As Haralson County voters go to the polls in November, they should not only have their minds on the soon-to-be-elected president and state officials but also on the local Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum, all of which will be on the ballot during the general election.

Tallapoosa, which stands to receive $3,256,920 (or 10.8564 percent) of the expected $30 million in SPLOST revenues if the measure is passed, has outlined a project list for the 2009 SPLOST totalling $3,475,000. The SPLOST is not a new tax, rather it is a referendum to continue the current 1 cent sales tax for another six years to provide the county and its cities money for local projects.

“[This tax] will do a lot for the city,” said Tallapoosa City Manager Philip Eidson.

Eidson says the sales tax takes high tax burdens off of county home owners by distributing the tax to everyone who makes a purchase in the county.

“It is a fair tax and is much needed,” he said.

Their are several projects and city entities that stand to receive substantial funding for improvements and upgrades.

According to Eidson, the Tallapoosa Police Department is scheduled to receive $260,000 for necessary equipment upgrades. The funds would go toward purchasing bullet-proof vests for officers and cameras for their cars as well as new computers for the police station and possibly new vehicles.

“Those computers need to be updated pretty often because we have to keep communication with the state and GBI,” Eidson said.

The fire department will be granted $200,000 for new equipment and a new truck.

The police and fire departments will also be allocated $425,000 as part of an administrative building project for the renovation of their current buildings or purchase of new buildings as the current ones are in need of repairs and the police department is housed in two separate buildings at the moment.

“The police department has some leaks and things that need to be fixed, but if we can we would like to put them in a new building so they would all be together and then perhaps put the fire department in a separate, adjacent building,” Eidson said.

The proposed recreation complex, which will be located on Golf Course Road across the street from Talley Mountain Golf Course, has been scheduled to receive $250,000. While work has already begun on the complex, the city has only recently cleared the land in anticipation of receiving SPLOST funds to pay for surveying, grading and installation of basketball courts and fields for baseball, football and soccer.

“If the SPLOST doesn’t pass, we’ll have to stop our progress [on the complex] until we can find the money to finish it,” Eidson said.

The SPLOST, if passed, will also support an expansion for the Tallapoosa Public Library.

Edison says the library has run out of room and needs an additional 1,200 square feet of space. While the SPLOST will not fund the majority of the required funds, it will provide the $65,000 the city is required to provide as a 10 percent match of a state grant they plan to apply for.

The SPLOST would also provide $40,000 each to both the senior center and city cemetery.

“We only have about six lots left,” Eidson said, “and we need to start making arrangements to clear and lay out the three acres we have left.”

Eidson said the funds will cover the costs of surveying, clearing and planning a layout for the remaining three acres the city owns in the cemetery. He said the three acres will last the city about five more years before they have to look into buying more land.

The senior center will be renovated with SPLOST funds as well. Eidson says the city plans to improve the landscaping in order to reduce erosion, repave the parking lot, replace the air conditioning system and paint the building.

Eidson says the city has also allocated $150,000 in order to improve water and sewer infrastructure by replacing water and sewer pipes, installing new valves and looping dead end lines to increase the flow and improve water pressure.

Other allocations include $100,000 for street paving, storm drainage improvement, signs and sidewalks; $100,000 for the purchase of a new backhoe, ditch witch and small excavator for the public works department; and $250,000 for the renovation of the old Tallapoosa High School.

“All of these things can’t be done without the SPLOST,” Eidson admitted.

The SPLOST referendum will be on the ballot during the general election Nov. 4.