By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald

Now, it’s up to the voters to decide on Nov. 7.

The Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) referendum is on the ballot, and if approved by the voters, Rincon is anticipating it will receive more than $20.2 million in the next five years.

Effingham County voters approved TSPLOST in 2021. The referendum on the 2023 ballot is a continuation of that tax appropriation. It’s not a new tax.

That $20.2 million figure is 16.8% of the $120 million the county is anticipating the tax would generate, then the funds are divided up among the three municipalities and the county based on population.

All that money will be used to improve roads, build sidewalks and bike paths within the city.

The Rincon City Council approved its intergovernmental agreement with Effingham County at its regular meeting on Aug. 28. One difference is that Rincon is not participating in the bond agreement with the county and other cities.

Basically, the county and participating cities issue bonds to get the money up front, then as TSPLOST money comes in, the bonds are repaid first, and then cities that did not issue bonds would get their TSPLOST funds.

“The way the agreement was structured this time as the TSPLOST money came in, it would be put in an account and the county's bond repayment would be paid first,” explained Raymond Dickey, Rincon’s city attorney. “And so I went back and had them change that because Rincon needs its money from the very beginning. So the way it'll work now is Rincon will receive its share, and then the (remaining) money will go to retire the county's bond.”

The current TSPLOST collections will expire in December and payments will be continued to be distributed to the cities through March 2024. If TSPLOST is approved by voters on Nov. 7, collections will begin in March 2024 and Rincon will receive its first payment from the new TSPLOST in April 2024.

The four largest projects Rincon is looking to complete with the TSPLOST funding include:

·                 East/West corridor project ($3 million)

·                 Second entrance/exit in the Picket Fences neighborhood ($2 million)

·                 Intersection safety projects ($2 million)

·                 Drainage improvements ($2 million)

Another $8 million will be spend on various road paving projects throughout the city, and $500,000 on a community trail.

The two largest paving projects will be on Richland Avenue ($1.7 million) which will also include a water main and box culvert; and $900,000 on West 7th Street.