This special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) is an opportunity for the voters in DeKalb County to continue the one-cent sales tax for school improvements that was approved by voters in 2007. This sales tax extension is limited to sixty months. The continuation of the one cent tax was approved on December 5, 2016, school improvements will be funded by everyone who buys goods in the county, regardless of where they
live.

Historically

SPLOST has provided over $1.2 billion in revenue to support the Capital Improvements Plan for DeKalb County Schools since 1997.

Since then, twenty-two new schools, twenty-two major renovations/modifications along with many other capital renewal projects have been successfully completed. Additionally, SPLOST funds have been used to improve technology in the classroom and replace school buses as needed.

Going Forward

With an average facility age of forty-one years old, more schools need to be replaced. And in today’s environmentally conscious society, building new schools means making the most of sustainable engineering and technology.

SPLOST V funds would also be used to continue making improvements to the technology available to students in our schools.

SPLOST will:

• Extend from 2017–2022
• Address a portion of the $2.2 billion need
• Focus on:

• Elementary school new construction.
• Installing synthetic turf and replace lighting at stadiums.
• Refreshing existing technology equipment and infrastructure.
• Making improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• Upgrading the bus and service vehicle fleet.
• Investing in security cameras, closed circuit televisions, and other improvements to the security systems.
• Allocating funds for the Local School Priority Request (LSPR) program, which allows each school to make their own capital improvement requests.
• Capital renewal—a vital program that will address the replacement of critical systems on an annual rotation at over 300 projects district wide.