Questions & Answers

The Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax for education, also known as E-SPLOST, is a one-cent sales tax on all retail and online sales in Columbia County. This means that everyone who makes a purchase in Columbia County, including visitors, contributes to the support of local schools. By law, an E-SPLOST can be used only for certain capital projects and equipment, like buildings, furniture, buses, and computers. It cannot be used for salaries or for daily operational expenses of a school system or district.

The E-SPLOST is not a new tax; it is a continuation of the one-cent tax already being collected on sales. If voters approve the extension, the penny sales tax would continue to be collected for a five-year period or until the specified amount is collected..

Approval in November of 2024 would ensure that the penny would continue to be collected and that there would not be gaps in the district’s ability to fund identified projects. With that knowledge, CCSD can continue to address its ongoing facility and technology needs.

A maximum of $270 million is projected to be raised in the five-year collection period of the E-SPLOST. Accompanying GO bonds will generate up to $270 million. 

This will be the third consecutive E-SPLOST to include approval of GO bonds as part of the ballot question. The school district’s needs continue to outpace the funding it receives through E-SPLOST. The need for more modern classrooms and technology, as well as infrastructure and safety enhancements, continues. The sale of GO bonds allows the CCSD to address some of those needs more quickly.

August 19 - October 25, 2024	Absentee by Mail Voting application period
Oct. 7, 2024	Voter registration deadline and Absentee Voting by Mail begins
October 15, 2024	Advance In-Person Voting begins (through Nov. 1)
November 5, 2024	Election Day—Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

 

• • Baker Place Elementary
  • Brookwood Elementary
  • Cedar Ridge Elementary
  • Grovetown Elementary
  • Lewiston Elementary
  • Columbia Middle
  • Grovetown Middle

• • Greenbrier Elementary
  • North Columbia Elementary Parkway Elementary
  • River Ridge Elementary
  • Riverside Elementary
  • Greenbrier Middle
  • Riverside Middle

• • Brookwood Elementary
  • Evans Elementary, Martinez Elementary
  • Lewiston Elementary
  • Columbia Middle
  • Evans Middle
  • Grovetown Middle

• • Euchee Creek Elementary
  • Grovetown Elementary
  • North Columbia Elementary
  • North Harlem Elementary
  • Harlem Middle

• • Blue Ridge Elementary
  • Martinez Elementary
  • River Ridge Elementary
  • South Columbia Elementary
  • Stevens Creek Elementary
  • Lakeside Middle
  • Stallings Island Middle
  • Riverside Middle