The Hall County Board of Commissioners has unanimously adopted a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum to go before voters on March 17.

SPLOST VI, if passed by voters, will take effect when the current SPLOST expires at the end of June 2009.

The one-cent tax could generate up to $240 million for capital investment in local infrastructure during its six-year lifespan.

Money from the SPLOST V was used to build the new jail, the Spout Springs library and the 800 MHz emergency radio system.

The list of projects included in SPLOST VI includes road and street improvements, water and sewer system projects, recreational facilities, fire and EMS vehicles, a health department expansion and a North Hall library.

Also on Thursday, the commission voted to approve an intergovernmental agreement with Gainesville for accelerated SPLOST VI payments. The county collects SPLOST revenue and will give Gainesville four years of accelerated payments to fund its new public safety facility.

The new facility, which will house the city’s municipal court, police and fire headquarters, must be complete by June 2010 because of an agreement the city has with developers who plan to build a hotel and office complex on the site of the current public safety facility.

The city will not receive payments in the fifth and sixth years, but will reimburse the county for the interest lost due to accelerating the payments, according to Hall County Public Information Officer Nikki Young.