Editor’s note: This is one in a series of articles reflecting on positive change in Moultrie and Colquitt County in 2017. See the column at left for links to other stories in the series.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — With no interstate highways and only one four-lane running its whole length through — at least for now — Colquitt County may be considered the road less-traveled.

But less-traveled doesn’t have to mean more bumpy. At least that would seem to be what voters said in 2017 by voting themselves an additional penny in sales tax to fund transportation projects.

That additional penny, which will bump the local sales tax up to 8 percent when collections begin in April of 2018, was on top of an earlier vote to approve the extension of a countywide special purpose local option sales tax.

The concept for the county for the transportation special purpose sales tax approved in November is simple: Improving existing paved roadways and paying some roadway maintenance costs.

The county doesn’t plan to purchase any road equipment or pay any salaries of its Roads & Bridges Department with that tax money, Colquitt County Administrator Chas Cannon said, although those are allowed uses of the funds.

“TSPLOST is really dedicated to resurfacing and right-of-way mowing and spraying,” Cannon said. “For the county, all that money is dedicated for laying asphalt and mowing and spraying.”

Over the course of five years the county anticipates revenue of some $25.5 million from the TSPLOST; the six-year extension of the current sales tax is expected to bring in about $31.5 million.

For the latter, it will be a seamless transition from the sales tax that began in 2013 when collections for the new six-year levy begins in January2019.

Using the transportation sales tax money and state funding, the county anticipates resurfacing some 170 miles of paved roadways through the five-year span.

Among the larger projects are 2.65 miles of Old Doerun Road from Moultrie to Highway 133 at an estimated cost of $378 in Commission Districts 1 and 5; 8.11 miles of Ellenton-Norman Park Road at a cost of $1.3 million, 5.61 miles of Livingston Bridge Road at $673,200, both in District 2; and 8.4 miles of Sumner Road, in Districts 2 and 5, at $672,000.

District 2 contains the most mileage of planned resurfacing at 48.1 miles, with a total cost of $6.45 million. Of that, $1.59 million is to come from annual funding from the Georgia Department of Transportation for road work, $3.24 million from the TSPLOST and about $700,000 from the ongoing sales tax collections.

The paving work for the TSPLOST that will be collected through 2024 also includes some $33.83 miles in District 6 at an expected price tag of $4.36 million and 39.98 miles in District 5 that is estimated to cost about $4.7 million.

The county expects to put about $1 million per year back into its general fund account as reimbursement for road maintenance expenses out of the TSPLOST account.

The goal there is to cut the property tax rate due to that infusion, but if that is not possible to at least help Colquitt County Commission work to make sure ad valorem taxes don’t increase, Cannon said.

“We think so,” he said of a millage rate rollback. “(But) given the board has rolled the millage rate back three years in a row, at some point you can’t keep doing that. If we’re in a position to do that, I feel confident the board will do that.”

More than anything, a consistent tax rate will benefit property owners, he said.

“If the taxpayer knows there is going to be a steady millage rate, then the only variable is going to be the assessment value, which they can appeal every year,” Cannon said.

The transportation tax money will be shared with the cities on a population basis, with the county receiving the bulk at just under $15 million for it’s roughly 58.6 percent share of residents.

Moultrie’s share is about $7.4 million, followed by Norman Park at $511,658, Doerun at $407,431, Funston at $236,352, Berlin at $290,045, and Ellenton at $147,917.

In addition, $250,000 was allocated to the Colquitt County Hospital Authority, $750,000 to Moultrie-Colquitt County Airport Authority, and $550,000 to Moultrie-Colquitt County Recreation Authority.

If collections come up short of those estimated, the cut to each municipality and the county will be based on the same population figures. Any collections over the estimated amount revert to the county.

For the current special purpose local option sales tax, for which collections began in 2013, collections have so far totaled about $20.02 million through the June 31 end of the county’s fiscal year. With officials estimating it bringing in $36.35 million over six years, it is looking to come up short.

The largest planned expenditure for the sales tax was $14 million for county roads and bridges. Of that amount, almost $6.7 million was collected through June 30 and about $4.89 million spent for that purpose.

Of Moultrie’s original estimate of $11.39 million, $7.15 million had been collected and about $1.55 million spent