Cobb Co. to vote on 1-cent education SPLOST

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Supporters and opponents of a one-cent sales tax for Cobb County schools will be out on Monday, encouraging voters to show up at the polls.

The vote for the special purpose local option sales tax is set to take place on Tuesday. A "yes" vote would extend the current tax for another five years. "No" will let the SPLOST expire.

Walton High School in Marietta has been plastered in signs encouraging voters to head to the polls. It is one of the schools that stands to get the most repairs if the SPLOST passes.

The sales tax is expected to bring in more than $700 million for use on school-related capital improvements for Cobb County. Opponents and supporters agree that the schools need the money, but some are concerned that not enough people know about the vote.

"Why couldn't we have had this vote five months ago?" David Staples of the Cobb Taxpayers Association said.

Jo Ellen Smith is part of Face It Cobb, a group hoping to fuel support for the tax.

"The people who really feel strongly about this one way or the other will turn out. A lot of people just aren't informed or they aren't following it," Smith said.

Staples also questioned the list of improvements the tax would fund.

"Over $120 million that is focused on sports and recreation, and yet no one's discussing things like going away from the traditional textbook to a more digitized format," Staples said.

Those who are following the vote said less than 10 percent of eligible voters will cast a ballot.

WSBTV