Bryan County ESPLOST, bonds explained
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — For the last 27 years voters have supported Bryan County schools with a penny sales tax, but recent rulings by the county have potentially changed some voters' minds.
ESPLOST, also known as the one penny sales tax, has been in place in Bryan County since 1997. While some residents are for the tax, others want to know where the money is going.
'it's not right that they're not being responsive to what the people are asking for,' Betsy DeBry, a resident of Bryan County, said.
320 million dollars is what Bryan County is asking voters to approve. The money would build 2 new elementary schools, a new high school, an aquatic center, and a lot more. The county said they expect to collect 120 million dollars in 5 years with sales tax money from ESPLOST funds. They are also requesting a 200-million-dollar bond. They said both items are necessary to build infrastructure to keep up with the population growth in the county.
'You're voting to continue the tax, the 1% tax and you're also voting to put in another $200 million bond, which will be another property tax charge on your bill,' said DeBry. 'So, this school system is not listening to the residents of Bryan County, and people are very unhappy about it because we are being taxed really egregiously.'
Some residents said since Bryan Countys Board of Education voted 5-2 to opt out of the homestead expansion last month, citizen's property taxes could already be going up. They said voting against this is their chance to fight back.
'I know one family. The property tax has gone up five times since they bought their house in 2021, and so you don't budget for that. You know, it's not like you sell your house and you get that money. That's it's basically an unrealized gain, and so without some kind of property tax relief, people like, hey, you know what? You're just taken in too much money and you're not you're not using it wisely', said DeBry.
Besty said she knows plenty of people who have had to relocate because of how high their property taxes are, and she worries it's only going to increase.
'It really becomes unsustainable,' DeBry said. 'I mean, there's already you know, my daughter can't afford to live here. She certainly can't afford to buy a house. I know teachers that have to get roommates because they cannot afford to live in Bryan County, because the housing prices are so high or the rents are so high, and a lot of that goes right back to property taxes. The vast majority of our property taxes are all from school.'
We did reach out to Bryan County Board of Education for comment, and they did not respond.
Early voting is underway right now and election day is set for next Tuesday, March 18th. We will keep you updated as we learn more reporting in Bryan County.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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