Screen Shot 2016-07-18 at 5.22.53 PMSenate Bill 369, which authorized the city of Atlanta’s  TSPLOST and MARTA expansion tax referenda, requires final approval by  Fulton County Board of Commissioners before it reaches the Nov. 8 ballot.  The board has called a special meeting on Aug.  8 to consider the TSPLOST (transportation special purpose local option sales tax) resolutions from Atlanta and other Fulton municipalities. The TSPLOST within the city limits will raise funds exclusively for projects within the city and is separate from SPLOST projects outside Atlanta.

The TSPLOST referendum will ask Atlanta voters to authorize a 0.4 percent sales tax increase.  The TSPLOST is projected to generate approximately $260 million, which will be leveraged to generate additional matching funds. The MARTA expansion referendum will seek an increase of a half cent, which would increase the city’s sales tax to 8.9 percent.

The transportation project list includes projects from the Connect Atlanta plan and more than a dozen neighborhood and community plans that have been adopted in the last six years, and features projects in nearly all of the city’s commercial districts, including:

  • $66 million for the Atlanta BeltLine, which will allow the BeltLine to purchase all the remaining right of way to close the 22-mile loop;
  • $75 million for 15 complete streets projects;
  • $3 million for Phase 2 of the Atlanta Bike Share program;
  • $69 million for pedestrian improvements in sidewalks; and
  • $40 million for traffic signal optimization.

Collin Kelley

Collin Kelley has been the editor of Atlanta Intown for two decades and has been a journalist and freelance writer for 35 years. He’s also an award-winning poet and novelist.