Houston voters dive in on SPLOST

An indoor swimming facility and other large projects are coming to Houston County after an extension of the special purpose sales tax headed to overwhelming approval Tuesday.

With 17 of 17 precincts reporting, 2,837 people voted yes and 656 voted no in light voter turnout.

After holding their regular meeting Tuesday night, Houston County commissioners and sales tax supporters stuck around to watch the results come in.

“There was a lot of hard work that went into this,” said Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms after the final results came in.

He and others thanked Jimmy Autry, who chaired the campaign to get it passed even though he is moving to South Carolina later this year.

It could be a while before county residents see construction started on the projects. The current SPLOST doesn’t end until Sept. 30, 2018. The county had the referendum now so that it could get a head start on planning and design.

The largest project is $10 million for a new State Court building, which will be an addition to the main courthouse in Perry. That will create a domino effect that will allowed the cramped tax commissioner’s office, as well as the sheriff’s office, to move into the current State Court building in Warner Robins.

The tax is projected to collect $145 million over six years. The SPLOST will be collected from Oct. 1, 2018, until Oct. 1, 2024. That’s $10 million less than the current SPLOST, which has fallen behind projections.

It would put $38 million for transportation, $31 million for public safety, $30.6 million for recreation, $15.9 million for general capital obligations, $13.6 million for public buildings, $9.2 million for water and sewer improvements and $6.5 million for economic development.

This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Houston voters dive in on SPLOST."