Voters in Macon-Bibb County can vote Tuesday on the extension of a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) that will renew a penny tax on purchases. If approved, the measure could raise $450 million for several improvement projects, with a major focus on road and infrastructure upgrades.
The proposed extension would begin after the current SPLOST is completed in September 2025 and would continue funding large-scale projects that might not be funded otherwise in the current operational budget.
“It can fund better streets. It can fund parks. It can fund community centers, and right now Macon is voting to renew that,” Rachel Umana, Executive Director of Bike Walk Macon, says. “If we don’t continue it, those millions of dollars are something that we don’t get to take advantage of anymore.”
Erin Keller, a member of the 2025 SPLOST Renewal Committee, explains that this is way to generate tax dollars not through property taxes but through sales tax to fund infrastructure projects like roads, sidewalks, bridges, and stormwater projects.
“All of the things that add to our quality of life, this is how they get funded,” Keller says.
In the past, the SPLOST helped fund the Second Street Corridor Project including sidewalk improvements, bike lanes and the bridge to connect Second Street to Little Richard Penniman. Umana explains that it was one of the first multimodal projects in downtown Macon.
A study by the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute found that people traveling to and through Macon-Bibb County contribute 71.4% of SPLOST funds. The SPLOST tax will be primarily funded by people who do not reside in Macon-Bibb County, allowing visitors to provide funds for projects that will benefit residents and visitors alike.
“If we get the national park, that will only grow,” Keller says. She explains that by raising these funds through a sales tax, “We’re spreading the responsibility to make sure our community is growing and thriving.”
Keller explains that Macon-Bibb County has been deliberately vague on how they would use the funds because inflation makes it difficult to predict how much money to allocate to each individual project.
Umana said that the public funds could help make Macon’s roads more friendly to pedestrians and bikers.
“We want you to vote yes because voting yes means we can use those funds for better roads,” she says.
