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Athens-Clarke County, Winterville and Bogart debate adding sixth year to SPLOST renewal
Summary
At a joint Dec. 9 work session, Athens-Clarke County staff outlined a May 2026 sales-tax renewal and asked whether municipalities prefer the standard five-year term or to add a sixth year that would boost project dollars by roughly $42 million; commissioners discussed distribution rules, bonding and deadlines but took no final vote.
Josh Hawkins, Athens-Clarke County capital projects director, told a joint session of Athens-Clarke County, Winterville and Bogart officials on Dec. 9 that the city-county is preparing a May 2026 referendum to renew an existing local sales tax.
“The referendum coming up in May is a renewal of an existing sales tax,” Hawkins said, adding that state law now supplies a minimum distribution formula for municipalities. He described the central question before the group: whether to run the renewal as a five‑year program or to extend collections into a sixth year.
Hawkins said the county has been planning a five‑year program projected at about $197 million. “In year 6 . . . you would have dollars 42,000,000 in that sixth year,” he said, meaning a six‑year program would increase the program to about $239 million. He noted the Department of Revenue uses a…
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