Newspaper Page Text
LOCAL
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2 - 8, 2018 • Page 2
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COUNTY WIDE
BY TAYLOR ROBINS
trobins29@gmail.com
DeKalb County parents
should be sure that their
children are ready for the new
school year that starts Aug. 6.
Open houses for all DeKalb
County School District
(DCSD) high schools will
hold open houses Aug. 2 from
4:30-6:30 p.m. at each school.
Elementary and middle school
open houses were held on Aug.
1.
Now that summer is
coming to an end, families
whose children attend a
school in the DeKalb County
school district should start
preparing school supplies,
immunizations, nutrition and
transportation plans.
To get the ball rolling,
parents are now able to register
their students online at www.
dekalbschoolsga.org/online-
registration/.
Families in need of help
with obtaining immunizations
should contact the Department
of Student Health Services in
DeKalb County at 678-676-
1871.
Going with a “Soaring
to New Heights- No Limits
2 Learning” theme, DCSD
will host three back-to-
school rallies on Aug. 4 at
2771 Columbia Road, 3510
Shallowford Road and 1701
Mountain Industrial Blvd.
The rallies all begin at
noon and run until 4 p.m., and
will include school supplies,
health screenings, resources
for parents, live entertainment,
food and refreshments.
DeKalb County schools
now offer School Cafe, a
system that can be used for
applying for free or reduced
lunch by visiting www.
schoolcafe.com.
By using School Cafe,
parents can receive instant
notification about use while
making meal prepayments.
According to the districts
website, a student’s individual
school should be contacted
for bell times, bus routes and
school supply list.
However, for easy
updates on back-to-school
information, the DeKalb
County Schools mobile app is
available for download at www.
dekalbschoolsga.org/news/
dekalb-county-schools-new-
mobile-app/.
SPLOST bumpy, now work begins
COUNTY WIDE
Road to
BY HORACE HOLLOMAN
horace@dekalbchamp.com
For the first time in county
history, DeKalb County voters
approved a Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax
(SPLOST) in November last
year. The tax is estimated to
generate approximately $388
million in revenue over the
next six years.
On July 26, DeKalb County
officials met with residents
during a SPLOST open house
to introduce the county’s
SPLOST Oversight Committee
and the SPLOST Program
Management Team.
DeKalb County CEO
Michael Thurmond said
he was pleased that officials
and lawmakers of diverse
backgrounds were able to work
together.
“The difficult part was to
decide that we would believe,
and we would trust again
and work together again,”
Thurmond said. “To always
live in the negative prevents
you from having a positive
outcome.”
Thurmond has called
SPLOST a “game changer” for
DeKalb, but the process was
delayed two years ago.
In 2016 before a SPLOST
option was put on a
referendum, DeKalb officials
noticed the word “tolled” in
the language of House Bill 596.
If the bill was approved, a tax
break for DeKalb homeowners
“shall be tolled,” effectively
ending the tax break.
Gov. Nathan Deal signed
two pieces of legislation
pertaining to DeKalb County’s
SPLOST. Senate Bill 143
amended the “tolled” language
that sidetracked the SPLOST
referendum in DeKalb County
while Senate Bill 156 made
certain provisions on what the
one-cent sales tax money could
be spent on.
Prior to SB 143 and 156,
some government officials
pushed to build a $40 million
government center.
“This has been a long
time coming and leadership
matters. We would like to
thank the leaders in the
general assembly who passed
the legislation necessary to
get us to this point,” DeKalb
County Commissioner Steve
Bradshaw said. “We’d like to
thank the municipal leaders
around the county for getting
on board with this initiative
and therefore paving the way
for getting their constituents
on board.”
According to DeKalb
officials, SPLOST funding
will be used to improve roads,
public safety, parks, libraries,
senior centers and health
centers. Approximately 318
miles of unincorporated
DeKalb roads rated 30 or worse
will be repaved. The repaving
project will cost approximately
$151 million.
“We are focused, we’re
going to get the work done,
we’re going to be good
stewards of taxpayer’s money
and I promise you we will not
fumble the ball on the one-
yard line,” Thurmond said.
DeKalb County will use the
services of a SPLOST Program
Management Team, Moreland
Altobelli, which was chosen
through a request for proposal
process.
“We’re going to do a good
job for you. This is not our first
rodeo,” said Vickie Moreland,
CFO at Moreland Altobelli.
“We’re going to bring our
expertise to this program and
get your projects delivered on
time.”