2028 Cobb SPLOST referendum to be put on November ballot

The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to place on the November ballot a referendum to extend the Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax starting in 2028.

The vote was 4-0, with Chairwoman Lisa Cupid absent.

Cobb voters will vote by Nov. 4 whether or not to renew the one-percent tax for another six years.

The 2028 SPLOST would continue collections for a variety of projects, including roads and transportation, public safety facilities, parks and libraries upgrades and maintenance and more.

The estimated collection for the 2028 SPLOST would be $1.15 billion, with $794 million going to Cobb government projects.

The project list was approved by commissioners in April, and includes a $20 million relocation of the East Cobb Library from Parkaire Landing Shopping Center to an unspecified site.

County officials said in January they would like to rebuild the East Cobb branch, the second-busiest in the Cobb system, on county-owned land.

Cobb has leased space for the East Cobb Library at Parkaire since 2010, after the branch previously was located at Merchants Walk Shopping Center.

The rental cost has been nearly $400,000 a year, and library officials say they need more space. The East Cobb Library has 17,000 square feet of space, and a request for the proposed new branch called for 28,000 square feet.

But before adopting the referendum resolution Tuesday night, commissioners approved a late change capping capacity at the current 17,000 square feet.

Another East Cobb project on the 2028 referendum list is an $8.2 million expansion of the Tim D. Lee Senior Center.

The 2028 SPLOST also would fund a new Cobb State Court building to cost $174 million; $130 million in road resurfacing projects; and $60 million for a new infirmary building at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

Another $30 million would be earmarked for a central aquatic center in Marietta to replace the current facility near the Cobb Civic Center; $30 million combined for two new fire stations in West Cobb and South Cobb; and $18 million for a new recreation center at a site to be named in South Cobb.

Among the transportation projects in East Cobb, $3.5 million would go for an intersection project on Shallowford at McPherson Road; $2.5 million each for improvements in the Johnson Ferry Road corridor and the Shaw Road corridor; and $1.5 million to upgrade the intersection of Lower Roswell Road at Paper Mill Road.

For a detailed list of the 2028 SPLOST referendum project list, click here.

For more on the 2028 SPLOST in general, click here.

Related: