On September 21, 1999, Peach County voters passed the following Special Local Option Sales Tax SPLOST referendum, offered pursuant to a July 27, 1999 resolution of the Peach County Board of Commissioners:Shall a special 1 percent sales and use tax be imposed in Peach County for a period of time not to exceed 5 years and for the raising of not more than $12,000,000.00 for the purpose of a capital outlay project or projects which will be owned or operated or both by the County and one or more municipalities in the County or any combination thereof to construct future water, sewer and waste water lines and treatment facilities for the use and benefit of the citizen’s sic of both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Peach County The $12 million was raised, but has not been spent. On January 2, 2007, appellants Ira Hicks, Melvin Walker and Geoffrey Ibim, acting individually and as representatives of unincorporated association Concerned Citizens for Good Government, filed a petition for mandamus, injunctive relief and attorney’s fees against the current members of the Peach County Board of Commissioners, alleging that the allocation of the SPLOST funds set forth in an intergovernmental agreement executed in 2006 is inconsistent with the purpose approved by the voters.1 The trial court denied the relief sought in the petition and this appeal ensued. Prior to the 1999 resolution, the Board had charged the Peach County Water and Sewer Authority with developing a long-term plan to address the water, sewer, and waste water needs of Peach County. An engineering firm hired by the Authority proposed a countywide system utilizing a centralized waste water treatment plant; the system would be put in place over a period of at least 20 years at a cost of approximately $80 million in 1999 dollars. A decision was made to begin with the first phase of the plan, which included construction of the centralized waste water plant in east Peach County and connection of the Cities of Fort Valley and Byron to this facility over a period of five years. The $12 million in SPLOST funds sought by the Board was an estimate of the amount that could be raised by a one percent tax based on historical sales figures, and was not related to the cost of this project. Appellants acknowledge that the funds were considered to be “seed money” that would be insufficient to cover even the first phase of the long-term plan.
Simultaneously with the Board’s adoption of the July 27, 1999 resolution, the Board, the Authority, the City of Fort Valley, and the Fort Valley Utility Commission signed an intergovernmental agreement to use the SPLOST funds in accordance with the proposed plan, specifically referencing the construction of the centralized waste water treatment plant and connection of Fort Valley and Byron to this facility. It is uncontroverted that the City of Byron never signed the agreement. After the SPLOST funds had been raised, an amended agreement was executed by all entities, including the City of Byron, pursuant to which the County’s waste water treatment needs would be handled by an upgraded Fort Valley facility, which had come into compliance with Environmental Protection Division parameters since the passage of the SPLOST, and by a new facility to be constructed in Byron. The Fort Valley project was allocated $3.5 million; $4.5 million was allocated for building the new Byron facility; and the remaining $4 million in SPLOST funds and approximately $1.5 million in interest remain unallocated.
