ATLANTA - State Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, has selected Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) to serve as the Senate appointee to the Georgia Mountains Transportation Roundtable.
As designated by the Transportation Investment Act of 2010 (House Bill 277), each roundtable will be charged with vetting and proposing specific transportation projects for their region, which would be funded by a voter-approved transportation special local option sales tax (T-SPLOST) referendum to be held in 2012.
"As a former DOT board member, I look forward to using my knowledge of Georgia's transportation issues to help the roundtable move our region's transportation system forward. The roundtable will be working closely with the DOT and its planning director to develop projects that respond to our community's needs," Gooch said. "Giving voters the ultimate say on what projects are funded is the kind of local control that makes government most successful."
Passed during the 2010 General Assembly, HB 277 is a comprehensive transportation funding package that includes voter approval on regional projects, funding those projects, and proper checks and balances for use of taxpayer dollars. If approved by the voters in a referendum, this legislation provides for a 1 percent regional transportation sales and use tax to be imposed for a period of ten years in 12 newly created special tax districts based upon the 12 existing regional commission boundaries.
Each of the regional roundtables will consist of every county chair and one mayor from each county in that region, who will then form an executive committee that will consult with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and their planning director to form a potential transportation project list for each region. Once a final list has been approved by the roundtable, it will then go before the voters in the region for a July 2012 referendum vote.
Sunday
June 22nd, 2025
4:28AM
