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The transportation special purpose local option sales tax better known at T-SPLOST has been generating a lot of discussion as the July 31st vote approaches. This one percent tax increase is the first of its kind and is set to benefit all types of transportation projects.

Dan Bollinger of the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission says "it's all transportation related, you have an airport project here in Dougherty County, you have road projects, you could have had transit projects.... so it's anything to do with transportation."

Each of Georgia's 12 economic development regions has identified a list of transportation improvement projects that the tax will fund. Each regions election is separate from the others, if the southern region passes the bill but the southwestern does not, we won't see a tax increase in our area.

The T-SPLOST tax won't last forever as it has two possible cut offs, those being 10 years or $530 million, whichever comes first. Educator and advocates for the referendum say that $530 million will bring economic development to the area.

Bollinger says it's very important for people to know that all the funds raised in this area, stay in this area. So money that is meant to be put to work in southwest Georgia won't be shipped up to Atlanta.