>> ELECTION 2023
Baldwin County residents, as well as those from neighboring counties who shop locally, will be paying a penny more sales tax starting next year as the result of a successful sales tax referendum this past Tuesday.
Voters demonstrated strong support for the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST). Final numbers showed that 2,120 voted to authorize the penny tax while 742 opposed it, a 74-26 percent margin. Collection will begin April 1, 2024, and continue five years or until $45 million is collected, whichever first occurs.
Pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement approved this past summer, Baldwin County will receive 65 percent of the net proceeds, the City of Milledgeville 35 percent.
There are 25,904 registered voters now in Baldwin County, according to election figures released Tuesday night, and 2,865, 11.06 percent, cast ballots. Of those, 1,001 did so in early voting. Once those results were announced, it appeared likely the referendum would pass, as just over 80 percent, 813, voted in the affirmative.
Local officials estimated prior to Tuesday’s vote that non-residents pay approximately 40 percent of the sales tax collected in Baldwin County.
The outcome marks the first successful T-SPLOST effort in the county in four tries, though voters here did approve one multi-county referendum that was defeated region-wide.
The county has already compiled a list of roads totaling approximately 140 miles that the Commissioners hope can be resurfaced. About $600,000 will be used to match a hoped-for grant in excess of $2 million for the replacement of three bridges.
Board members Sammy Hall and Kendrick Butts both expressed their appreciation to the voters afterwards, Butts calling it “a game-changer for the community of Baldwin County.” Commissioner John Westmoreland later added his thanks, as did District 4 representative Henry Craig.
Milledgeville Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan expressed her gratitude on behalf of the city.
“I’m pleased that the residents saw the need for better roads for our city and county,” she said. “I do believe that tonight’s victory is a huge part of the beginning of moreneeded change.”