Research Highlight: Georgia SPLOST Database and Clearinghouse for Transportation Finance

Dr. Catherine Ross, Deputy Director of NCTSPM and Director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, has produced "Georgia SPLOST Database and Clearinghouse for Transportation Finance," a research project on transportation finance.

Funding transportation infrastructure with local and regional resources has become increasingly necessary in recent years. The State of Georgia has authorized counties and multi-county districts to enact Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes (SPLOSTs), subject to voter approval, to fund local projects.  

SPLOSTs can support projects that might otherwise not be funded. However, these ballot initiatives are not always approved by voters. SPLOSTs can be rejected for reasons such as: competition between transportation and other capital for scarce tax dollars; competition between existing and new SPLOSTs; and ineffective communication and campaign strategies advertising the benefits of the SPLOST.   

Georgia Tech's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) and the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government have created a web-based tool and data repository for the state of Georgia to compare some of the variables that influence whether a SPLOST will pass or fail. This data is now available in a dynamic interactive format, which means that relationships between key factors in SPLOST approval, such as adjacencies and geographic patterns across the state, are now clearly visible. 

The accessibility of this data as welel as the development of the both data repository and the interactive tool are critical. A clear understanding of the impacts of various transportation investments across the infrastructure system state-wide make it possible to maximize Georgia’s national and global competitiveness.

Interactive map: http://carto.gis.gatech.edu/splost/map.html

For more information, click here.

To contact CQGRD, send an email to cqgrd@coa.gatech.edu.