TSPLOST referendum will be on Nov. 8 ballot

By Collin Kelley

The Atlanta City Council has voted to put a transportation special purpose local option sales tax – or TSPLOST –referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot, asking for an 0.4 percent increase for street, sidewalk and trail projects. If approved by voters, it would raise anywhere from $250 to $300 million over the next five years.

In June, the city council approved a half-penny sales tax referendum for MARTA expansion projects. If voters approve both referendums, it would push the city’s sales tax from 8 to 8.9 percent –the highest in the state. Local retailers have expressed their concerns the increased sales tax will hurt business and drive consumers elsewhere.

Senate Bill 369, which authorized the city’s TSPLOST and MARTA expansion tax referenda, requires final approval by the

Fulton County Board of Commissioners before it reaches the Nov. 8 ballot. The board has called a special meeting on Aug. 8 to consider the TSPLOST resolutions.

The transportation project list includes projects from the Connect Atlanta plan and more than a dozen neighborhood and community plans that have been adopted in the last six years, and features projects in nearly all of the city’s commercial districts, including:

• $66 million for the Atlanta BeltLine, which will allow the BeltLine to purchase all of the remaining right of way to close the 22-mile loop.

• $75 million for 15 complete streets projects.

• $3 million for Phase 2 of the Atlanta Bike Share program.

• $69 million for pedestrian sidewalk improvements.

• $40 million for traffic signal optimization.

Councilmember Michael Julian Bond added a disclaimer during the July 18 council meeting that gives the city the ability to change projects as deemed necessary.

Councilmember Alex Wan said he was concerned that the disclaimer would put doubt in the minds of voters – a sentiment echoed by Councilmember Mary Norwood.

“I am concerned that could send a message to voters that you can’t trust the list [of projects], you can’t trust things will be done, things will be shifted and moved around,” Norwood

Ultimately, the council voted to approve the resolution for the referendum with Councilmember Felicia Moore being the lone holdout. “I think this is regressive tax and I won’t support it,” she said. “If you start using a sales tax method to fund projects, we won’t ever stop.”