For 37 years, Habersham County has relied on a one-cent sales tax to fund roads, bridges, fire trucks, ambulances, and other mission-critical endeavors in the county. Known as SPLOST, the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, has become a fixture of local governance. Rope Roberts of Partnership Habersham, carrying the tagline Keep Property Taxes Lower, put it plainly: “We’re keeping what Habersham has had since 1988.”
Roberts presented the case for SPLOST during a sparsely attended town hall meeting Tuesday, Septemberbe 30, in Cornelia. It was the first of three town halls planned to inform voters about the upcoming SPLOST vote in November.
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SPLOST impact
Since its inception, SPLOST has raised roughly $192 million for county and city projects. Collections from the current cycle, SPLOST VII, are running nearly 20 percent above projections, with $41.4 million brought in so far. Without it, Roberts warned, property owners could face an additional $1,700 in taxes on a $300,000 home.
“Naysayers call SPLOST a slush fund,” said Tim Sims, the city manager. But he emphasizes that every dollar is meticulously tracked and published online.
The slides at the meeting drove home the distinction: SPLOST funds capital outlay projects like roads, bridges, vehicles, and other public necessities. It cannot be used for maintenance or operating costs.
The logic is simple: a penny sales tax spreads the burden beyond property owners. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of collections come from non-residents: tourists, commuters, and visitors.
The benefits, advocates argue, are tangible. Habersham has paved roads, built fire stations, replaced outdated ambulances, and kept property taxes comparatively low. However, with rising property assessments and inflation, some tax-weary voters are questioning whether they will approve the new SPLOST. Habersham County’s sales tax rate would drop from 7% to 6% if the SPLOST VIII referendum is voted down at the ballot box in November.
The jail question
SPLOST VIII proponents are emphasizing the need for a new county jail. At Tuesday’s town hall, Sims did not mince words. “We aren’t building the Taj Mahal,” he said. He explains that his goal is to make it habitable and safe.
Photos shown during the presentation revealed peeling paint, water-damaged ceilings, improvised curtains, and failing infrastructure. Sims argued that if Habersham fails to act, lawsuits or federal intervention could follow, at potentially triple the cost. Better, he insisted, for the county to bid the project itself than to risk a federal mandate that would not prioritize local taxpayers.
Others emphasize the importance of completing the new animal shelter, a project that has already exceeded its initial budget estimates and will require additional funding.
What SPLOST VIII proposes
The proposed SPLOST VII package includes funding for public safety, facilities, and targeted municipal investments as follows:
Vehicles and Equipment
- Sheriff’s Vehicles: $1,000,000
- Fire Engine Replacement and a Ladder Truck: $3,055,885
- Ambulance Replacement and Remounts: $1,848,624
- Fire Equipment (Turnout Gear, Cascade System, Gear Extractor, etc.): $500,000
- EMS Equipment (Cardiac Monitors, LUCAS Devices, Power Stretchers, etc.): $741,026
Facilities
- Central Base Fire Station / EMS Headquarters / 911 Emergency Operations Center: $11,000,000
- New Fire Station – Mt. Zion Road Area: $3,000,000
- Fire House Renovations: $2,000,000
Other Allocations
- Landfill Equipment Replacement: $1,500,000
- Facility Improvements (Parks & Rec, Admin Building, Parking, Building Upgrades): $500,000
- Industrial Park & Airport Improvements (Grant Share): $500,000
Municipalities will also see targeted investments.
- Alto: $754,386 for water system improvements, road repairs, public safety, and a new public works building.
- Baldwin: $3,612,790 for roads, recreation, public safety, public works, and water and sewer infrastructure.
- Clarkesville: $2,321,467 for roads, recreation, public safety, and water and sewer infrastructure.
- Cornelia: $6,194,469 for a downtown parking lot, fire turnout gear, police vehicles, cameras, and street and sidewalk improvements.
Why advocates say it matters
Ellie Van Doornum, President of the Chamber of Commerce, urges residents to vote yes. Her case mirrors Roberts’: SPLOST keeps property taxes lower while funding the kinds of projects that would otherwise be unattainable.
Blaine Wasden put it even more succinctly during the question and answer period of Tuesday night’s town hall: “Why would we change something that’s not broken?”
The politics of continuity
SPLOST’s critics call it a regressive tax, hitting lower-income shoppers harder than wealthier residents. Its supporters call it pragmatic, pointing to decades of growth, infrastructure projects, and fiscal transparency.
SPLOST advocates argue that the penny sales tax is the fairest way to share the cost of local government. Instead of placing the full weight on property owners, SPLOST ensures that everyone who spends money in Habersham contributes, whether they live here, own property, or are just passing through. Tourists, renters, commuters, and visitors who rely on county roads, emergency services, and infrastructure pay into the system alongside property-owning residents. This broader base distributes responsibility more evenly and prevents property owners from carrying the burden alone.
Voters will decide on SPLOST VIII on November 4, 2025. If approved, the new cycle begins April 1, 2027, and a Citizens’ Review Committee will be formed to ensure transparency – a practice that began after the defeat of SPLOST VI in 2013, when voters expressed distrust over how SPLOST funds were managed. SPLOST VI was passed the following year on the promise of community oversight.
For Habersham, the stakes are not abstract. They are visible in the cracks in the jail ceiling, the fire trucks that need replacing, the roads that carry tourists through the county, and the balance sheets that show a penny sales tax has consistently delivered more than projected.
Now, the question facing Habersham voters this November isn’t whether SPLOST works—it’s whether they will choose to keep it.
