Oppose reducing sales tax funding to local goverments –Lowndes County Board of Education against HB 170

According to Terri Welden at the Lowndes County School Superintendent’s office just now, the Lowndes County Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution against HB 170 last night. It reads in part:

WHEREAS, this Board urges the members of the Georgia General Assembly and our local delegation to strongly oppose any provision or measure to reduce allocation of sales tax funding to local governments;

Here’s the entire LCBOE resolution, which is quite similar to the ones passed that same night by the Valdosta Board of Education and the Valdosta City Council. What will the Lowndes County Commission do at its meeting tonight that still doesn’t even have HB 170 on its agenda?

A RESOLUTION TO OPPOSE THE STATE OF GEORGIA’S TRANSPORTATION
FUNDING ACT OF 2015

WHEREAS, the Joint Study Committee on Critical Transportation Infrastructure Funding has issued a report which identifies the need for the State of Georgia to raise additional revenue to address transportation needs; and

WHEREAS, House Bill 170 has now been introduced which recommends the state invest over $1 billion annually in transportation related projects, with over $500 million of the $1 billion coming from local sales taxes from cities, counties and school systems; and

WHEREAS, in 2013, local governments in Georgia collected $516 million in local sales taxes (LOST, SPLOST, ELOST, ESPLOST, HOST, MARTA and Atlanta’s MOST) from the sales of motor fuel; and

WHEREAS, if motor fuel is removed or exempted from local sales taxes, the Georgia Municipal Association estimates that Lowndes County could lose approximately $12,387,653.89 million annually, including proceeds to the Valdosta City government, the Lowndes County government and the Lowndes County and Valdosta City School Systems; and

WHEREAS, the proposed bill would reduce local SPLOST funding, local LOST collections used for funding services and property tax reduction and local E-SPLOST funding to the school systems by approximately $4,129,217.96 for each tax annually; and

WHEREAS, in 2013, the total amount of SPLOST funds spent on transportation by the cities and counties of Georgia was approximately $746 million; and

WHEREAS, Georgia’s local governments have made and continue to make substantial investments toward transportation projects; and

WHEREAS, this Board urges the members of the Georgia General Assembly and our local delegation to strongly oppose any provision or measure to reduce allocation of sales tax funding to local governments;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the Lowndes County Board of Education in Valdosta, Georgia hereby urges the Georgia General Assembly and our local delegation to strongly oppose any bill, provision or measure to re-allocate local sales tax funding from local governments to the state of Georgia. Furthermore that the state of Georgia not approve any provision of a transportation bill that authorizes double taxation of municipal residents.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution was introduced and adopted at the Meeting of the Lowndes County Board of Education, held on the 9^th day of February, 2015.

Brian Browning, Chairman, District 3

Mike Davis, Vice Chair, District 5

Dave Clark, District 5

Fred Davis, District 7

Eric Johnson , District 2

Philip Poole, District 6

Jason Wisenbaker, District 4

ATTEST:

Terri Welden, Recording Secretary

-jsq

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