Friday, April 13, 2001
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Friday, April 13, 2001 |
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School chief hints at tax hike By JOHN
THOMPSON
The first fallout of the failed SPLOST proposal occurred Tuesday night when School Board Chairman Mike Sumner said that a tax increase might be inevitable. Coweta voters went to the polls March 20 and defeated by a narrow margin an extension of the school system's current one-cent sales tax. Now, the board is staring down projects that were to be paid for by the tax, but no money to fund them. Sumner said the county is currently doing reassessments on a portion of the county's property owners. Since the property values are surely going up, Sumner believes many homeowners will be facing a tax increase this fall. The school system had pledged to reduce the millage rate by one mil if voters passed the tax. Since the school system will not be lowering the rate, there is no cushion to help homeowners who see a jump in their assessment. Superintendent of Education Richard Brooks also announced that after the SPLOST defeat, he immediately froze spending on any projects that were not absolutely necessary. Prior to the regular board meeting, resident senior citizen Bill Cussard told the board why the vote failed. "You've got 35,000 people that didn't vote," he said. The senior said all the blame could not be laid at the feet of seniors who were upset with the board for not moving quicker in finding a tax break for senior citizens. In fact, Cussard said he would pay for flyers if the board decided to call for another vote next spring, but added he would like to see some tax relief. He suggested the board follow what Cobb County did. Cussard said Cobb officials gave seniors a sign-up period to come in and prove their age and where they lived. The seniors who signed up were granted a 100 percent exemption on the school portion of their tax bills. Board Member Alan Payton asked Cussard if he knew what Cobb County's millage rate was. Cussard said he did not ask that question and Payton said many of the counties in the area have higher millage rates than Coweta. The board has not decided if they will seek another vote for a SPLOST next spring.
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