Three public meetings have been scheduled to provide information regarding the proposed continuation of the one percent special purpose local option sales tax intended to raise $51.5 million for local projects.
All the town hall-style sessions will be at 6 p.m. on three consecutive Thursdays, beginning Oct. 16 at the Midway Civic Center. The Oct. 23 meeting will be at the Liberty Campus of Savannah Technical College and the final session Oct. 30 will be at the Courthouse Annex.
The largest chunk of the funds — 28.99 percent — is expected to be spent on roads. The nearly $15 million sum will cover building new roads and bridges, repairs, sidewalks and safety measures.
An estimated $8 million — or 15.5 percent of the total — will go toward bonds to construct a new Liberty County justice center.
Almost two percent of the estimated revenue will be spent to repair and renovate the county courthouse after the courts and related functions move into the justice center.
Continued drainage im-provements throughout the county will get 3.8 percent
of the SPLOST revenue, about $2 million.
Countywide fire protection, mostly replacement and purchase of equipment, is expected cost another $2 million.
$1 million, less than 2 percent of the total expected revenue, has been allocated for an additional pod for the Liberty County Jail.
Recreational facilities and equipment throughout the county will get upgrades worth $3 million SPLOST dollars, 5.8 percent of the total.
The eastern portion of Liberty County will benefit from $3.3 million allocated for a new branch library, a swimming pool, meeting facilities and other county services. That is 6.4 percent of the estimated revenue.
Hinesville's city hall and public works facilities will get $4 million for improvements, about 7.7 percent.
Emergency communications, including fire, police and first responders will receive $1 million, 1.9 percent
A new animal control facility is slated to get another $1 million.
A new branch library for Hinesville will get $5 million, 9.7 percent of the estimated total income.
The civilian-military partnership for MidCoast Regional Airport at Wright Army Airfield will get $1 million for continued enhancements — that's about 1.9 percent of the amount of tax expected.
Ambulances for Liberty Regional EMS are set to receive $.5 million, less than one percent of the SPLOST estimate.
An item listed as hospital improvements will get $750,000, apparently for a new EMS facility to replace the existing South Main Street station.
Almost 2 percent of the SPLOST receipts will go toward a new roof for the multi-government records retention facility.
The new state law governing SPLOST allows a six-year levy instead of five years. Another new provision allows the county to keep funds collected in excess of the estimate. If more funds are collected, that money will be paid to the designated recipients using the same established percentages.