JEFFERSON — During a joint meeting Thursday, members of the Jefferson City Council and the Jackson County Board of Commissioners will be hashing out the details of a possible Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax V.

SPLOST IV doesn’t end until June 2011, but county officials say it is important for the groups to begin looking at a new SPLOST and a list of potential projects.

Due to House Bill 296, any vote on SPLOST must be on the ballot during the July primary election or the November general election in 2010, or in March and November of 2011, said Hunter Bicknell, county commission chairman, in a letter to the City Council.

“In prior years, we had the ability to hold a special election when a SPLOST referendum was the only item on the ballot,” he said.

The SPLOST V discussion is just a first step in the decision-making process.

The county commissioners and City Council members also are expected to discuss updating their Local Government Service Delivery Strategy, which is an agreement between the local governments to provide nonduplicated, quality services to all residents.

Some of the negotiations are expected to center around elections, jail services and road and bridge construction.

An updated service agreement should be available for adoption by July.