Oconee County Schools administrators on Tuesday released an expanded list of athletic projects at the system’s two high schools to be funded if voters approve a new Education Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) on the November ballot.
Included are video scoreboards at the North Oconee High School stadium, converting the existing two practice fields at the school to turf and adding lights, adding a wrestling room and athletic storage, and resurfacing the tennis courts.
At Oconee County High School, the improvements are adding a video scoreboard, renovating the stadium press box, adding an additional practice field with turf and lights, adding athletic storage and athletic changing rooms, extending the current practice field with turf and lights, and resurfacing the tennis courts.
At the Board meeting on Monday, Chief Operations Officer Ryan White had said that “athletic improvements” at the two high schools are included in the project list, along with new roofs at both schools and renovation at North Oconee. He did not elaborate on those "athletic improvements."
The project list for the new ELOST also includes new buses and other vehicle replacements, a list of technology improvements, renovation at Malcom Bridge Elementary School, and addressing “water and weather intrusion issues” at six schools, including Oconee County Elementary School, which has been the source of parent complaints about moisture issues.
The list also includes resurfacing activity courts at Colham Ferry, High Shoals, Oconee County, and Rocky Branch elementary schools.
Voters will be asked on Nov. 5 to approve a referendum extending the current 1 percent sales tax for five years or until $86.8 million is collected to pay for these projects.
The new sales tax will go into effect as soon as the current tax reaches the cap on revenue of $48.5 million approved by voters when it was enacted. The cap is expected to be reached at the end of next year.
Referendum Language
None of these capital projects discussed by White or listed subsequently will be named on the ballot in November for what is being labeled ELOST VII.
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| White (Back To Camera) Before Board 8/4/2025 |
The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration isn’t expected to approve the referendum and ballot language until it meets on Sept. 8, but the referendum approved by the Board on Monday specifies the ballot language the Boards wants.
The November election most likely will have low turnout, as the only statewide election is for two spots on the Public Service Commission. There are no other county issues, but voters in the county’s four cities may have elections on the ballot, depending qualifying later this month.
The language voters will see on the ballot in November asks them to approve or disapprove spending money for five purposes:
(A) acquiring, constructing and equipping the following capital outlay projects: (1) adding to, renovating, repairing, improving, furnishing, and equipping existing school buildings and other buildings and facilities; the potential acquisition of land; service, transportation and maintenance facilities, and other educational facilities, and or additions to, renovations of, repairs to, improvements to, and equipment for existing schools, service, transportation and maintenance facilities and other educational facilities of the School District, including, without limitation, athletic fields and facilities, and infrastructure at all schools and selected other facilities; and replacing, purchasing, upgrading or supplementing capital outlay equipment including, but not limited to, desks, chairs, copiers, tables, security and safety equipment, signage, and laboratory equipment; and paying expenses incident thereto,
(2) network infrastructure and technology to be used at educational and administrative facilities, including, but not limited to, classroom technology infrastructure, computers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices for students and staff, servers, wiring, wireless antennas, displays and other technology upgrades with necessary hardware, software, and programs,
(3) real and personal property for schools, athletic fields and facilities, administrative, service, and transportation and maintenance facilities, and
(4) school buses and/or other vehicles, and
(5) capitalized interest incident thereto (collectively, the “Projects”), and (B) paying a portion of the principal and interest on the outstanding Oconee County School District General Obligation Bonds, Series 2021.
ELOST monies are restricted to capital outlay and debt reduction, and they cannot be used for operating costs. The ELOST tax rate cannot go above 1 percent.
Consequences Of Vague Language
The vague language in the referendum allows the Board flexibility in how it spends the sales tax revenues.
White applauded this flexibility, also in the current ELOST, on Monday night when he spoke of the accomplishments of ELOST VI, approved by voters in March of 2021.
White said the tax had allowed the Board to “add generators to our freezers and coolers, add field lighting to middle and high schools, convert high school stadiums to turf fields and track resurfacing, and add audio enhancement in all elementary and middle schools.”
None of these was listed on the ballot in March of 2021 or even discussed in the communication campaign by Oconee County Schools leading up to the vote.
In March of 2024 the Board voted to spend $1.2 million for generators as a backup for freezers and coolers in schools that did not already have them.
In March of this year, the Board voted to spend $135,290 for an upgrade to the Oconee County High School practice field lighting from recreational lighting to competition level lighting.
In April of this year, the Board voted to spend $722,315 for audio enhancements at Malcolm Bridge Middle School and Oconee County Middle School.
In all three cases, and others over the years, the Board was told by then Superintendent Jason Branch that funding will come from the General Fund and from Education Local Option Sales Tax monies, though no breakout of costs per source was provided–at least to the public.
Resolution Approved
The resolution passed by the Board on Monday divides revenue to be received from the proposed ELOST into two categories.
