The Southern Georgia region currently has 151 projects listed in its final investment list of infrastructure improvements being funded by the one-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2018. The list's progress and fund collection have both been steady, with 82 projects already completed within Southern Georgia's first five years of participation in the TIA program. The program's success to date has prompted county and municipal leaders to look to a potential second TIA term, with the anticipated election for the continuation in all the region's counties scheduled for 2028.
One thing that the regional officials will need before that election - a new list of projects that would be funded and administered in a possible new TIA decade, so that voters will know how their tax contributions would be spent if they approve another TIA term. The county and municipal leaders who are tasked with approving and then presenting the future TIA 2 project investment list to the voters have formed a regional roundtable, and planning meetings are already taking place. That roundtable's executive committee met in Berrien County last week to continue the difficult work of negotiating which projects get on the final proposed list. All the counties and participating municipalities have submitted their "wish lists' that totaled 610 much-needed infrastructure improvements projects throughout the region. As you can imagine it'll take months of discussion to create a final draft with a number of projects that matches the TIA 2 anticipated budget - which could total more than $1B in investment by the end of the TIA 2 term. Each member of the executive committee had a super-sized packet of spreadsheets to tackle.
One thing that the regional officials will need before that election - a new list of projects that would be funded and administered in a possible new TIA decade, so that voters will know how their tax contributions would be spent if they approve another TIA term. The county and municipal leaders who are tasked with approving and then presenting the future TIA 2 project investment list to the voters have formed a regional roundtable, and planning meetings are already taking place. That roundtable's executive committee met in Berrien County last week to continue the difficult work of negotiating which projects get on the final proposed list. All the counties and participating municipalities have submitted their "wish lists' that totaled 610 much-needed infrastructure improvements projects throughout the region. As you can imagine it'll take months of discussion to create a final draft with a number of projects that matches the TIA 2 anticipated budget - which could total more than $1B in investment by the end of the TIA 2 term. Each member of the executive committee had a super-sized packet of spreadsheets to tackle.
Amy Martin, transportation director for the Southern Georgia Regional Commission, oversees the meetings, ensuring that the negotiation is kept positive and moving forward. While each county and municipality will ultimately have some projects on the final investment list, it's not hard to understand how the committee members could become competitive with each other, with one pot of anticipated funds to be split up by 18 counties and several more municipalities. All the counties have improvement projects they've put on back burners, waiting for funding to happen, and TIA 2 is an opportunity to bring some of those ventures to life. Also present at the meeting are several Georgia DOT administrators, who don't have any say in what projects go on the final list. Instead, they provide data and insight as requested by the executive committee.
The executive committee members are all experienced public officials who routinely meet with each other regarding other regional matters, so they're used to negotiating and cooperating on endeavors like TIA 2. In addition, many were also a part of the original roundtable process when Southern Georgia's first TIA project investment list was created, so while their process is formal, it's also cordial.
When an agreed-upon final draft of the TIA 2 investment list is completed, the Southern Georgia Regional Commission will then host two public information open houses scheduled for winter 2024, so that residents can review the proposed projects and provide comment. If you're interested in attending one of those open houses, watch the TIA social media pages and website, where we'll provide all the details.