Glossary of Frequently Used Terms and Acronyms
ARC: Atlanta Regional Commission. The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the 10-county metropolitan area.
BOC: Board of Commissioners. Cherokee County has 1 Commissioner for each of 4 posts. The Chair is elected at large.
GDOT: Georgia Department of Transportation
DRI: Development of Regional Impact. Developments above a certain size will impact the entire Metro Atlanta region and are required by law to have a DRI review. This review, however, is advisory. The local BOC has the final say.
ELUC: Environment and Land Use Committee. This is a sub-committee of the ARC charged with examining the environmental impact of developments. CCRG has concerns that some members have conflict of interests issues as they, or their companies, stand to profit from favorable consideration by the ELUC. There is no current mechanism in place to require a member with a financial stake in the outcome to recuse themselves.
GRTA: Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. GRTA (pronounced gret-a) is the State of Georgia authority working to improve Georgia's mobility, air quality, and land use practices.
SPLOST: Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax. In Georgia, a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) can be levied by any county, for the purpose of funding the building and maintenance of parks, schools, roads, and other public facilities. Georgia's state sales tax is currently 4% (groceries and prescription drugs exempted), with the counties allowed to add up to 2% more for SPLOST. A SPLOST is passed by a county commission and voted up or down by residents in a referendum, usually during the next scheduled election.
* One SPLOST (1%) may be used to increase the homestead exemption for property taxes.
* Cities are normally not allowed to levy sales taxes, they instead share proportionately with their county.
* Since 2004, Atlanta charges a city sales tax of 1% to separate and repair its old sewers and storm drains.
* Like the sewer tax, the MARTA sales tax is separate and not considered a SPLOST.
CCRG is concerned that the SPLOST that funds new school construction is currently mortgaged 25 years into the future and no option exists to raise the percentage. This means that the Cherokee School Board has borrowed money against future SPLOST revenue for the next 25 years to pay for school construction needed today. State law does not allow the SPLOST percentage to increase. There is no option to increase the percentage - only the option to extend debt farther and farther into the future if development continues to grow faster than school revenue can support.
TAD: Tax Allocation District. A TAD is a special district created to allow a municipality to borrow money for improvements to roads, sidewalks, and other infrastructure. The tax revenues collected by County and City are frozen at the pre-revitalized level. Increases in tax revenue from higher assessed property values in the improved district above the pre-improved levels are used to pay back the debt.
TIP : What this is?