On Tuesday, June 4th, 2024, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioner voted 4-1 on agenda item 2024-0471, authorizing Chairwoman Hendrickson to execute a Resolution to call for a transit referendum this November. This approval was the final step in the HB930 process. Gwinnett voters will now be able to vote on the $17B Transit SPLOST, which you can read more about at our dedicated webpage: Race to Regional Connectivity.
Below is our brief synopsis of the high-quality discussion between Commissioners. If you’d like to see the conversation in its entirety, click here for the BOC meeting video recording. The TSPLOST discussion begins 31 minutes and 29 seconds into the video.
The Council for Quality Growth has been covering this TSPLOST process since draft plans became available in 2023. To view a synopsis, resources, and the timeline, see the below webpage.
Click Here for our Gwinnett TSPLOST webpageHighlights from the BOC Meeting
District 4’s Commissioner Holtkamp voted against the transit referendum being on November’s ballot, citing the downward revisions of ARC population estimates for Gwinnett County in February 2024. During Tuesday’s meeting he acknowledged that, yes, many residents depend on transit – particularly bus route 10’s “robust ecosystem of riders” – but that the current TSPLOST proposal should be reconsidered “because the TDP (Transit Development Plan) was created with the expectation that our population would increase by 500,000.” For context, the Atlanta Regional Commission adjusted its forecast for Gwinnett’s population increase down from ~+500,000 to +~240,000 by 2050. The new estimate, in other words, projects a increase from 957,062 to 1,200,534 residents. Because of this, Holtkamp explained, the proposal should be adjusted to perhaps a half penny sales tax instead of the full one percent, and is not ready for referendum. He later added, “we need to first look at accelerated funding to get our roads in north Gwinnett caught up… mictrotransit will only make traffic worse, and I’m a big supporter of microtransit, but those roads are not going to catch up fast enough.”
Commissioners Carden, Ku, and Watkins III, and Hendrickson voted in support of the transit referendum being on November’s ballot. They acknowledged the downward revisions of ARC population estimates but argued that the population increase (+~240,000) is still significant. “Traffic and mobility are a problem now for our existing residents,” said District 2’s Commissioner Ku, “so unless we are reducing our population by 500,000 residents by 2050, this is a need we have to address now (whatever the revised projections say).” Another pillar of support were federal funds. Commissioner Carden of District 1 explained that if Gwinnett waits until November 2026 for referendum, they will miss out on billions of federal funding dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act: “delaying this referendum would ensure that we lose that once-in-a-lifetime funding opportunity.” District 3’s Commissioner Watkins thanked Transportation Director Lewis Cooksey and his staff for their hard work on the plan and listening to his district’s needs. Lastly, Chairwoman Hendrickson explained her strong support for the transit referendum: “This is not about buses, it’s about the power of mobility… empowering our community with optionality… and empowering our residents to make that decision.” In response to Commissioner Holtkamp’s concerns for roads, Hendrickson said that “having a dedicated source like a 1 cent sales tax will give us the match dollars to draw down the billions of infrastructure dollars to fix the roads that you speak of.”
During the public comment period, opinions were voiced by residents, with support from:
- Nick Masino, President & CEO of the Gwinnett Chamber and board member of the Council for Quality Growth;
- Joe Allen, Executive Director of the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District and board member of the Council for Quality Growth;
- Chuck Button, City Manager for the City of Chamblee and Executive Committee member of the Council for Quality Growth;
- Michael Paris, President & CEO of the Council for Quality Growth, who spoke to the importance of regional connectivity and offered the Council as an educational resource for those wishing to learn more about the TSPLOST.
The ballot language for the TSPLOST referendum is as follows:
“Shall a special one (1%) percent sales and use tax be imposed in the special district consisting of Gwinnett County for a period of time not to exceed thirty (30) years and for the raising of funds for transit projects?”
Click Here for Full Resolution