Repairs would be funded by TSPLOST revenue
During its Sept. 8 meeting, the Greene County Board of Commissioners voted to accept a $718,504.30 bid from Pittman Construction for repairs to the apron at Greene County Regional Airport.
The apron is the paved area where aircraft stop to load and unload passengers, fuel and cargo.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will provide 75% of the funding needed for the project, including design costs, construction-phase services and construction. The county’s 25% share is expected to be nearly $850,000.
According to Greene County Manager David Crawley, the county will use funds from the recently approved Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax 8 (SPLOST-8) and a new transportation tax, TSPLOST-2, which will be on November’s ballot, to help pay for the project.
Five years ago, voters approved a TSPLOST referendum capped at $35 million. According to Crawley, that tax is expected to reach its cap early next year.
The proposed six-year TSPLOST-2 would be capped at $66 million.
An estimated 40% to 60% of TSPLOST revenue would come from visitors paying sales taxes on purchases made in Greene County. TSPLOST revenues would be shared with Greensboro, Siloam, Union Point, White Plains and Woodville under an intergovernmental agreement based on road mileage in each municipality.
Greene County is expected to receive nearly 85% of the TSPLOST revenue, while Greensboro would receive about 6.5% and Union Point about 3.6%.
Voters in Greene County, Greensboro and Union Point will also be asked in November to approve a Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST), which must be used to address property tax increases. The Greene County Board of Education has also approved a new ESPLOST referendum for the November ballot. If all three measures pass, the sales tax rate in Greene County would increase to 9%, up from the current 8%.
Other business
• Inotherbusiness,theBOCappointed Cornelia Lowry to a six-year term as the District 3 representative on the Greene County Library Board. Her term expires June 30, 2032.
• TheBOCalsovotedtode-annexthe county’s primary fire station from the jurisdiction of the city of Greensboro.
County officials expect the action to improve ISO ratings for both government entities.
• TheBOCapprovedanalcohollicense for The Exchange, located in the former Gary’s Garden Center at 1341 Lingerlonger Road. Commissioners also approved a beer and wine license for The Station, located at 1010 Parkside Commons.