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Thomas00
Top Member
USA
546 Posts |
 Posted - 03/19/2002 : 8:26:12 PM
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I was wondering does any of y'all school system have sales tax, money that go toward school funding and buses. Yes even Transportation get part of the funding of 670 million. I thinks this is good system that every school district should try. Here a copy from Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the sale tax.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 3.20.2002]
Fulton voters support sales tax renewal
By S.A. REID
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
Fulton Schools officials and parents are celebrating victory now that voters have agreed to give the penny sales tax another five-year run.
Tuesday's Special Purpose Local Option Tax referendum passed despite fears of voter apathy and the potential negative impact from the city of Atlanta's money woes.
"I'm really pleased that taxpayers in Fulton have made that call," said Ron Jackson, vice president of the Fulton Board of Education. "It really is a good way to fund schools.
"It gives us the opportunity to keep up with the growth and pay as we go. We're not going to have to raise taxes that's the main thing."
Parents and other supporters pooled their power into Citizens for SPLOST II, a grassroots coalition of PTAs throughout Fulton and Atlanta, that rallied to support the district's request for $670 million in sales taxes for capital improvements.
Plans are to build nine new schools, renovate and expand others, replace aging buses, improve technology, build support facilities and pay off debt.
Every school in the district will benefit in some way through smaller projects ranging from improved security to roof replacement. The work, district official say, is necessary because of residential growth and state-mandated limits on class size.
The current SPLOST, passed in 1997, expires June 30. It is expected to bring in as much as $490 million to the district before it expires June 30. It has paid for the construction of 19 schools and other capitol improvements.
Fulton school officials warned the public that if voters did not extend the sales tax, the school system could have been forced to raise property taxes to pay for needed projects. That could have cost property owners as much as $256 a year on a $100,000 home, according to district officials.
~Georgia Drivers Together We Fly High~ |
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2002 : 10:15:16 AM
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The problem with sales tax issues is that even after the projects the tax was levied for have been funded, the politicians find "other needs" that they want to spend that money for, and it's never repealed!
The MARTA tax in Dekalb and Fulton counties in Atlanta are a good/bad example. Only those two counties agreed to pay the additional 1 cent sales tax for rapid transit back in '72. Now not only was theirs not repealed, but taxes were added to Cobb, Gwinnett and a couple others!! I think there must be a strict understanding of what the money can be used for and how long it may be levied.
Joe
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Sales Tax
