SPLOST in Georgia is a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax: a 1% county sales tax that voters approve for a set list of capital projects, lasting up to six years. It sits on top of Georgia’s 4% state sales tax and any other local option taxes, which is why combined rates in some counties run above 8%.1Georgia Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Rates – Food, TSPLOST Exempt, and Motor Vehicles The money can only pay for the projects printed on the ballot. Nothing else.
How a County Gets a SPLOST in Place
No Georgia county can impose SPLOST on its own. The county governing authority, usually the board of commissioners, passes a resolution that spells out the specific projects, the estimated cost of each, and how long the tax will run. That resolution goes to the local election superintendent, who puts the question on the ballot at a scheduled election.2Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-8-92 – Referendum Election
The ballot has to tell voters exactly what they are approving: the 1% rate, the project list, the estimated costs, and the length of the tax. A simple majority passes it. If voters reject it, the county can try again later, but it has to start the resolution and ballot process over.
Most SPLOST terms run six years, though counties can set shorter ones. When the term ends, the tax stops automatically unless voters approve a new round. Many Georgia counties are on their sixth, seventh, or ninth consecutive SPLOST, each round built around an updated project list.
What SPLOST Can and Can’t Pay For
SPLOST money is restricted to “capital outlay projects,” which the statute defines as major, permanent, or long-lived improvements chargeable to a capital asset account.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-8-110 – Definitions That gives counties wide latitude on physical infrastructure and a hard stop at anything that looks like routine operations.
Typical SPLOST-funded projects include:
- Roads, bridges, and sidewalks, including resurfacing, widening, and new construction
- Public safety facilities such as fire stations, police precincts, jails, and emergency operations centers
- Parks and recreation facilities, athletic complexes, greenways, and community centers
- Water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure
- Public buildings including courthouses, libraries, and administration buildings
- Fire trucks, heavy road equipment, and transit vehicles that qualify as capital assets with extended useful lives
What SPLOST cannot pay for matters just as much. Patching potholes, replacing HVAC filters, repainting a building, paying firefighter salaries, covering utility bills — all off-limits. If a project has both a capital piece and an operational piece, only the capital piece can draw on SPLOST; the rest has to come from other revenue. Courts have enforced this line against counties that tried to stretch it.
What You Actually Pay SPLOST On
SPLOST applies to most retail sales within the county, but the state exemptions you may be used to don’t always carry over.
Groceries
Georgia exempts unprepared food from the 4% state sales tax, but that exemption does not extend to local option taxes like SPLOST.4Georgia Department of Audits. Grocery Sales Tax Exemption Summary In a county with an active SPLOST, you pay the 1% on groceries even though the state portion is zero. Restaurant meals and deli items are taxed at both the state and local level.
Gas and Diesel
Motor fuel gets a partial exemption from the state sales tax under O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3.1, but that exemption only covers the state tax.5Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-8-3.1 – Exemptions for Motor Fuels SPLOST still comes off gas and diesel purchases. Since 2015, Georgia law has required that the SPLOST revenue generated by motor fuel sales be earmarked for transportation projects within the county’s SPLOST program.
Prescription Drugs and Farm Equipment
Prescription drugs dispensed for human use are exempt from Georgia’s state sales and use tax.6Cornell Law Institute. Georgia Comp. R. and Regs. R. 560-12-2-.30 – Drugs, Durable Medical Equipment Agricultural machinery, equipment, and production inputs bought by qualified producers also carry a state exemption.7Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-8-3.3 – Exemptions for Agricultural Equipment Whether and how those exemptions reach the local SPLOST piece is technical, and businesses relying on them should confirm with the Georgia Department of Revenue before assuming the local tax drops off.
Where the Money Goes
The Georgia Department of Revenue collects the extra 1% along with the state tax and remits it back to local governments.1Georgia Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Rates – Food, TSPLOST Exempt, and Motor Vehicles By law, those funds have to sit in a separate account and can only be spent on the voter-approved projects. Dropping SPLOST money into the general fund is a violation that can bring lawsuits and state scrutiny.
When a county has incorporated cities inside it, the money is split. An intergovernmental agreement negotiated before the referendum sets how much goes to the county and how much goes to each city, and which jurisdiction handles which projects.8Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-8-201 – Intergovernmental Contract for Distribution of Tax Proceeds If the parties cannot agree, state law provides a default distribution formula based on population, and because that fallback rarely satisfies anyone, most counties work hard to reach a negotiated deal before putting the question to voters.
SPLOST, ESPLOST, and T-SPLOST
SPLOST is not the only penny tax Georgia voters see. Two close relatives can stack on top of it, and they are easy to confuse.
ESPLOST is the educational version. School districts can impose their own 1% sales tax for capital projects tied to education: school construction, renovations, buses, and major equipment. ESPLOST can also pay down previously issued general obligation debt for school capital work. It runs up to five years per cycle and needs voter approval. If collections come in above the project estimates, the excess has to reduce school system debt or, if there is none, lower property taxes.
T-SPLOST is the transportation version authorized in 2015. It adds another 1% dedicated to roads, bridges, transit, and airports. A county has to already have a regular SPLOST in place to pursue a single-county T-SPLOST. The term runs up to six years when every qualified municipality signs the intergovernmental agreement, or up to five years otherwise. At least 30% of T-SPLOST revenue has to fund projects that align with Georgia’s Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan.9FHWA – Center for Innovative Finance Support. Frequently Asked Questions – Transportation Sales Tax Districts
In counties running all three at once, consumers pay 3% in these dedicated local taxes on top of the 4% state rate and whatever other local option taxes apply. Combined rates in parts of metro Atlanta approach 9%.1Georgia Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Rates – Food, TSPLOST Exempt, and Motor Vehicles
How You Can See What’s Being Done With the Money
Every county and city receiving SPLOST revenue has to publish an annual report within 180 days of the end of its fiscal year. The report goes in a local newspaper of general circulation and on the government’s website, and for each voter-approved project it must list the original cost estimate, the current estimate if it has changed, amounts spent in prior years and the most recent year, any unspent funds, the estimated completion date, and the final cost for anything finished that year. Road, bridge, and street projects can be reported in a consolidated schedule rather than one by one.10Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-8-122 – Annual Reporting to Public
If a project is behind schedule or short on money, the report has to explain what the government plans to do about it. That is where accountability starts to bite: residents can line up ballot promises against actual progress, and local reporters use these reports to press elected officials.
Any SPLOST money left over when the term ends still has to go to the approved projects or back to taxpayers through a property tax reduction. Taxpayers who believe funds have been misspent can sue, and misuse has produced civil liability in Georgia courts. The project list on the ballot is a binding commitment.