Renewal by voters of E-SPLOST would allow for bond sales now, extends penny sales tax collections out for education past 2030 to fund systemwide upgrades

• Rockmart High School Fine Arts wing among proposed projects
• Funding would go toward roofs, security, bathrooms, classroom equipment and more
• The E-SPLOST resolution is up for consideration before the Board of Education during their coming regular session on August 10.

The Polk County Board of Education is poised to make the upcoming election cycle in November usually reserved for municipal elections a countywide affair if members decide to continue forward seeking a resolution to get an Education-only Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) extension on the ballot.

Board members will be deciding during their August 10 meeting whether to move forward with allowing voters to decide if they will continue funding an E-SPLOST package that would extend the current penny collection out to 2031, which would go toward several funding initiatives including many systemwide upgrades the Polk School District seeks to complete, and an upgrade at Rockmart High School to match what was recently completed at Cedartown High School.

The resolution discussed during the work session on August 3 seeks no more than $25 million in spending and expects to use $25 million to complete the work being proposed.

As has been the practice in the past, the sale of bonds would provide the district the funds up-front to pay for the cost of repairs, upgrades, and expansions and allow monthly collections for E-SPLOST to go toward making payments on the series of bonds and interest on the money loaned to the district.

You can read the whole resolution from the District website here.

Superintendent Dr. Katie Thomas said she hopes that if the board approves the resolution to seek the ballot measure this coming week, voters will show their support of schools and continue the extension of E-SPLOST.

“Polk School District has been very fortunate to have such phenomenal community support for SPLOST. The additional one cent goes a long way in providing upgrades and modifications, as well as, new construction,” she said. “We have seen tremendous improvements on our campuses and look forward to many more with the assistance of our stakeholders. Our Board of Education, staff, and students thank the Polk County community for their continued support.”

This $25 million project’s centerpiece expansion item is the addition of a new fine arts wing at Rockmart High School, but other projects will impact schools and facilities across the Polk School District if voters approve the extension.

One of the additional major projects on the proposal that could go before voters in November is the installation of new artificial turf at both Cedartown and Rockmart High School football fields. That project if approved will be scheduled with the goal of not impacting the 2022 football season for home games for either team and will only get underway if the SPLOST is approved.

Systemwide, the district’s SPLOST extension would fund new roofs, heating, and air conditioning upgrades, bathrooms, and classroom upgrades as well. Buses are also planned to be purchased with the funds, along with additional instructional and administrative technology needs, safety and security systems and equipment, and other equipment needed to run schools across departments, including in cafeterias.

SPLOST in recent years has been used to pay for a variety of upgrades within the system to positive effect, including new weight room facilities at Rockmart High School and gym renovations, a new press box on their football field, additional storage and restroom facilities outdoors at Rockmart High and Middle Schools, the new Agriculture Education facility at Rockmart High School, the Polk County College and Career Academy campus and a new Fine Arts Wing at Cedartown High School, a drainage project at the CHS softball field, technology upgrades, buses, equipment and much more.

If approved by the school board this coming week, this will be the latest extension to E-SPLOST VII after the municipal elections in 2017 featured an E-SPLOST extension past the 2021 closeout date to 2026. It passed with a low voter turnout of 1442 to 612 votes.