Dear Editor,
Let’s dig a little deeper into the Greene County tax proposals that will be appearing on the November ballot. Three one-percent taxes will appear on the ballot. Two will extend the existing Education and Transportation taxes. But one will be a new tax of one percent, which will be used to decrease taxes for property owners.
Start off with the SPLOST tax, which we passed in March of 2025 and will continue for six years and was estimated to generate $60 million. This tax is a broader tax than any of the other three which will appear on the November ballot.
The County Commissioners are proposing a transportation tax (TSPLOST) which will be for six years and will have generated their estimated $35 million sometime in 2027. They are estimating that the new tax will generate $66 million based on the increased tax revenue and the benefit of visitors to Greene County who pay taxes while here. The estimate is that 60 percent of the tax is paid by visitors.
The transportation tax will be shared with the five other cities in the county based on road mileage. The county would get about $54 million, followed by the cities of Greensboro, Union Point, White Plains, Woodville and Siloam in decreasing order.
The County Commissioners passed the one-percent (FLOST) tax for five years on July 27 and will take effect Jan. 1, 2027, if approved by voters on the November ballot. The money can only be used by the county and the cities of Union Point and Greensboro to reduce county and municipal taxes. There will be a delay in tax reductions, with the full effect on your property tax bill in the fall of 2028.
The Board of Education also held a meeting on July 13th and voted to extend their one-percent Education (ESPLOST) for five years. They did set a limit of $75 million on their tax. This is the third tax request that will appear on the ballot in November.
The countywide tax rate would be nine percent if all three of the new taxes are voted in along with the existing SPLOST. Greene County would be one of the small number of counties with the highest taxes in Georgia.
Citizens of the county need to meet with County and Education officials at regular meetings or small groups to find out what they plan to spend about $200 million dollars on in the next five or six years so we can make a better decision of the need for one or more of these taxes.
Sincerely, Mark A. Schulz