COBB COUNTY - Four of Cobb's six mayors and county Chairman Tim Lee met Tuesday night for dinner and discussion as the region prepares for what could be three Special Local Option Sales Tax votes within the next three years.

Most of the discussion among Lee, Powder Springs Mayor Pat Vaughn, Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin, Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon and Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews revolved around House Bill 277, which was passed this year to allow voters to decide on a 10-year, one-percent sales tax in the metro Atlanta region to be used mainly for regional transportation projects. Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins and Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood were not in attendance.

With the bill, each of the 12 counties in the designated district are required to have the county chair and a mayor suggest transportation projects they would like to see funded by the regional SPLOST, if approved by voters in November 2012. Cobb's mayors designated Mathews to be Cobb's mayoral representative for the roundtable Tuesday night, a job that Mathews said he wanted and had time to do.

Mathews has served on the Atlanta Regional Commission since last summer when former Marietta Mayor Bill Dunaway stepped down from the ARC post. His post will end when his term as mayor ends in 2012, and Lee said Mathews' experience on the regional transportation-oriented ARC will benefit him as the roundtable's representative.

Lee said the meeting with the mayors, conducted at Smyrna's Atkins Park restaurant, was needed because the names of the representatives have to be finalized by Nov. 10, and the first meeting of the 25-member roundtable (Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will also join the panel) is scheduled for Nov. 15.

The list of projects will go through a series of approvals, with the roundtable submitting its recommendations to the Georgia Department of Transportation Director of Planning Todd Long next spring or summer. GDOT will then shrink the list before sending it to the executive committee of five people voted on by members of the roundtable for approval by Aug. 15, 2011. Once the executive committee releases its final list of projects, two public meetings are required to be held in the region before the roundtable approves, amends or denies the list to be voted on by the district's voters.

The regional SPLOST, with a one-percent sales tax added onto sales in each of the district's 12 counties and Atlanta, would be split up as follows: 85 percent would be used for regional transportation systems, such as a regional rail system or a truck-only highway; and 15 percent would go to the cities and counties directly, to be split based on factors such as population and paved road mileage.

But many in attendance had their questions as to whether the cities would receive as much money as they currently do through the county SPLOST, and were concerned Cobb voters would not approve three SPLOST's in three years. If the county SPLOST is brought forward, it is likely to be voted on in March 2011, while the regional SPLOST will be decided in November 2012, and the Cobb County School Board SPLOST could come up again when it ends in 2013.

"The ARC already has a plan out there and they're driving the engine. It would be the same board, the same people on it. And I don't think people in Clayton County care about widening a street in Marietta, so it makes it difficult for me to say I'm completely sold on it," Tumlin said.

Vaughn said, "It's going to be a tough sale, with so many SPLOSTS coming before people."

Lee said he and Mathews will have to support the bill as members of the roundtable; otherwise, if no list is approved by the roundtable, municipalities in the district will have to match 50 percent of local transportation grants received by the Georgia Department of Transportation for two years, while Cobb Department of Transportation Director Faye DiMassimo said most grants through GDOT currently require a 20 percent match. If the roundtable passes the list, the match goes from 50 percent to 30 percent, and if voters pass the list, the match goes from 30 percent to 10 percent for 10 years.

DiMassimo said the regional SPLOST, if passed, is expected to generate $8 billion over its 10-year span; therefore, Cobb would receive around $120 million a year to be dispersed for projects of the county and city's choosing. But Lee said County Finance Director Jim Pehrson would estimate the number to be closer to $7 billion, while ARC expects the number to be closer to $13 billion when taking into account money saved on the local match.

Lee said one of the challenges of placing another county SPLOST on the ballot, which passed only by 118 votes in 2005, is that the regional SPLOST would then have less of a chance to be approved. But if the Board of Commissioners does not present voters with another local SPLOST and the regional transportation SPLOST does not pass, no SPLOST funding will be available to improve Cobb's roads. Likewise, if a county SPLOST is not put forth and the regional SPLOST is approved, the county will be faced with a two-year gap with no SPLOST funding as the current local SPLOST ends in 2011 and funding for the regional projects would not become available until January 1, 2013.

If the county wants to propose a new local SPLOST, though, Lee said wheels would have to start turning quickly as public hearings on a list developed by county and city officials will have to begin in October. Lee said the local SPLOST could also be voted on next November, but the closer the SPLOSTs are in their voting spans, the less likely they could be passed.

The regional SPLOST could be passed, however, even if Cobb voters do not vote to approve the SPLOST as the votes are taken on a region-wide basis.

Tumlin called the situation a "gamble" and said SPLOST funding has become critical to funding street repairs.

Bacon also acknowledged the difficult situation the Board of Commissioners is faced with, but said he feels a regional transportation SPLOST would benefit Cobb, even if the projects were not specific to Cobb.

"I hope this list everyone comes up with will address the issues of moving traffic throughout the region and really look into some of the things we've talked about forever, such as light rail," Bacon said.

Mathews agreed.

"The whole purpose of this is to get us thinking more regionally. A project may not be high on a priority list for a city but if it eases traffic throughout the region and gets people from Cobb to Atlanta and back quicker, then it's a huge benefit," Mathews said.

Moving forward, Mathews said he would keep the other mayors informed on progress of the bill and receive input from the mayors for projects they would like to see included in the list. Lee said he will receive projected figures for another local SPLOST as well as finalized predictions for the regional SPLOST on Friday, which will give the board a better comparison of SPLOST funding that would be made available to the county and cities from each SPLOST scenario.