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ALBANY, GA -- The Dougherty County Rotary Club hosted speakers to help clear the air about the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

On the Nov. 2nd general election ballot, citizens will be able to vote for the renewal of the SPLOST penny sales tax. Officials who spoke say SPLOST VI is not adding more money or taxes; it’s still costing you just a penny. If it fails on Nov. 2nd, SPLOST will expire on March 31, 2011.

A total of 40 SPLOST VI projects have been approved. These include gutting and renovating the Central Library downtown, expanding the Southwest Regional Airport and upgrading public safety tools. For airport improvements, speaker and Asst. City Manager James Taylor says $3.9 million is budgeted – which the federal government matches – to help with terminal and security updates. SPLOST VI also plans to upgrade the emergency 9-1-1 system.

In the past SPLOST has helped fund improvements to the Northwest Library.

A new group, Citizens for Common Cents, was recently established to bring more clarity to the SPLOST project. The organization’s goal is to spread the word and create visibility and transparency when it comes to the sales tax.

“We came together as a group to really get behind SPLOST VI, to promote it, to make sure people understand it, to give access the information readily about what the projects are; really make it simple,” says one of Citizens of Common Cents Coordinators Judith Corbett.

Citizens for Common Cents welcomes volunteers. You can contact them via email at CitizensForCommonCents@gmail.com or by phone at 229-669-3936. The group is also on Facebook.

To see documents listing projected SPLOST VI projects and their budgets, visit the City of Albany and Dougherty County website here. From there, click on "WHERE DO MY SPLOST DOLLARS GO?"