Franklin County BOC to Send Letter to Lawmakers Against HB170

Franklin County Commissioners plan to vote on a resolution tonight to send to State lawmakers protesting HB170 the Transportation Funding Act.

On Friday, Commission Chair Thomas Bridges was in Atlanta to meet with the Association of County Commissions of Georgia for a legislative briefing.

Bridges says if HB170 passes, the county stands to lose millions in gas sales tax revenue.

“It’s bad news for Franklin County with the amount of revenue we would be losing,” he said. “Ballpark figures are a little over $2-million in diesel fuel sales tax revenue and about a million in regular gas sales. I know the State needs money to fix roads and bridges, but we need money to run the county.”

And with an annual budget of about $11-million, a three-million dollar cut would be devastating to the county.

I-85 runs straight through Franklin County and that means truckers routinely stop at one of the many truck stops and gas stations along the Interstate from Exit 160 to Exit 173.

Bridges said another fear is the loss of the trucker trade or a significant decrease in their business.

“Being near the state line on the Interstate, upping the price of fuel could mean the truckers will simply go across the state line and fill up over there rather than Franklin County,” Bridges said.

At their work session last week, commissioners discussed drawing up a resolution to send to lawmakers.

“We’ve been working to get something changed in the Bill, but as it stands now, we feel like we need to go ahead and make the move by letting our voices be heard and drawing up the resolution and sending it to our state lawmakers,” he said.

Tonight’s meeting takes place at 6p at the Justice Center on Hwy 145 in Carnesville.