revenue target of $85,000,000 for SPLOST 9; level‑1 items include a public safety complex (described during the meeting as the county jail) and related infrastructure. County staff presented the project list and the proposed distribution of revenues among the county, cities and the PSA; staff said the list and splits were agreed in joint planning meetings among local governments and the PSA.

County staff member Sean said the SPLOST 9 planning process produced a project summary and a proposed per-capita distribution for each local government. He told the board that the planning group used an $85 million estimate for projected collections and that projects listed included local park rehabilitation, ambulances, a Georgia–Florida Sports Tourism Park and a public safety complex. He also warned the board that financing a public safety complex of the size discussed could lead to interest costs measured in the millions over the life of bonds depending on the final project size and term.

Commissioners and members of the public questioned whether the $10 million allocation for the public safety complex and the $10 million allocation for the Georgia–Florida Sports Tourism Park were the right priorities. Commissioner Cody Smith and others pressed for clarity on whether private developers or the JDA would shoulder construction costs for the sports park and whether SPLOST funds would be used for infrastructure only. Sean and other staff said the IGA includes language that if SPLOST funds are not expended on the sports park, those funds would revert to the jail project; staff also said cities and the PSA had approved the IGA language before it came to the board.

Public speakers urged caution about using SPLOST revenue for projects perceived as benefitting private development and asked the board to consider alternative funding sources for a new public safety complex. One speaker asked the board to consider federal and state grant sources and other criminal-justice funding that could support corrections infrastructure.

The board conducted several procedural motions during the SPLOST discussion, including a motion by one commissioner to withhold signing the IGA and renegotiate that motion briefly carried; the board later reconsidered and passed a motion approving the IGA. After approving the IGA, the board also passed a resolution asking the Board of Elections and Registration to place a March 18, 2025, SPLOST 9 referendum on the ballot. Several commissioners voted against the measure or voiced opposition during debate.

The approved project list and IGA will be posted publicly and included in the ballot materials distributed before the referendum. The board said it will hold public town-hall events and post informational materials on county and municipal channels in the weeks before the March referendum.

Because the IGA and project allocations involve multiple local governments and the PSA, staff said details of final contract terms and project timing will depend on later project-specific agreements, competitive bids and any required permitting or right-of-way acquisitions.