Pike County voters on Tuesday rejected a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referendum that would have imposed a 1 percent sales tax for a six-year period and generated $8 million to fund major projects over three phases.

According to Pike County Manager Steve Marro, the first phase would have been a judicial complex to house the clerk of courts, Superior and Probate courts, the grand jury and two judges’ chambers.

When asked about his reaction to the referendum results, Marro said, “I guess the only thing I can say is the voters spoke and they obviously weren’t very happy with the SPLOST. What else can I say? To be honest, I’ve never been in this position before.”

Despite the outcome of Tuesday’s vote, Marro said the major projects that would have been addressed by SPLOST funds remain.

“I’m disappointed that the county won’t be able to address the needs of the courthouse for at least another year,” he said. “There’s no money in the budget for it and that’s really too bad. We’ve got to do something there, but the voters said no. The votes have been cast.”

Marro said he does not know what future responses to the SPLOST rejection may be.

“It’s pretty much up to the judges as to what they want the county to do. Whether or not they’ll want to continue to hold court there, I don’t know,” he said. “All I can say is that there’s not even money in the budget to paint the ceilings.”

Also unknown is what future action the Pike County Board of Commissioners will take with regard to the procurement of revenue for necessary major projects.

“I really don’t know what the commission is going to do — whether they’ll go with a bond or another SPLOST referendum,” Marro said. “I’m sure they’ll go to legal counsel for advice and I’m certain there will be upcoming discussions on how best to proceed to meet the county’s needs.”