COVINGTON, Ga. - The Newton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a SPLOST Oversight Committee.

The SPLOST, or Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, is a 1 percent sales tax collected by a county to fund debt service, developments and improvements of county and city facilities, greenspace, parks and recreation facilities, public safety needs and road improvements.

Newton County citizens went to the polls last spring and voted by a ratio of 3-to-1 to approve the current SPLOST.

Projects to be funded by the tax were established prior to the vote. This year’s SPLOST took effect July 1.

The committee will consist of seven members, with each commissioner appointing one member. BOC Chairman Marcello Banes also will appoint a member, as will County Manager Lloyd Kerr. Each member will be appointed for a six-year term. The chairman and vice chair of the committee will be chosen from the members.

The committee will develop SPLOST project priorities and timelines and make recommendations to the BOC.

After that, it will monitor progress of the projects and make quarterly status reports to commissioners.

Appointments to the new committee will be made at the BOC’s Jan. 2 meeting.