Dawson County and Dawsonville approve SPLOST 8 intergovernmental agreement; county 4-0, city 2-1

A joint meeting of the Dawson County Board of Commissioners and the Dawsonville City Council voted Wednesday to approve an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to place SPLOST 8 — a proposed six-year special-purpose local option sales tax — on the ballot.

Chairman (name not stated) told the joint session the proposed SPLOST 8 would generate an estimated $76,600,000 and recommended an 88 percent allocation to Dawson County and 12 percent to the City of Dawsonville, equal to $67,400,000 for the county and $9,200,000 for the city. "That's how it will be allocated," the chairman said during the presentation.

Why it matters: County and city officials said the package bundles multiyear capital needs into one referendum so voters can approve an overall program of parks, public safety, transportation and facility projects rather than separate funding measures.

County project highlights: County staff summarized the largest categories and sample projects. Parks and recreation account for 31.3 percent and include East Side Sports Complex improvements, Rock Creek field and lighting upgrades, Veterans Memorial Park turf and lighting, additional pickleball courts, a new pavilion and trail expansions at Stiles Park, a Harmony Church-area community recreation facility near the site of Fire Station 3 and parking upgrades at lake parks. Public safety was listed at about 30.7 percent and covers replacement and new fire engines, ambulances, rehabilitation of older stations (Stations 1 and 7), land acquisition for a relocated Station 4, and technology upgrades for fire, police and EMS operations. Public works and transportation needs include road resurfacing and culvert projects ($5.2 million), transfer station improvements ($3.2 million), landfill methane system repairs ($500,000), the start of a Greenway and Trail master plan ($1.6 million) and bridge repairs (Steel Bridge, $1.5 million). Elections, information technology, facility space, fleet replacement and program-management capacity were also included in the county list.

City project highlights: City Manager Jacob Abrams presented the City of Dawsonville's program for its $9.2 million share, which includes roughly $450,000 for public safety; $5.8 million for a downtown revitalization project across from city hall covering roads, utilities, sidewalks, street lights, a cannery and a regional stormwater pond; $800,000 for streets and sidewalks including paving for Birds Crossing phases; $500,000 for utilities capital projects (source water and production projects, line upgrades, tank maintenance); and funds for facility repairs and equipment.

Public comment and corrections: During public comment, a Dawson County resident urged rejection of the package, calling it "a bunch of pork barrel projects" and said officials had not heeded his previous input. City staff noted a clerical error on the city's project sheet; the document initially showed total city projects as $9,320,000 but was corrected in the meeting record to $9,200,000 before votes were taken.

Votes and next steps: On the county side, Commissioner Stowers moved to approve the IGA (seconded by Commissioner Bruce) and the Board of Commissioners approved it by voice/show of hands with the record reflecting a 4-0 tally. On the city side, Councilmember Eells moved approval (seconded by Councilmember Sawyer); the council recorded a 2-1 vote in favor, with the mayor not voting except in the event of a tie. With both governing bodies approving the IGA, the agreement will allow the county and city to place the SPLOST 8 referendum before voters, subject to any final clerical adjustments to the IGA and the usual procedural steps to prepare a referendum.

The joint meeting then adjourned.