East Cobb residents can weigh in on how $1.2 billion in sales-tax revenue gets spent at a public session Tuesday, Sept. 22, in Marietta.

Cobb County is presenting the proposed project list for the 2028 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) renewal on the Second Floor at the David Hankerson Building, 100 Cherokee St., from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The session is part of a series the county is holding this fall ahead of the Nov. 3 ballot, when voters will decide whether to renew the one-cent sales tax for another six years.

The Board of Commissioners approved the project list at its April 28 meeting. The county projects $1.2 billion in collections from Jan. 1, 2028, through Dec. 31, 2033, according to the SPLOST booklet. The current SPLOST expires Dec. 31, 2027, and the county's brochure says the renewal would not raise the total sales-tax rate, which stays at 6%.

What's in it for East Cobb

Several projects in District 3, represented by Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, target East Cobb directly.

The biggest single item is a $20 million replacement for the East Cobb Library. The library currently occupies a leased 16,864-square-foot retail space in the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center at Johnson Ferry and Lower Roswell Roads. That lease expires July 31, 2029. The county's project highlights document lists the proposed new building at 28,000 square feet, though a separate county brochure puts it at 20,000. The library drew more than 132,000 patrons in 2024, making it the second-highest-circulating branch out of 15 in the county system.

Road and intersection work in the district includes $2.5 million for Johnson Ferry Road corridor improvements, $3.5 million for the Shallowford Road and McPherson Road intersection, and $1.5 million for the Lower Roswell Road and Old Papermill Road intersection, according to the consolidated project list.

Other East Cobb-area items: $8.2 million for the Tim D. Lee Senior Center expansion, $3 million for Tritt Park construction and land acquisition, $3 million for Sope Creek watershed improvements, and $400,000 each for Terrell Mill parking and drainage upgrades and Hyde Farm renovations.

Countywide transportation

Across the county, transportation leads the proposed budget at roughly $309 million. That includes about $130 million for resurfacing across the county's approximately 2,398 miles of roadway, $18 million for pedestrian improvements such as new trails and sidewalks, $4 million for school-zone improvements and $2 million for traffic calming.

Under Georgia law, SPLOST revenue is restricted to capital projects and cannot fund routine county operations. Cobb has collected the tax since 1995.

How to participate

Three more sessions remain this fall: Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Milford Recreation Center in Marietta; Thursday, Oct. 15, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at West Cobb Senior Center in Powder Springs; and Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the David Hankerson Building. Residents can also email questions to [email protected].

The Nov. 3 vote will determine whether the tax continues.