Every time you buy something in Macon-Bibb, a penny on the dollar goes to SPLOST — a sales tax voters approved for building things. You've been paying it for years. Here's where it goes, and how to check that for yourself instead of taking anyone's word.
If you're fuzzy on what SPLOST even is, start with What Is SPLOST?. The one-minute version: it's a 1% sales tax that can only pay for capital projects, never day-to-day operations, and only after voters approve it.
The penny you're paying now
The current SPLOST is the one Macon-Bibb voters approved on March 18, 2025 — and they approved it big, with 83% voting yes. The county expects it to raise about $450 million for capital projects.
One reason SPLOST keeps passing here: a lot of it isn't paid by you. The county, citing a Georgia Tech study, says more than 71% of the penny is paid by visitors — people passing through who buy gas, food, and goods while they're in town. That's a large share of local building funded by people who don't live here.
What it's allowed to pay for
A SPLOST can only fund what was on the ballot voters approved. For this one, the county listed these categories:
- Roads, streets, and bridges
- Public safety facilities
- Recreational facilities
- Economic development to create jobs
- Water and sewer projects
- Retiring previously incurred general-obligation debt
Notice what's not on the list: salaries, utilities, the day-to-day cost of running the county. SPLOST legally can't touch those. It builds and buys; it doesn't operate. That line is the whole point of the tax.
Where the money actually goes, and how to check
Here's the part most people never use. The county has to publish a SPLOST annual report every year, showing what was collected and what it was spent on. Macon-Bibb posts them on its SPLOST page — the FY22 through FY25 reports are there as downloadable documents. That's the receipt.
The reports break spending down by project and category, so you can trace a specific line — a fire station, a stretch of repaved road, a park upgrade — instead of a lump sum. If you want to know whether the penny went where voters were promised, you don't have to trust a press release. You can read the county's own accounting. And because Macon-Bibb voters have renewed SPLOST again and again, there are years of these reports to compare, not just one.
Past SPLOST pennies paid for the ongoing road-repaving work you've seen around town, public-safety equipment and facilities, recreation centers and parks, and economic-development projects. The 2025 penny continues that, with roads a stated priority.
Why this is worth watching
SPLOST is real money, and it's restricted money. Because voters sign off on a specific list, the county isn't supposed to quietly redirect it — a road penny can't become a payroll penny. The annual report is where that promise gets kept or broken, in public. When a big project stalls or the priorities shift, that's a fair thing to raise with your commissioner or at a Commission meeting.
The four pennies on your receipt
Buy something in Macon-Bibb and you pay 8% sales tax. Four cents of that is the state's. The other four are local — and they are four separate taxes, approved in four separate elections, spent on different things by different governments. SPLOST is only one of them.
- LOST, the local option sales tax — goes to the county's general fund for day-to-day operations, and state law requires it be used to hold property taxes down.
- OLOST, the "other" local option sales tax — voters approved it in November 2021 with about 81%, and collection started January 1, 2022. At least 20% must go to public safety, the rest goes to the general fund, and it comes with a property tax rollback too.
- SPLOST, the county's building penny — the one this article is about. Capital projects only, never operations.
- ELOST, which the school district calls ESPLOST — the school system's building penny. Different government, different ballot, different project list. Bibb voters renewed it on November 4, 2025 with more than 73%, worth up to $250 million over five years, and collections restarted April 1, 2026. That restart is why the local rate went from 7% back to 8% this spring.
The line that matters: LOST and OLOST pay to run the county. SPLOST and ELOST pay to build things. So when someone says "the penny," it's worth asking which one they mean — and the schools' penny is covered in what the Bibb County Board of Education does.
Where to go next
- What Is SPLOST? — the plain-English basics of the penny tax.
- What does Macon-Bibb County government do? — how SPLOST fits alongside the budget and the millage rate.
- Commission — where SPLOST project decisions get voted on.
- Ask Mulberry — ask what SPLOST is funding, or how to find a specific project.
Macon-Bibb County — SPLOST approved by voters (maconbibb.us) — Macon-Bibb voters approved the SPLOST on March 18, 2025, with 83% support and roughly $450 million expected; the funded categories are roads/streets/bridges, public safety facilities, recreational facilities, economic development to create jobs, water and sewer, and retiring previously incurred general-obligation debt; the county cites a Georgia Tech study that more than 71% of the penny is paid by visitors.
Macon-Bibb County — SPLOST page and annual reports (maconbibb.us) — the county publishes SPLOST annual reports (FY22–FY25) documenting what was collected and spent, broken down by project and category.
What Is SPLOST? (PeachTracker Civic Desk) — SPLOST is a voter-approved 1% sales tax that may fund only capital projects, not operations.
Georgia Department of Revenue — Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart, effective July 1, 2026 (dor.georgia.gov) — the Bibb County row reads "011 Bibb 8 L E S O": a total rate of 8%, made up of the state rate plus LOST, Educational (ELOST), SPLOST, and Other (OLOST). The January 1–March 31, 2026 chart listed Bibb at 7% with L, S and O only; the rate returned to 8% on the April 1, 2026 chart when the renewed education penny resumed.
Bibb County School District — ESPLOST (bcsdk12.net) — on November 4, 2025, Bibb County voters approved a renewal of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax by more than 73 percent, for another five years; the district reports a Georgia Tech finding that more than 70 percent of sales tax funds are collected from non-Bibb County residents. The renewal is valued at up to $250 million over five years.
Macon-Bibb County — OLOST passes (maconbibb.us) — voters approved the OLOST on November 2, 2021 with almost 81% support; it is a one-penny sales tax funding government services including public safety, with a required property tax rollback. Collection began January 1, 2022, with at least 20% of collections directed to public safety.
Last reviewed July 2026. For current project totals and status, read the county's latest SPLOST annual report.