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| Hammock 8/4/2025 |
The resolution caps the amount that can be collected at $86,770,555, and breaks that amount down as $65,122,805 for the “projects,” and $21,647,750 for principal and interest on the 2021 bonds sold for the current ELOST VI.
It separately states that the Board may borrow $12,135,000 to pay for “the acquisition, construction and equipping of certain capital outlay projects.” Those projects, according to the resolution, are the ones listed in the referendum as described above.
The resolution states that “The purpose for which the debt is to be issued shall be to pay (a) all or a portion of the cost of the Projects, (b) capitalized interest on such debt, and (c) the costs of issuance of such debt.”
“The maximum rate or rates of interest on such debt shall not exceed five and one-half percent (5.5%) per annum,” it states, “and the final maturity of such debt shall be no later than calendar year 2032.”
The broad restrictions imposed by the language of the referendum as listed above constrains in very general terms how that $65,122,805 for the “projects” can be spent, and it is that match that is examined in the annual ELOST Audit, the most recent of which was for Fiscal Year 2024.
The resolution further states that “Excess proceeds of the Educational Sales Tax received by the School District which remain following expenditure of proceeds for authorized projects or purposes for education as described in the Notice shall be used solely for the purpose of reducing any indebtedness of the School District. In the event there is no indebtedness, such excess proceeds shall be used for the purpose of reducing the millage rate of the School District in an amount equivalent to the amount of such excess proceeds.”
“Notice” refers to the language and details of the referendum.
The Board has not released cost estimates for the specific projects it has proposed, and Adams said on Monday one has not been created.
Current Bond Debt
The payment of the 2021 bonds from the current ELOST was not included by White in his list of proposed spending for ELOST VII at the meeting on Monday night, nor was it included in the expanded list sent out by Communications Director Steven Colquitt on Tuesday.
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| Hammond 8/4/2025 |
Board Member Ryan Hammock told Adams at the meeting on Monday that “I did see in here we're talking about, the bottom under B, paying a portion of the principal and interest on the outstanding Oconee County School District GEO bond series 2021" and noted that separately “we have committed roughly ($)13 million in general fund monies to retire those bonds.”
According to the updated budget for Fiscal Year 2026, the Board has set aside $13,462,425 in General Fund monies to pay off that bond.
According to the most recent report on ELOST VI, an additional $13,559,569 is available in that account to make, by the end of 2033, payments on the $46,742,400 in bonded debt.
Bond payments as of June 30 of 2025 have been $9,114,499, leaving $37,627,900 of that $46,742,400 due by the end of calendar year 2033.
The sum of those General Fund committed monies and $13,559,569 unspent in the ELOST VI account is $27,021,994, or just $10,605,906 less than the balance on the bond payments of $37,627,900.
If Adams is correct and the current ELOST reaches it cap at the end of 2026, the tax will produce 17 more months of revenue.
The average monthly collection over the last 16 months is $1,135,271, with only four months falling just below $1 million and one reaching $1.3 million.
So it should be possible to pay off the Series 2021 bonds from the current ELOST collections and the $13.5 million in the General Fund Balance, without taking any money from ELOST VII revenue.
Comparison Of Resolutions
Though the Board and its campaign for the current ELOST VI did not acknowledge it, the language of the referendum had been changed from that used in the 2016 referendum, saying that the ELOST would cover only “a portion” of the costs of the listed projects.
The remainder was to be covered by the General Fund, necessitating the “commitment” of the $13.5 million in the Fund Balance to cover expenses not expected at that time to be met by the revenue from the tax.
The 2025 resolution passed by the Board on Monday does not include “portion,” indicating that the Board does not expect to use General Fund revenues this time to cover the costs of the projects listed to be covered by ELOST VII.
The resolution for the current ELOST capped the revenue at $48.5 million, with bond sales set at $42.95 million.
As Adams noted on Monday, that cap was not much higher than the cap of $45.0 million set in the 2016 for ELOST V. Bond sales were set at $24.5 million in that referendum.
According to the most recent ELOST collections report from Adams, ELOST V generated $44.1 million, or just under its cap of $48.5 million.
Adams said on Monday that he has estimated an 8 percent growth in setting the cap for ELOST VII at $86.8 million.
The resolution for the current ELOST VI authorized $42.95 in bond sales.
The resolution approved by the Board for the proposed ELOST VII authorizes $12.1 million in bond sales.
The current ELOST VI resolution provided no list of project costs.
The proposed ELOST VII lists the $65,122,805 for the “projects,” even though only $12.1 million will be borrowed, and $21,647,750 for principal and interest on the bonds sold for the current ELOST.
Campaign Language
One theme consistent in comments of Adams, White, and Board members on Monday was that voter approval of the referendum in November would continue the sales tax at its current level.
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| Toole 8/4/2025 |
“This does not raise the sales tax rate,” Adams told the Board in his presentation on the ELOST VII resolution. “It continues the current 1 percent that the voters have supported for years. It allows us to fund future projects without interruption, and it starts projects earlier, locking in better pricing.”
