Hart County Joins Fight in Senate Against Proposed Transportation Bill

Hart County leadership has joined Franklin and surrounding counties to lobby the State Senate against the passage of HB170 the Transportation Funding Act.

HB170 would eliminate local sales tax revenue and impose one 29.2-cent excise tax on gas prices.

All of that revenue, part of which now goes to local counties and municipalities, would then go to the State Department of Transportation to fund future road projects.

County administrator Jon Caime said the problem is not so much the loss of gas sales tax revenue, but the loss of revenue in general from the increase in the excise tax.

“An increase in the excise tax is going to put our fuel prices significantly higher than South Carolina,” he said. “Folks are already going to Anderson to buy fuel. That 13.5% of our sales tax that’s going to fuel is going to be affected.”

Caime said being on the state line, Hart County already loses millions in sales tax revenue to South Carolina.

“Also other sales tax for everything else people buy is our biggest concern,” Caime said. “When they’re over there getting fuel, they’re going to also stop at Wal-mart and grocery stores and everything else they can over there. That’s our biggest concern.”

Hart County Commissioner Joey Dorsey agrees.

Dorsey says he worries about the prospect for attracting new industry and economic development overall if companies have to pay more in fuel to do business in Georgia.

“Being a border county with South Carolina, we’re competing with them for industry,” Dorsey said. “The increase in the fuel tax will be huge. It’s basically 22-cents per gallon of gas.”

Dorsey said he spoke Monday to State Senator Bill Jackson about the bill.  Jackson has indicated the bill will run into opposition when it hits the Senate.

“I have spoken with Bill Jackson and he has assured me this bill will not pass in the Senate in its current state,” Dorsey said. “He does not support it. It looks like there’s going to be some pretty big changes to HB170 before it gets out of the Senate. That give me some hope that there is still some common sense in Atlanta that will take care of this situation.”

HB 170, the Transportation Funding Act of 2015, passed in the House last Thursday by a vote of 123 to 46.
It now goes to the Senate on Cross Over Day.