SPLOST for Cobb County Schools will continue through 2018
On Tuesday, March 19, Cobb voters approved the referendum that would continue the collection of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for schools. This tax goes to the construction and maintenance projects for the Cobb County Schools, and will now continue for another five years. Out of the total voters, 57.3 percent of votes were in favor of the SPLOST extension, according to the Georgia Secretary of State.
John Loud, a Kennesaw business man who pushed the SPLOST to continue said, “Schools win, kids win, economic development wins, property values win. It’s a shared thing.” SPLOST will contribute $717.8 million for the Cobb County School district over the next 5 years and $55.4 million for Marietta City Schools.
Some of the main projects include new classrooms, a fine arts building, and a new gym at Walton High School, a reconstruction of Osborne High School, two Cobb Elementary replacement schools, an East Cobb middle school replacement, and a Cobb career academy. The Marietta city schools will now be able to pay off debt from previous bonds and start renovation projects.
Source: West Cobb Patch, “Cobb School SPLOST Extension Passes,” Wendy Parker, March 19, 2013.