“So, this will just be a continuation of the existing penny sales tax,” Hammock said in response, asking Adams for confirmation. “That's what we'll be asking the voters to give a thumbs up to or a thumbs down to.”
“I'm looking forward to the communication strategy around this,” Board Member Adam Hammond said, “because I think our community has made such an investment over the past few ELOSTS and so many great things have happened.”
“So, I'm excited to lift up and celebrate what has been done and then talk about what can be done in the future because, as Ryan said, it's not a additional tax, it's a continuation of what is already in place, much of which will be paid for by people who do not live in Oconee County.”
Board Member Brock Toole followed, saying “a lot of it's coming from outside of the county into here.”
“As a reminder,” White told the Board, “we are currently in ELOST VI, which is a current a penny of sales taxes paid throughout Oconee County regardless if the payer is an Oconee resident or not.”
A Frequently Asked Question sheet that Communications Director Colquitt distributed on Tuesday afternoon states near the top of the sheet that the proposed ELOST is “Not a new tax–this is a continuation of the existing one-cent sales tax” and that it represents “No increase in the sales tax rate – it's an extension, not an additional tax.”
While it is true that the tax rate will remain the same if voters approve the new ELOST VII, the old tax ends when the cap is reached and there will be no tax unless voters approve a new ELOST VII on Nov. 5.
The Frequently Asked Question sheet also claims that “If the ELOST is not renewed the school district will be required to raise property taxes to pay debt which was previously approved by Oconee County voters and is currently outstanding. ELOST directly offsets property tax millage that would otherwise be levied.”
Budget Update
Chief Financial Officer Adams on Monday also presented a revised Fiscal Year 2026 Budget reflecting the millage rate of 13.962 that the Board adopted on Monday, rather than the millage rate of 13.919 used for the budget adopted by the Board in June.
The 13.919 rate presumed a tax digest of $3.816 billion, rather than the $3.802 billion in the final calculation by Oconee County Tax Commissioner Jennifer Riddle.
Oconee County Schools calculates the actual revenue to be received based on 98 percent collection, and the adopted budget lists the expected property tax revenue at $52,053,865.
With the tax digest of $3.802 billion, the millage of 13.962 produces $52,034,263, based on 98 percent collection. That is $19,602 less than was budgeted.
Because Oconee County Schools pays a collection cost to the county of 2 percent of the amount collected, the actual decrease in revenue in the revised budget from the original was $19,209.
The amount of money taken from reserves to balance the budget was $1,370,545 in the revised budget versus $1,351,335 in the original budget, reflecting the $19,209 less in revenue.
Other Reports
Kevin Yancey, Director of Student Services, gave the Board an update on the School Resource Officer Program at the meeting on Monday.
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| Picture Of Yancey Slide 8/4/2025 |
“When our school doors open on Wednesday, we will have eight SRO serving our 12 schools,” he said. “Our goal is to still staff an SRO at all 12 schools, and we're continuing to work in collaboration with Sheriff (James) Hale and (SRO Division Commander) Captain (Mark) Smith to make this happen for our students, faculty, and staff,” he added.
One SRO is at Malcom Bridge Middle and adjoining Malcom Bridge Elementary School, at North Oconee High School and adjoining Rocky Branch Elementary School, at Oconee County Primary and adjoining Oconee County Elementary School, and at Dove Creek Middle and adjoining Dove Creek Elementary School, Yancey reported.
Individual officers also are at Oconee County High School, Colham Ferry Elementary School, Oconee County Middle School, and High Shoals Elementary School, according to Yancey.
Jennifer Whitaker, Chief Academic Officer for Oconee County schools, told the Board that the percentage of students taking at least one Advance Placement (AP) Exam at both of the system’s two high schools in 2025 had increased from a year earlier.
At North Oconee High School, the increase was from 96 to 97 percent, while at Oconee County High School the increase was from 91 to 94 percent.
“The total was the highest in OCS history,” she said. That total figure was 95 percent, up from 82 percent in 2020 and from 94 percent last year.
Whitaker said the total number of students taking at least one AP Exam was the highest it has ever been with 1,113 students, up from 939 in 2020 and 1,086 last year.
In the March 6 official census, North Oconee High School had 1,423 enrolled students, and Oconee County High School had an enrollment of 1,276, or a total of 2,699 high school students.
Video
In my post following the Monday meeting (at 12:18 a.m. on Tuesday), I used uploaded video I had shot from the rear of the room on Monday.
I am embedding below the video uploaded subsequently by Oconee County Schools because the audio is better and it uses two cameras.
The still images used in the post are frames from the video I shot.
Whitaker made her report at 2:59 in the video below.
Yancey made his report at 7:56 in the video.
Adams spoke at 25:22 in the video.
White made his report at 32:21 in the video.
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