There was a theatric finish Thursday to the debate over a new 1-cent county sales tax as the County Commission approved the measure with three “Yeas,” one “Nay,” one abstention, and a round of applause.A man in sunglasses holding a yellow sheet of paper that read “No New Taxes!!” asked repeatedly to speak before the commission made its vote, and finally was given one minute to voice his opposition.
“Looks like we have a room full of lobbyists,” the man said to a crowded audience.
Commission Chairman Eli Henderson responded that the tax increase was an investment in the children of Calhoun County.
“It’s time today for all good men to come to the aid of their county,” Henderson said before calling the vote.
Commissioners Henderson, James Dunn and J.D. Hess, the commission’s only Republican, voted in favor of the sales tax increase. Commissioner Robert Downing voted against it, and Commissioner Rudy Abbott abstained.
Hess said he had spent long hours contemplating his vote beforehand. He said the tax increase would go only toward providing area children with a quality education, not salary increases or other benefits.
“There is a crucial need for this,” he said.
Downing said he voted against the measure because residents’ bank accounts were hurting enough from the economic crisis. He said he feared the tax increase could hurt the county in other areas.
“I don’t want to give a disincentive for businesses,” he said.
The tax increase will take effect Jan. 1. Officials estimate it will pump at least $12 million into public schools in the county. The revenue will be divided according to the enrollment of each of the county’s five school systems.
Approval of the measure comes at a time when education officials around the state are bracing for an expected proration announcement from the governor’s office in the coming months.
Calhoun County was one of just four counties in the state that did not provide sales tax revenue to its schools, Jacksonville schools Superintendent Eric Mackey said.
Mackey said the tax increase is needed because Calhoun County is perennially at the bottom of the pack in education spending in the state, spending an average of $508 per student when many counties average $1,000 or more.
“It’s not like we’re trying to outspend everybody, just get on an even playing field,” Mackey said.
Calhoun County Schools Superintendent Judy Stiefel said officials would rely on the funds from the tax increase to get the education system through the next few years.
“We have to have an increase in revenue just to do things we’re required to do by the state,” she said.
Tom Young, chairman of the County Board of Education, said the county had reached a point of such desperation that there was no other measure that could be taken to salvage the school system.
“There is a segment that is opposed to any tax at any time, and if you confine the tax to essentially benefiting schoolchildren, most people I think find that more palatable than any other kind of tax,” Young said.
The Oxford City Council voted on Nov. 4 to increase the city’s sales tax to 5 cents, meaning it will go up to a dime when combined with the 4-cent state sales tax and the county’s new levy. Oxford’s total sales tax will be tied for second highest in the state, behind Hayneville, when the increases go into effect.
