An intergovernmental agreement for funding for 2007 special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) projects was the result of a joint meeting between the Americus-Sumter County Payroll Development Authority (PDA) and the Sumter County Board of Commissioners (BOC).

The meeting was a called meeting for the BOC, but the PDA was holding its regular monthly meeting. This matter was first brought up at the PDA’s March meeting.

Drawn up and scrutinized by attorneys Bill NeSmith (BOC) and Mike Fennessy (PDA), the agreement will allow the PDA to be an “intermediary” for a loan of $3 million “for the provision of advanced funding for specified 2007 special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) projects for the cities of Americus, Andersonville, DeSoto, Leslie and Plains and the Sumter County Jail and the Correctional Institute,” according to the agreement.

The agreement gives a breakdown of costs for each City’s project, as determined by the SPLOST passed by Sumter voters in September 2007.

The Americus project funded was the Rees Park School Building (now the Americus-Sumter County Economic Development Center) at $1,215,000. The City of Andersonville had a “building renovation” for $134,000; the City of DeSoto had an “addition/renovation” to City Hall for $310,000; and Leslie had the renovation of City Hall and the Police Department for $431,000.

According to the agreement, renovations to the jail and the jail and CI are estimated at $910,000.

According to the agreement, the actual SPLOST funds will not be available until March 2009.

“The ... County has the reasonable expectation that it will receive in excess of $350,000 per month for a period of 72 months,” according to the agreement.

The County is pledging a portion of the collected SPLOST revenues to the PDA “to repay a loan of $3,000,000 plus interest at a rate consistent with the rate charged by the selected lending institution to the Authority and on the same repayment schedule,” according to the agreement.

A request for proposals on the interest rate for financing a $3 million line of credit was submitted, and four banks responded to the request, said PDA Chairman Paul Hall.

In a recap of proposals, the banks were identified as “Bank 1,” “Bank 2,” “Bank 3,” and so on. Each bank gave different options as to how they could finance the line of credit.

After discussion among members of both the PDA and the BOC, “Bank 3,” Sumter Bank & Trust, was chosen, explained Commissioner Brent Williams. The bank offers a 3.54 percent fixed interest rate for the financing, as one of its options.

During the PDA portion of the meeting, Executive Director David Garriga gave an update on the activities that have been going on in economic development in the county.

“I can’t remember a time when we’ve had so much prospect activity,” Garriga said. He added a manufacturing facility that makes casing for hydraulics would provide 100 or more “high skill-level jobs.”

Among other prospects were food processing plants and a company that makes mechanisms for locks on the back doors of some pick-up trucks, according to Garriga.