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Board ponders extending sales tax

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Coweta residents could go to the polls as June to decide if they want to extend the school’s system’s one-cent sales tax.

The school system is facing enormous growth in the county and is looking for ways to fund expansion of existing schools and construction of new schools.

“It’s awfully hard to plan without knowing if we’ll have a large part of income,” said chairman Mitch Powell.

The current sales tax is set to expire in 2006, and board officials want to go ahead and vote on the extension this year. All the board members were unanimous in the benefits of the current sales tax.

“There’s no telling where we would be without the SPLOST,” said board member Mike Sumner.

Board member Sue Brown said she had spent a number of days in Clayton County and was amazed at the number of mobile units used by that school system.

“We don’t want to get in Clayton County’s shape,” she added.

Voters have already passed two SPLOSTs for the school system in the past 10 years and have added an estimated $130 million to the school system’s coffers.

Since the consensus of the board was to move forward, Powell asked attorney Joe McNabb to draw up a resolution of support that could be voted on at the board’s April meeting.