The 2017 ESPLOST passed Tuesday night with 87.4 percent of voters choosing “yes” for the 1 cent sales tax that goes toward new facilities, renovations and retiring bond debt in Decatur County schools.

“I’m very excited,” Decatur County Superintendent Tim Cochran said. “The community got out and supported it.Hopefully it means we are doing something right and the community is behind us.”

ESPLOST will help Decatur County schools maintain and improve their buildings, bus fleet, technology and other equipment to better the education of their students.

Notably, the passing of the 2017 ESPLOST will help pay for the construction of Bainbridge High School. The high school’s debt, in the form of bonds, will be paid off of several ESPLOST cycles.

Out of the 654 total voters for ESPLOST, 569 votes “yes” and 82 voted “no.”

“We just keep moving forward,” Cochran said. “It just maintains our collections. It just maintains our revenue.”