SPLOST

The Dade County Democratic Committee has endorsed a YES vote on the upcoming SPLOST referendum on the May 19th primary ballot. More information about SPLOST follows.

“SPLOST” stands for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. It is an additional 1-cent sales tax added to in-county purchases, with the money raised going to specific governmental expenditures. Each SPLOST is for 6 years and is designed to raise a certain amount of money over that 6-year period to pay for local government needs and projects.

Sales taxes are regressive in nature, and over the past quarter of a century, the Republican-led state governments have been pushing sales taxes more and more, because the Republican Party wants to destroy income taxes. That’s the tax Republicans and conservatives truly oppose; they don’t mind raising other taxes at all.

However, sales taxes have a productive place in any well-balanced tax system (sales, property, AND income), and these special-purpose sales taxes are especially good for a small county like Dade. Dade borders two states and has an interstate running through the middle of it. Lots of outsiders, therefore, stop in Dade and purchase things, and those purchases add to the SPLOST allotment. This arrangement makes good financial sense for Dade County.

SPLOST will raise revenue for the Dade County Government, the Trenton City Government, the Dade County Water & Sewer Authority, and the Industrial Development Authority. It is expected to raise $23 million.

$15.4 million will go to the Dade County Government for capital projects

$3.7 million will go to the City of Trenton Government for capital projects

$1.9 million will go to the Dade Water & Sewer Authority for infrastructure projects

$1.9 million will go to the Industrial Development Authority for industrial property purchases and related infrastructure projects.