Town hall focuses on proposed sales tax

In a study based on the amount of sales tax collected in 2017, the tax could collect approximately $980,000 for the year.

The superintendents from six area school districts hosted a town hall meeting on Tuesday evening, March 19, in the Anna-Jonesboro Community High School auditorium. 

The meeting was arranged to discuss the Illinois County School Facilities Sales Tax, a referendum on the April 2 election ballot that would increase sales tax in Union County in order to pay for facility construction or repair projects in area schools. 

A-JCHS District No. 81 superintendent Rob Wright led the discussion, walking the audience through a PowerPoint presentation laying out the details of the bill and the benefits it would have for the schools and community. 

The first point that Wright stressed was that even with the proposed increase, Union County sales tax would still be lower than neighboring Illinois counties. 

“If this tax ended up being approved, we would be at 8.5 percent,” said Wright. “Currently, we are lower than all the surrounding counties. If the tax were to be passed, we’d still be below all the other communities.”

Wright also pointed out that over 50 percent of the counties in Illinois currently have a school facilities sales tax like this one in place.  

In a study based on the amount of sales tax collected in 2017, the tax could collect approximately $980,000 for the year. 

Union County voters passed a similar 1 percent sales tax increase in order to facilitate the building of a new Union County Courthouse in Jonesboro. That sales tax increase is scheduled to expire in 11 to 12 years, returning sales tax to its current levels. 

Wright went on to list a number of items that the sales tax increase would not be applied to.

“A lot of these are big ticket items. Cars, trucks, ATVs, boats, RVs, mobile homes. It also doesn’t tax groceries, unprepared food. Drugs, which includes not only prescriptions but over the counter and vitamins. Farm equipment and parts. And of course services aren’t taxed either,” said Wright. “If it’s not currently taxed it’s not going to be taxed.” 

The state law that allows for this policy is very specific on what funds can be used for. 

“A new school, new facilities, any type of addition, any type of renovation. Security, which is a big concern for all schools these days. Entrances, disabled access, things like that. Fire prevention and life safety,” said Wright. 

“It also can be used to refund bonds or abate property taxes that have currently been levied to pay bonds or have been issued for capitol purposes.” 

There are a number of things that the revenue generated cannot be used for. These include normal operating costs, text books, busses, salaries, overhead and other direct instructional costs.

Another major selling point of the bill is the positive effect that it could have on property taxes. 

Currently, bond issues for school improvements are paid with property taxes. Funds from this sales tax could be used to abate or pay off existing bonds. Funds can also be used to pay for future facilities projects, negating the need to issue bonds to begin with. 

“When you issue bonds, it is strictly for property tax owners,” said Wright. “This tax goes to everybody that comes to shop in the county. So the brunt of it is not on the property tax owners.”

A common misconception that Wright discussed was the way the money would be distributed. Funds generated would be divided evenly to the school districts in the county based on the number of students in their school, not in the areas the tax was collected. 

“Some think that since Walmart is in Anna, and since that’s where a lot of revenue would be generated, that means that Anna is going to get all that money,” said Wright. “But that money would still be distributed according to how many kids Shawnee has, Dongola has, and so on. It’s a formula that all schools would benefit from.” 

Each superintendent then led a slideshow presentation showing photos of the various construction and maintenance needs that each of their schools have. These included gym floors decades past scheduled replacement, required health and life safety upgrades, numerous restrooms in need of renovation, asbestos abatement, and several school districts in need of roof repair. 

Shawnee School District No. 84 superintendent Shelly Clover-Hill also discussed how her district has already benefited from a similar system. 

Part of the Shawnee School District is in Jackson County, which has previously adopted the Illinois County School Facilities Sales Tax. This means her district is eligible for money based on the number of students from Jackson County.

“We get approximately $70,000 now to work on our facilities,” said Clover-Hill. With the funds, Shawnee has been able to perform restroom remodeling projects and asbestos abatement with this annual fund with more projects slated for later this year. 

When opening the discussion up to questions from the audience, one person asked if there is an expiration date on the proposed tax, as there is with the courthouse. 

“There is no expiration date,” answered Wright. “The only way it would be  taken off would be, for an example, the public could initiate a referendum to take it off.” 

The ordinance will pass with a simple majority of votes from the electorate on April 2. With approval by the voters, the tax will be levied.

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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