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Just SOLD!!
West Vinings Place
2102 Murren Drive
4 bedroom 51/2 bath
$670,000
Vinings Voices with a Shout of Smyrna
COBB'S PROPOSED SALES TAX INCREASE: Where your money would go
Cobb officials want to increase the county's sales tax an additional penny on the dollar -- from 5 percent to 6 percent -- to pay for dozens of road projects, a new jail and a new courthouse.
After a series of public hearings this year, the County Commission plans to call for a special election Sept. 20 on the increase.
If Cobb voters approve the special purpose local option sales tax, it would raise about $826 million over six years, county officials said.
With additional matching state and federal money, it would fund $1 billion in transportation projects, mostly for widenings, shoulder work and new roads.
An additional $150 million would be spent to add 2,064 jail beds, and $40 million would be used for a Superior Court building in downtown Marietta.
WANTED: A NEW JAIL
The Cobb County Jail is overflowing with criminals, according to Sheriff Neil Warren.
A new jail would receive top priority from the additional 1 percent sales tax if approved by voters.
Despite work-release programs and other efforts to keep the population down, the jail is about 500 beds short, Warren said, and in less than five years it will be 1,000 short.
The sheriff is proposing a new jail that would add 2,064 beds, support space and a new kitchen, laundry and warehouse building.
Officials estimate the cost could go as high as $150 million. The facility could be built in stages, with an initial cost of $100 million, Warren said.
A criminal justice master plan, completed in 1999, recommended alternatives to incarceration to help stem growth in inmate population. A work-release facility was built in 2003, adding 384 minimum-security dorm beds and a range of alternatives for offenders.
ORDER IN THE COURT
In addition to a jail building, the sales tax increase would be used to finance a new $40 million Superior Court building.
The courthouse would be built on Roswell Street, just east of the Marietta Square on county-owned property that is now a parking lot.
The new building would bring all nine Superior Court judges and the district attorney's offices under one roof. Some judges are now in the State Court building and the district attorney's office is in another building.
"At the moment, we're renting space all over the county," County Commission Chairman Sam Olens said. "We have people spread all over the place."
FROM HERE TO THE BALLOT BOX
County officials are already laying groundwork for the sales tax vote, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 6.
A citizen advisory committee will be chosen in April to study all proposed projects, make suggestions and offer new ideas.
Throughout the spring and early summer officials will conduct a series of public meetings. The County Commission will hold two official public hearings at its July meetings and adopt a final list of projects at its first August meeting.
State law prohibits commissioners and staff members from promoting any ballot referendum, but Commission Chairman Sam Olens said that, in the next few weeks, a public information committee of 50 to 60 members will be chosen to educate and inform residents about the plan.
If approved by voters in September, the sales tax increase would take effect Jan. 1, 2006, increasing the county's sales tax to 6 percent.
WHY A SPLOST?
Commission Chairman Sam Olens said a special purpose local option sales tax is attractive for transportation projects because county residents pay only about 38 cents of every dollar it raises. Out-of-county residents making purchases in the county pay about 17 cents, the Georgia Department of Transportation kicks in 30 cents, and 15 cents come from federal and other sources.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Cobb is the only one of Georgia's 159 counties that has a sales tax of less than 6 percent. Cobb's 5 percent tax includes a 1 percent special purpose local option tax for schools, which was enacted in 2003 and runs through 2008.
• Cobb residents previously have voted against a sales tax increase, in 1998 and 2000.
COBB COUNTY PROPOSED 2005 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Map of Cobb County with information boxes indicating major projects proposed by Cobb County government:
Hiram Lithia Springs Road to be improved with wider shoulders between Powder Springs Dallas Road and Humphries Hill Road.
Stilesboro Road to be widened to four lanes divided between Mars Hill Road and Barrett Parkway.
Third Army Road widens to four lanes and connects to I-75 at new interchange.
Jamerson Road to be widened to four lanes divided between Shallowford Road and Wigley Road.
Shallowford Road to be improved with wider shoulders between Canton Road and Blackwell Road.
Bells Ferry Road to be widened to four lanes divided between I-575 and North Cobb Parkway.
A new corridor to be built between Spring Road and Cumberland Boulevard.
Intersection realignments where Atlanta Road and South Cobb Drive intersect I-285.
East-West Connector to be widened to six lanes between Fontaine Road and Atlanta Road.
A new corridor to connect Macland Road and Windy Hill Road.
A new corridor to connect Bells Ferry Road and North Cobb Parkway.
Source: Cobb County government / WALTER CUMMING / Staff
BYLINE: RICHARD WHITT
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE PROPERTY LISTED ABOVE OR THE TIP PROVIDED
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL CHRISSY@CASTLESBYCHRISSY.COM OR CALL ME AT 404.925.5335
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