Commissioners endorse sales tax hike

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

ZECHMAN

With early voting on the local sales tax referendum under way, most county leaders are urging voters to approve the measure which could pump as much as $2 million a year into the local school system.

“It’s clearly a winning proposition for the taxpayers of Warren County,” said 1st District Commissioner Bill Zechman. “The income generated by the sales tax measure will be essential to our $14 million school system improvement program which includes many improvements, including a much-needed new school at Centertown.”

At question for county voters is whether the county will increase its local option sales tax from its current level of 2.0, to the state maximum of 2.75 percent. The city of McMinnville overwhelmingly passed a similar measure in referendum last year and has already increased the sales tax within the city limits. People living in the city limits will not be allowed to vote in the current county referendum.

The city also cut property taxes after passing the higher local option sales tax, but county leaders are not promising a property tax cut. However, they do say passing the measure would reduce the likelihood, and amount, of any such future increase.

A total of 22 county commissioners have endorsed increasing the local sales tax. Their endorsement comes, in part, because the sales tax is paid by more people than the property tax. Fewer than half of Warren countians pay property tax while everyone in Warren County enjoys the benefits of schools, road maintenance, waste disposal, emergency medical services, law enforcement and recreation programs.

Failure to pass the tax option would mean the ongoing school projects would have to be financed exclusively by property taxes, placing the burden squarely on less than half of the county population.

“As things stand now, all the new revenue, much of which is contributed by Warren County citizens residing outside McMinnville, is going into the coffers of city government,” the county resolution reads. “We strongly recommend our fellow citizens carefully consider this proposal and vote ‘yes’ when they go to the polls.”

Two commissioners, Michael Martin and Danice Taylor, did not sign the resolution.

Zechman estimated as much as 95 percent of retail sales throughout the county occur inside McMinnville city limits.