Our View: Parks, other projects are coming along
Encouraging.
That best describes news shared by various county entities this past week.
The benefits parks provide a community is a given. That parks remain a priority in Greenwood County was evidenced by Thursday’s gathering in which concept drawings for renovations of existing parks were shared along with potential park projects in the county. Hodges, Troy and the Foundry Road area are in line for parks.
These projects are thanks to dollars being collected through the county’s capital project sales tax, which voters approved in 2016. This past fall, county officials delivered the news that the penny sales tax, projected to amass roughly $88 million, was not tracking as well as anticipated, going so far as to say its eight-year run could fall short by as much as $20 million. It remains to be seen how much of a shortfall, if any, there will be but a shortfall would mean some of the 27 projects originally on the to-do list might be put on hold.
Of course, we all hope that is not the case but projections of that length and scope are not an exact science. We would imagine that if some projects don’t get the funding by the expiration of the tax there would be an effort to get voters to approve another run on a capital project sales tax in an effort to make good on that list.
Speaking of the tax, that’s where the next bit of encouraging news comes. The latest quarterly report shows a marked increase in collections, with January reaching $2,422,793 — about $10,000 more than the previous quarter.
Projects are getting done as the tax dollars flow in. How far we get down the list certainly remains to be seen, but as we said, there are encouraging signs.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Feb 2, 2020