Commission: Sales tax is good for FC

At the Nov. 20 Franklin County Commission meeting, the commission approved two resolutions regarding the one-cent sales tax that has benefited the city and county school systems since 2010.

“What we want to stress is that this is not a new tax. It is a renewal of an already-existing tax, and we are letting the citizens vote on it,” Probate Judge Barry Moore said.

Originally, the funds from the tax strictly benefited Russellville City Schools and Franklin County Schools, and it was voted on for renewal every two years. In 2014 that changed when voters passed the amendment that 25 percent of the proceeds would go toward Alabama Transportation and Rehabilitation Improvement Program projects while 75 percent would still go to the school systems.

“We always help the county and city schools when and however we can with capital improvement projects, and these ATRIP projects have saved the county school system around $153,000 a year,” Franklin County engineer David Palmer said.

That amount was estimated from the amount of mileage school buses previously racked up by having to take detours because of bad roads and bridges that were then fixed through ATRIP projects, Palmer explained.

The first resolution the commission passed presents two changes to the current tax amendment: that it be set for a 30-year period instead of two years and that the 25 percent the commission receives will not go toward ATRIP projects specifically but for construction, maintenance and repair of roads and bridges, Moore said.

It also states that if it does not make the June ballot, it will move on to be placed on the November ballot.

“The plan is for each commissioner to pick roads and/or bridges in their district and work with David Palmer and the Highway Department on getting them fixed,” Moore said.

Moore said this will allow the county to fix roads and bridges that cannot be repaired using ATRIP funds because they don’t meet the specifications of being a major collector road or bridge.

“Working together on this is key, and I appreciate all of the work that the commissioners, board members and citizens have done to get us this far,” Moore said.

The second resolution is in place in case the amendment doesn’t make it to the June ballot. It states that in the case of the amendment not making the June ballot, citizens can still vote to renew the original two-year tax plan in June, without the amendment having to go through legislature. Moore said this resolution keeps the school systems from being left without the funding in between voting sessions.

“Without this funding, we wouldn’t be able to build new programs, sustain the programs that we have or provide enough buildings for our school population,” Russellville City Schools Superintendent Heath Grimes said.

Franklin County Schools Superintendent Greg Hamilton echoed these sentiments. “We’ve seen such an increase in enrollment, and we’re striving to stay current. We need this funding to help the kids,” Hamilton said.

According to Moore, the commissioners and the superintendents, this tax plan is a “win-win situation” where everyone benefits, and they said they hope the citizens recognize that.