In 2002, the benefits of the one-penny education sales tax truly became evident to the school district, students, parents and the Cobb County community. As a result of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) approved by Cobb County voters in 1998, the school district continued to address its growth needs by building new schools, adding classroom additions, upgrading old facilities, improving school safety, and installing technology in classrooms.

Through 2002, about 90 percent of the 1,239 construction and renovation projects, as well as technology and security upgrades, funded by SPLOST have been completed. But the best news for taxpayers is that all of the projects have been completed on time and cost efficiently thanks to effective management of the program. Click here for a complete list of projects and their status.

A key to the success of SPLOST has been careful planning and oversight. The school district has maximized the efficiency of the $500 million building program by listening to input from groups such as the Facilities & Technology Review Committee, a panel of local citizens that monitors every SPLOST project from bid to completion. In fact, in four years the only significant concern with the SPLOST program has been the recent slowed economy that has resulted in fewer sales tax dollars being collected than predicted because of a downturn in consumer spending. Should collections continue to fall short as SPLOST moves into its final year, several projects planned for the tail end of the program may not be started. None of the program’s major projects will be affected, however. Construction on the final two of 12 new schools built with SPLOST funds is well under way. Bullard and Pitner elementaries will open in August 2003. The SPLOST program reached its culmination in 2002 when ground was broken for these new facilities and another new school, Kell High School, opened in the north region of the county. This beautiful 320,000-square-foot facility is home to about 1,200 students with a capacity to expand to more than 2,000 students next year when it adds a senior class. Kell is providing much-needed enrollment relief to other high school schools in the rapidly growing north Cobb community.

Already school district officials have been planning the second phase of the SPLOST program. As the district continues to grow and total enrollment tops 100,000 students, more and more classroom space will be needed, particularly in the fast-growing west Cobb region. A new building plan has been put together based on input from principals and local school PTAs who have assessed the needs of their buildings. The plan calls for the construction of nine new schools throughout the county to relieve overcrowding and provide enough classroom space to meet state student/teacher ratio requirements.

An extension of the one-penny sales tax would have to be approved by voters in a public referendum. Since the current tax expires on Dec. 31, 2003, such a referendum is likely to be held in the fall of 2003 so that, if approved, the new SPLOST could go into effect as the current one expires.

SPLOST Budgeted Appropriations & Expenditure by Category

SPLOST Collections July 2001 to November 2002