BRASELTON — The town of Braselton and five other Gwinnett County municipalities will get more time to spend special purpose local option sales tax money for transportation and parks and recreation ventures.

Braselton’s portion of the SPLOST money from a 2001 referendum, which totals $88,532 in roads and bridges and $195,334 in parks and recreation funding, can only be spent on projects in those two categories, because that’s what the referendum specified.

The referendum also stipulated the funds should be spent by this July, but Braselton and other Gwinnett towns who have yet to spend all the money will get more time.

"There’s a requirement in the SPLOST referendum that tells you how long you have to spend the funds," Braselton Town Manager Jennifer Dees said.

"In Gwinnett County, the money was for parks and recreation and transportation inside the city within that portion of the city that falls in Gwinnett."

Parts of The Falls subdivision, Mulberry Park, Chateau Elan’s gated community and some undeveloped property fall within Gwinnett County’s boundaries, and the town still is looking for the right spot to develop a new park within this section of Braselton, Dees said.

"The park money ... we’ve had a little more trouble finding an accessible location to the public," she said. "We have a couple of ideas, but that one’s a little harder to locate a spot. You don’t want to put a park in an area where you don’t know what’s going to be developed."

Though Gwinnett hasn’t given Braselton a specific timeline for the extension, Dees said the town wants to be sure it spends the funds on the right location.

"Everyone wants to make sure that they’re using the money for the best project possible," she said. "I think it’s great that the voters approved these SPLOST projects and I think it’s great that the money is still going to be expended."