The Education Special Purpose Location Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) continuation authorizes the district to levy and collect a one percent sales tax to help fund facility construction, renovations, safety & security improvements, 21st century instructional technology upgrades, and district-wide athletic facility construction & improvements. The ESPLOST cannot be used to pay expenses, such as salaries and operational costs.
The ESPLOST continuation provides a method of funding educational improvements in which everyone contributes—not just property owners. Macon & Bibb County especially benefit from being a retail center in middle Georgia, and sales tax is paid by everyone who shops or stays in Bibb County. According to Georgia Institute of Technology's Enterprise Innovation Institute, 71.4% of ESPLOST revenue comes from people who live outside of Bibb County. The continuation of the ESPLOST extends the current education 1% sales tax for an additional five years or until the approved $198.5 million are collected.
On November 3, the Bibb County community approved the continuation of the ESPLOST, which will fund the construction of five new elementary schools, including Heard Elementary; new construction and extensive improvements to athletic facilities at all middle and high schools, including field houses at four high schools; improvements to other schools; improvements in technology; and purchasing new buses.
"The district has made significant progress towards providing all students with a high-quality learning environment," says Acting Superintendent Sylvia W. McGee. "The community has shown a tremendous amount of support by allowing the district to continue this work.
The Bibb County School District’s 2005 Capital Improvement Program, through the ESPLOST, invested $165 million in upgrades, additions, improvements, and new schools in Bibb County. Included in that Program were: the new Central and Southwest High Schools; extensive renovations and a gymnasium expansion at Northeast High School; the new Ingram-Pye Elementary School; the new Early Childhood Learning Center; the new Howard High, Ballard-Hudson Middle, and Bloomfield Middle Schools; extensive renovations at Hartley Elementary School; and improvements and upgrades to other school facilities.
The four new facilities which opened this year - the Early Childhood Learning Center, Ingram-Pye Elementary, Central High, and Southwest High - were constructed as high performance facilities. A high performance school addresses a sustainable site, water management, energy efficiency, material use, and indoor environmental quality to save substantial energy costs, provide a better learning environment, promote healthy occupants, reduce absenteeism, increase teacher retention, and provide a more durable, lower maintenance building.
Prior to the 2005 Program, the district completed the 5-year, $150 million 2000 Capital Improvement Program, which constructed 11 new schools and the Central Kitchen facility; provided improvements and upgrades to 11 schools and two athletic facilities; and added additional classrooms at 16 schools."
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