Check out the first wish list for projects to include in the next penny sales tax

Augusta Commissioners this month started reviewing the “wish list” projects recommended for funding by the next Special Local Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST, that will be voted on later this year.  

If approved, this would be the ninth SPLOST for Augusta, Hephzibah, and Blythe. Before the vote, public hearings will be held to get residents input about items proposed to receive funding. 

Interim County Administrator Taliyah Douse recently told commissioners she estimates the next round of SPLOST revenues will generate $300 million. That is $50 million more than SPLOST 8, which was approved in 2021.  

A SPLOST is an optional penny sales tax used to fund capital outlay projects proposed by the county government and participating qualified municipal governments. Voters in each county decide if the tax will be levied.  

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Central Services Interim Director Ron Lampkin last week presented the requests for facility projects. The requests for infrastructure projects will be presented by Director of Engineering Hameed Malik later. 

Douse cautioned the commissioners that the facility requests already exceeded the $300 million she projects the next SPLOST will generate.  

Projects proposed in Lampkin’s request for sales tax funding include: 

• New Richmond County Correctional Institute: That project was approved for $11 million in SPLOST 8, but more funds are needed to complete the project, Lampkin said. The actual cost was much more than the allocation, so the plans were scaled down to accommodate fewer inmates, he said. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office agreed with the plan. Another $14 million from SPLOST 9 is needed to build the new facility. 
• New fleet service center: The current Fleet Service Center on Broad Street will be moved to the 10-acre site on Old Louisville Road on land owned by the city’s fire department. The project is expected to cost $40.5 million, with $6 million already allocated from SPLOST 8. 
• New juvenile court center on the site of Craig-Houghton Elementary School: The $46.1 million project presented includes renovations and new construction that can be done in phases. Commissioner Sean Frantom asked Lampkin why this project had grown from 40,000-square-feet to 100,000-square-feet and from $8 million to $46.1 million. Lampkin explained that the staff met with the retiring Chief Judge Danny Craig and other judges who made changes to the original plan that increased costs. Frantom asked Lampkin to go to the incoming judges to determine their vision. “I’m presenting it to you guys now so you can decide what we’re going to do,” Lampkin said. The project can be done in phases, he said.  
• New Pod and Renovations at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center: The estimate for this project has increased from $50 million to $67 million. Lampkin said there are problems with the existing pods at the detention center and it would not be prudent to build the new pods like the others, Lampkin said. For example, he said, stronger glass is needed for windows in the facility. 
• Augusta Convention Center – Project Get Up & Expand:  The Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau is asking for $31.5 million to add another 53,000 square feet to the front and back of the existing 83,000 square feet building, and another $10.5 million to add 300 additional parking spaces to its parking garage. Between 2013 and 2023, the estimated financial impact the center has had on the local economy is $176 million, Lampkin said. The commissioners were supportive of the program but asked if the project could be scaled back since there are so many requests.  
• Renovations at Richmond County Animal Services: The requested $5.5 million would go to renovating the aging shelter.  But Commissioner Tony Lewis stressed that the board needed to be looking at replacing the building rather than fixing it up. “I don’t want to see us spend $5 million and have the same footprint,” he said. “I don’t think I need to pay somebody $5 million to tell me this building needs to be replaced.” 
• Housing and Community Development Renovations: $3.5 million for renovations of the department’s offices on Fenwick Street.  
• New Coroner’s Office: $6.6 million for design and construction of a new facility. There may be city-owned available, Lampkin said. The cost estimated was based on a smaller, but similar coroner’s office recently constructed in Aiken County. 
• Facility Improvements/On-Call Services: $10 million for projects such as roof replacements, electrical and lighting replacements, HVAC parts and unit replacements 

• New Recreation and Parks Department building design: $1.5 million for a new building at the same site on Lumpkin Road. 
• 5^th Street Bridge Zip Line Family Outdoor Adventure: $3 million to being construction of a large zip line that will cross the river and back. This is part of a bigger project that will include activities around the 5^th Street Bridge area. 
• Total for new and renovated facilities: $194,879,907 

Additional requests

• New Boathouse: $20 million. 
• Marina: $6 million. 
• WT. Johnson Community Center: $20 million. 
• Diamond Lakes Regional Park: $15 million. 
• Maintenance and capital replacement for city swimming pools: $5 million. 
• May Park Community Center Upgrades: $2.5 million 
• Multi-gym athletic complex: $30 million 
• City cemeteries: $10 million 

Total for additional requests: $108.5 million.

Grand total for SPLOST 9 facility requests: $303 million.

Commissioners were concerned that a splash park that was approved by the voters in the 2021 SPLOST wasn’t mentioned in these recommendations and no action has been taken on the project. There was $5 million set aside for the project. 

“I’m disappointed there hasn’t been more effort put into making it happen. Let’s go find a company that wants to work with this,” said Commissioner Brandon Garrett said.  The commission wants to find a company to operate the facility rather than the city operating it.