In 2017 DeKalb County voters approved a special local option sales tax (SPLOST) to fund transportation and infrastructure improvements. Today voters are being asked to consider renewing SPLOST for another six years.
Those going to the polls this week and those voting on November 7 will see the option to renew SPLOST and to renew the equalized homestead option sales and use tax (EHOST) on the ballot. These two items are listed separately, but both must pass together for either to take effect.
This is not a new tax. The vote authorizes the continuation of the existing tax.
Commercial property owners in the Tucker-Northlake Community Improvement District (CID) have benefited from both DeKalb County and the City of Tucker choosing to spend SPLOST dollars in and around the CID.
Over the last six years Tucker has resurfaced 332 streets, covering 82 miles or 48% of all the roads in Tucker. In addition to needed resurfacing, SPLOST has been used by the City to fund trail projects including the alleys in Downtown Tucker and trail connections in other areas. SPLOST has contributed to nearly 4 miles of sidewalks and other improvements within the city.
Tucker’s SPLOST allocation has supported the resurfacing of 65% of the commercial streets within the CID. In the smaller unincorporated portion of the Tucker-Northlake CID, DeKalb County SPLOST funded the resurfacing of Northlake Parkway and Henderson Mill Road.
Beyond transportation projects DeKalb County has allocated SPLOST funds for the future replacement of the fire station on Lawrenceville Hwy, built in 1955, with a new $8.2 Million state of the art facility on Cowan Road.
These improvements in the Tucker-Northlake CID are helping to lift the area and make it a more stable and attractive place to do business.
Whether these investments in infrastructure continue to be funded through a 1% sales tax, or other means, rests in the hands of DeKalb County voters.
For more information on what the City of Tucker has accomplished since 2018, visit their SPLOST page. For information from DeKalb County on their accomplishments and projections for future spending, visit the SPLOST I & SPLOST II page.