Barrow County School’s current Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax collection – SPLOST III, which expires in September 2011 – funded additions and renovations at Auburn, Statham and Holsenbeck elementary schools and Winder-Barrow High School and Apalachee High School.

SPLOST revenues also contributed to the new transportation facility, which was completed this winter.

What’s next for the district when the special purpose local option sales tax ends?

Two school administrators say they expect the next SPLOST to largely go toward paying off debt – that is, if residents approve by ballot another SPLOST.

Ken Cato, assistant superintendent of business services, said the current program paid off almost $10 million of the district’s debt, but it’s committed to repayment even after this current SPLOST expires. If residents don’t support another SPLOST, it could mean the district would have to increase the mil rate and property owners would share the burden.

But at the same time, the district’s dealing with an increase in enrollment and a decrease in revenues, and that makes a renewed SPLOST especially important, Cato said.

The district was expecting to collect about $875,000 per month through the sales tax, but recently has collected only about $650,000 Cato said.

And currently the district serves 12,500 students. That number is expected to rise by about 533 students every year, meaning in four years the district will have 14,745 students, Cato said.

"We continue to be a growing district, compared to others in the state like DeKalb that are closing schools," he said.

Moving forward, the district has to balance the need to expand for growth with its responsibility for debt payments.

Paying the debt is a priority, Cato said, and he has to make sure the district can make those payments.

"The collections just have not been there," he said. "Up until this year, we’ve always had enough receipts to carry the debt."

The previous SPLOST, SPLOST II, built some new schools, but assistant superintendent of facilities Jake Grant said it was SPLOST III that really improved the district’s 16 locations.

"I’m proud of all our schools," he said. "I would compare them to anybody’s in the state… SPLOST III did that, it turned the corner."

Conversations about capital projects in SPLOST IV are in the earliest stages. Cato said he expected the district to begin taking a closer look at what it would like to see done, as the school board begins working on its 2011 budget, which must be approved by June 30.

Cato and Grant said residents might expect to see projects in the district’s five-year plan, which includes capital outlay projects between July 2009 and June 2014 on the SPLOST IV ticket.

Those projects include a renovation to Russell Middle School, possibly a career technical facility and a cultural arts center in conjunction with the county.