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Troup County has asked the Troup County School System to pay for the upcoming E-SPLOST election.

Per the county, the cost is estimated to be $53,800, with most of the cost going to pay poll workers ($40,000). 

Additional fees include a truck rental ($2,200), overtime fees ($1,500), printing ballots ($5,000), office supplies ($1,000), Board of Elections board member fees ($600), postage ($1,000) and advertising for qualifying ($2,500).

The election will take place March 16 and early voting begins Feb. 22.

“They’ve asked us to basically pay for this election because we’re the only thing on the ballot,” said Superintendent Brian Shumate. “And given the circumstances that they’re under and that we’re under, I think it’s a fair thing to pay for.”

Shumate noted that the county has had a lot of elections to deal with recently, including the General Election, which included numerous recounts and the recent U.S. Senate run-off.

The source of the funding will be the TCSS’ general fund.

E-SPLOST stands for Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and if approved would be the continuation of a one-cent sales tax on all retail purchases in Troup County. 

If approved, TCSS said the upcoming E-SPLOST would fund the building of a new Rosemont Elementary School, athletic facilities at Callaway High School, as well as many other projects. 

Other topics discussed Tuesday include the following:

• The school board will vote Thursday on approving a $500,000 payment to the city of LaGrange as part of an intergovernmental agreement for a waterline extension for the new Rosemont Elementary School. 

TCSS closed on the Rosemont site last week for a total cost of $550,000, Shumate said. The sale included two parcels — one is 33 acres and one is 5 acres. The waterline will be extended from its current location on John Lovelace Road to a meter that will be installed near the property line at 4679 Hamilton Road. 

Shumate said the city of LaGrange has estimated the cost will be around $2 million for the entire project. Per the agreement, Troup County will pay LaGrange ten annual installments of 57,129.38.

•  Assistant Superintendent Penny Johnson told the board that TCSS had decided to waive the final exam/end of course assessment requirement, which says that those assessments will count for 20% of a high school student’s final grade. This year only final exams/end of course assessments will count for 0.01% of the final grade.