Augusta, GA

James Brown Arena C-SPLOST vote hits ballots Tuesday for Richmond County

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – It’s your turn to decide: Will you vote yes or no for a new James Brown Arena?

“C-SPLOST” is a proposed half-penny sales tax in Richmond County, which equals out to an extra 50 cents for every $100 spent.

Right now, Augusta leaders are making a last-minute push to voters.

Commissioners are out passing out “yes” signs and standing as a united front at a 5 p.m. support rally on Monday.

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With hours left till election day, it’s all hands on deck to get as many people to turn up as possible, with only as much as 10% of voters expected to turn out.

“We’re real excited. We’re ready for the vote. We think this is the best way to fund this arena. We can get 40% plus outside of Richmond County to pay for the arena, and we think that’s a real plus for the community,” said Brad Ussry, Vice Chair of the Coliseum Authority.

The Coliseum Authority says Tuesday’s vote may be the last chance to get this project approved.

With the estimated cost of a new arena going up by the year and the difficulty of getting the sales tax to the ballot this year through Governor Kemp’s bill, they say they’re out of options in getting a funding source.

People against it say that on top of not wanting more taxes, they can’t trust our current government to get the job done.

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“We can’t cut our grass. We have a lot of dilapidated buildings. We’re 250 police officers short. I could go on forever, and I just think there are better ways of doing it. And I think we should do it when we can afford to do it,” said Michael Thurman.

He has already put out at least 300 “no” signs across the county, hoping to get the message to everyone.

In the end, it’s all down to the vote.

“It’s time to do something. We’ve got an obsolete building,” said Ussry.

Thurman said: “We can do it when we can afford to do it.”

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If it doesn’t pass, there will be no new tax and we keep the same arena.

If C-SPLOST does pass, construction on a new arena could start in the middle of next year, about a two-and-a-half-year project aiming to finish in 2026.



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