DeKalb voters appeared to have overwhelmingly approved the continuation of a special sales tax that will pay for capital projects around the county over the next six years.
By a roughly three-to-one margin with all of the county’s precincts reporting, voters chose to extend the county’s 1-cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for another six years, according to unofficial voting tallies Tuesday night.
A separate 1-cent tax, the Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax, appears to have garnered slightly more support. Voters had to approve both taxes for either one to become effective. The approval keeps DeKalb’s sales tax rate steady at 8%.
The official election results will be certified Nov. 14.
The county’s first special purpose tax was approved in 2017 and elected officials have credited “Penny Power” with helping DeKalb catch up on years of deferred capital projects, including resurfacing more than 300 miles of roads.
DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said he was pleased but not surprised by voters’ support.
“It represents a confirmation as to the success of SPLOST I,” Thurmond said.
Both taxes appear on track to surpass their 2017 margins of support.
DeKalb was one of the last counties in the state to levy a special purpose tax. Thurmond said when he first started campaigning for it, he was told it was “a fool’s errand” because the county wouldn’t be able to get city leaders on board.
Thurmond said he’s grateful to have gotten and kept their support.
The first SPLOST was projected to bring in $637 million total. The second round is expected to generate $850 million, which will be divided between the county and 12 cities in the county based on population. (Atlanta doesn’t participate).
A majority of the money from SPLOST II — 58% — will go to the county.
To keep the four smallest cities on board for the second round, DeKalb agreed to give Avondale Estates, Lithonia, Pine Lake and Stone Mountain $2 million each from the county’s share on top of the percentage they get based on population after the mayors of those cities lobbied for more.
“It was just a matter of fairness,” Thurmond said.
Transportation tops the county’s list of projects. DeKalb plans to set aside $195 million to resurface 200 more miles of roads. The county also plans to add 25 miles of sidewalks and 15 miles of bicycle paths.
The county also plans to use some of its SPLOST II money to expand its beleaguered animal shelter, which is managed by Lifeline Animal Project. The shelter opened in 2017 and has always been over capacity. In the last two years, state inspectors have flagged repeated health and sanitation issues at the shelter, many of which stem from overcrowding.
Last month, LifeLine said it would quadruple the number of dogs euthanized at the shelter each week as part of a plan to reduce overcrowding.
Thurmond said he believes overcrowding at the animal shelter was the primary driver of voter support for SPLOST II.
The county also plans to use $15 million to build a new 36-bed mental health crisis center, $12.5 million for library renovations and $55 million to renovate and build new fire stations.
Cities will come up with their own project lists independently.
The second sales tax, the EHOST, replaces the Homestead Option Sales Tax. The revenue from this 1-cent sales tax is used to reduce property taxes for qualified homeowners. In 2023 under the existing EHOST, owners with a homestead exemption received a $862.92 credit for homes valued at $250,000.
Leah Taylor, who’s lived in Brookhaven for the last 13 years, said she had mixed feelings about the sales taxes being tied together on the ballot. She said the projects SPLOST pays for are important but she doesn’t like that only homeowners get property tax relief when renters pay the EHOST sales tax, too.
“Maybe if they could detach SPLOST from EHOST, that would be nice,” Taylor said.
Elizabeth Baker, who brought her 8-year-old daughter Vivian along to vote at Neighborhood Church in Candler Park, said she voted for the sales taxes “because I feel that’s what a good community member does.”
Staff writers Jillian Price and Ty Tagami contributed to this report.
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