Cobb voters will decide whether to continue collecting a penny sales tax that goes toward building new schools and buying equipment.
The education local option sales tax has become a popular way in Georgia to pay for new buildings, hardware and improvements, and voters in nearly every school district in the state has approved at least one, and many have approved decades of the taxes. Still, some oppose them because they are against this type of taxation.
ESPLOST taxes typically pass by a handy margin, and this one has not had a lot of publicity.
Some residents in Cobb last year complained that Cobb schools had not spent the money equitably.
Cobb school leaders have made their pitch to the skeptical in an effort to get their support.
If county voters approve the ESPLOST, Marietta and Cobb County would divide the money for their school systems.
Collection would begin in January 2019 and end in 2023.
Here’s a general list of how the money would be spent:
It would collect a maximum of $859.5 million.
It would build five new or replacement schools in Cobb and Marietta.
Marietta would build a new College and Career Academy.
Cobb would build 210 additional classrooms
You can see a map of projects built around metro Atlanta with ESPLOST money here.
You can see a graphic showing how ESPLOST money was used in poor neighborhoods here.
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