City and county officials in Savannah will hold a beam-signing ceremony on Monday, November 3, to mark progress on the Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC). The event, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at 840 Hitch Dr., brings together leaders from both the City of Savannah and Chatham County.
Commission Chairman Chester Ellis and Mayor Van R. Johnson II are set to sign the final structural beam of the new facility. “The ECLC, a project of the East Savannah Gateway Redevelopment Plan, is designed to provide quality education-based childcare services for up to 144 children from ages six weeks to four,” according to organizers. The initiative seeks to address educational and economic health disparities in East Savannah.
The ECLC is funded through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) 7, which has supported numerous local projects since its inception in 1985. Nearly $600 million of SPLOST funding has come from visitors outside Chatham County, with almost 40% of collections paid by non-residents. The tax has financed more than $1.5 billion in community projects without increasing property taxes for residents or business owners.
SPLOST funds have been used for infrastructure improvements such as drainage upgrades, road paving, park development, and redevelopment efforts like Ellis Square and Savannah Gardens. The current SPLOST 7 period began in 2020 and runs through 2025. Projects under this cycle include renovations to historic Savannah City Hall and major drainage improvements.
Monday’s ceremony also comes ahead of a county-wide vote on SPLOST 8 scheduled for November 4. If approved by voters, this next phase would fund construction of a second Early Childhood Learning Center.
For more information about the SPLOST penny tax and upcoming projects it may support, residents can visit savannahga.gov/splost.
“The Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) has been one of the greatest community development tools in the history of municipal government. Almost 40% of the 1-penny sales tax is paid for by visitors to our community, but all of the proceeds directly benefit the citizens of Chatham County, funding critical projects without relying on property taxes paid by home and business owners. Since the first referendum in 1985, SPLOST has helped fund more than $1.5 billion worth of projects, nearly $600 million of which has been paid for by visitors who live outside Chatham County. The City of Savannah’s share of SPLOST has totaled more than $500 million during this time. Almost 40% of those dollars have been spent on drainage, which has dramatically improved living conditions in all areas of Savannah. SPLOST has also paved miles of roads and sidewalks, added new neighborhood parks, and created exciting projects that have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment, such as the redevelopment of Ellis Square and Savannah Gardens. The current SPLOST 7 collection period began in 2020 and runs through 2025. It includes some community-changing projects, such as the renovation and restoration of the historic Savannah City Hall and the Casey South Drainage Improvement project.”
