Sales tax defeat would have countywide ramifications

By KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

NEW LONDON ? Not passing the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), which will be on the ballot during the special election on Tuesday, May 5, would mean tighter budgets and decreases in city services across the board, local officials say.

County Auditor Shelly Barber said LOST has been in the entire county for the last 20 years, but if three communities, Mt. Pleasant, New London and Henry County residents who live in Coppock vote ?no? on the initiative, it could have widespread effects across the entire county.

Last November, each city saw LOST on its ballots and it passed everywhere but those three communities. On Tuesday, citizens of those three cities will have the chance to vote on LOST again before the revenue stream is cut off.

The tax is nothing new and will not be an addition, simply a renewal of a current tax, Barber explains.

?It?s not a matter of another tax coming in that we can do more things with, it?s that we?ve done a lot of things with this money (tax) over the last 20 years and a lot of those things would come to a halt if this doesn?t pass,? said Barber. ?Or we would have to raise property taxes to be able to come up with the money.?

Barber adds that it?s important the tax passes in every community, especially Mt. Pleasant.

?If it?s not passed in any entity, the tax is not collected and they don?t receive any of the tax money that is collected in the rest of the entities either,? said Barber.

Many of the smaller communities in Henry County only have a convenience store or bar, if anything at all that taxes could be collected on, but they still receive funds from LOST. The City of Westwood, for example, doesn?t have any businesses within the incorporation, but they still receive around $5,000 to $6,000 annually.

During the past 20 years the tax has been in place, the funds have been collected from businesses across Henry County and then distributed to communities based on population.

If Mt. Pleasant and New London, the two largest cities in Henry County, fail to approve the renewal of the tax, not only would they not receive the funds, but also it would tremendously decrease what other cities would receive.

New London City Clerk Kasi Howard said losing LOST would be detrimental to New London.

?Right now, we receive about $150,000 a year (from LOST), but if Mt. Pleasant doesn?t pass it and we do, it won?t be anything near that,? said Howard.

However, if New London votes the renewal down for a second time, come December when the tax expires, the city will be hurting.

Howard said that if the tax is nixed, the city would no longer be able to just pay cash for some of the smaller projects or purchase vehicles and equipment, loans would have to be taken out for them or they?d simply have to wait longer to buy the equipment or make small infrastructure repairs.

Howard added that some of the LOST funds have helped the budget for the police department, fire department, library and so on and so forth.

But it?s not just about having the cash to pay for those smaller projects; it?s about trying to find the money, in an already tight budget, to then keep the city running efficiently.

?It will really come down to a choice if we fix certain things, employ someone or buy a piece of equipment because it will be tight,? she said.

Voting in the special election will begin at 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Tuesday, May 5. The ballot for Mt. Pleasant and Coppock will have LOST, New London citizens will also be electing a new city council member to replace Greg Thu, who resigned earlier this year. LOST needs a simple majority to pass.