Lowndes County S.P.L.O.S.T.
As of July 1, 1985, Georgia law enabled local jurisdictions to use SPLOST proceeds for capital improvement projects that would otherwise be paid for with General Fund or property tax revenues. SPLOST stands for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. This is a one-cent sales tax, which the State of Georgia allows counties to collect to fund specific improvement projects. SPLOST must be approved by voters in a general referendum in order to be enacted and last for a maximum of 60 months (five years) or until the total amount of revenue specified in the referendum is reached. The SPLOST projects and the amount of money raised by SPLOST were identified prior to voting on the SPLOST referendum. The proceeds of the tax must be spent for capital (non-operating) items by the county government and participating municipalities within the county.