It’s Election Day in Georgia again, and polls are open until 7 p.m. to cast ballots in several party primaries, nonpartisan races, and a vote on whether to renew the sales tax to fund education.
You can see sample ballots at this link for a look at the races in Fulton County. Sample ballots for DeKalb County are located at this link.
Voters in Atlanta and Fulton and DeKalb counties will decide on May 24 whether to continue special sales taxes for school projects. Together, the taxes are projected to raise more than $2 billion for local schools.
School officials in each of the three districts – Atlanta Public Schools, Fulton County School System and the DeKalb County School District – seek public approval to renew an existing Special Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax for education, or E-SPLOST.
A majority of “yes” votes would extend collection of the penny-on-the-dollar sales tax from 2017, when the current taxes end, through 2022. The districts have collected SPLOSTs since the 1990s.
APS says the Atlanta tax is projected to raise more than $540 million for school projects in the city, including about $371 million for construction and renovation projects; $67 million for technology improvements; $22 million for athletic upgrades; and $20 million for transportation.
The Reporter Newspapers contributed to this article.
