A joint House and Senate conference committee is expected to sign off today on provisions for a regional transportation sales tax.

The agreement would set up a vote on the T-SPLOST bill when the Georgia General Assembly reconvenes next week for the final two days of the session.

“It’s kind of a hybrid of different ideas,” said state Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, who is one of the six conferees. “You have defined regions, but there are two opportunities to opt out.”

Under the proposal, votes could be set for the 2012 general election in each of the 12 regional commission districts. On the table: a 1-cent sales tax for 10 years, dedicated to a package of transportation projects within the district.

See a statewide strategic transportation plan.

The projects would be determined by the Georgia Department of Transportation planning director, and local officials could decide if they would call a vote. If voters approve the package, the GDOT also would fund 90 percent of the cost of other road projects in the region.

“There’s a big incentive built in for the local governments and citizens to adopt it,” Smith said. “If you don’t adopt it, you’re not penalized, but there’s an opportunity to leverage your city and county money if it’s consistent with the statewide transportation plan.”

Twenty-five percent of the T-SPLOST revenue would be available for any road project, with 75 percent reserved for the package. The vote would be district-wide.

Floyd County Commission Chairman Eddie Lumsden said his original concerns about the forced partnerships remain, but he is resigned to the proposal.

“We’ll need some method of funding to make projects happen and this seems to be the one they’re putting on the table,” he said. “It’s not necessarily palatable to all, but it is what it is.”

The increased GDOT match is one of the few pluses for Rome Mayor Wright Bagby Jr., but he said a down side is that nothing could happen until after the 2012 vote.

He also questioned the effect a T-SPLOST would have on support for future educational and government SPLOSTs.

“And the other concern is one we’ve had all along. We think a statewide solution rather than a regional solution is the better answer,” Bagby said.

That’s the refrain State Transportation Board member David Doss of Rome has been singing for several years.

Doss pointed out that cities and counties already have the power to dedicate a SPLOST for transportation projects — and that a regional tax provides no new funding for the GDOT.

“Senator Smith is dead wrong if he thinks there is money to match a local T-SPLOST,” Doss said. “We can’t even pay the bills we have now.”

The State Transportation Board passed a resolution last week stating it would not be able to fund the required match to get federal motor fuel tax dollars in 2012. The board is expected to tweak the numbers in the resolution today, but Doss said the message would remain unchanged.