Advanced voting for the March 16th Special Election to consider the renewal of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) and the Issuance of Bonds began Monday, Feb, 22.
There is only one question on the ballot, but it’s a lengthy question. Voters are asked to vote either “Yes” or “No.” The question is the following:
“Shall the Decatur County School District issue general obligation bonds in the principal amount not to exceed $30,000,000 to pay a portion of the costs of funding the following capital outlay projects: (i) acquiring, constructing, furnishing, and equipping a new middle school and all support facilities, structures or projects serving an educational purpose in connection therewith, including necessary furnishings, fixtures and equipment; (ii) acquiring, constructing, repairing, improving, rehabilitating, renovating, extending, retrofitting, upgrading, and equipping buildings and facilities in the School District, including any necessary real and personal property, useful or desirable in connection therewith, which may include energy efficiency or HVAC upgrades, new roof systems, security, safety and communication upgrades, parking and sidewalk renovations and upgrades; (iii) acquiring and installing system wide software or other technology equipment to support instructional and administrative initiatives or improvements, safety and security, communication, finance and operations; (iv) acquiring, installing or providing technology devices (to include personal electronic devices for students, computers, servers, printers, projectors, cabling, wireless access points, and Voice Over IP); (v) acquiring school buses and transportation or maintenance vehicles and equipment; (vi) acquiring fine arts, music/band, vocational, and physical education/athletic equipment; (vii) purchasing and providing textbooks, ebooks, digital media and library books, furnishings, and other vocational equipment; (ix) acquiring and installing school nutrition equipment; (x) planning for new School District site acquisition, site development and construction; (xi) demolishing or renovating existing school facilities within the School District; (xii) acquiring any necessary property therefore, both real and personal; (xiii) paying capitalized interest; and (xiv) paying expenses incident to accomplishing the forgoing (the “Projects”); and, whether or not the one percent sales and use tax for educational purposes currently in effect shall be continued in Decatur County for a period of time not to exceed 20 consecutive quarters in order to raise not more than $30,000,000 to pay debt service on the Decatur County School Building Authority Revenue Bonds, Series 2015 commencing on October 1, 2022, to fund a portion of the acquisition and construction of the projects described above, and to fund a portion of the payment of the principal and interest on the Bonds?”
Advanced voting will take place only at the Elections Office at the Courthouse Annex, 122 W. Water St. The hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and will end on March 12. There will be Saturday voting on March 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
If you would like to vote by mail, you may request a ballot using an Application for an Official Absentee Ballot. That application can be obtained from the Elections Office or from My Voter Page website, https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do.
The drop box outside the Elections Office will remain closed and the emergency rule that allowed for its use during the 2020 election cycle has expired, so please allow for enough time for us to mail your ballot and for you to mail it back or hand deliver it to the Elections Office during regular hours.
