Chamber says shop at home, help local schools

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

KIDD

A “leap of faith” schools budget, which is dependent on the county bringing in more sales tax revenue than the state estimates is possible, has Chamber of Commerce and local education officials scrambling to initiate a shop-at-home campaign.

The county commission’s Budget and Finance Committee, which passed the 2004-2005 general purpose schools budget last week, moved $300,000, or approximately six-and-a-half cents, in local property tax revenues from the school system’s budget to the county’s debt service fund.

To make up the difference and meet the county’s required maintenance of effort, the committee opted to replace it with sales tax revenues the state Department of Revenue doesn’t think the county will be able to collect.

Should the sales tax revenues not come through, any difference will made up by moving property tax revenues back from debt service fund.

With the move, the county’s financial obligation to the school system is now, for the first time it is thought, funded primarily by the local option sales tax, which constitutes 56 percent of the burden. Property taxes make up the remaining 44 percent.

To help the county meet the $300,000 sales tax target, Chamber of Commerce employees met with school system officials Tuesday afternoon to devise a plan to boost local revenues by encouraging local shopping.

“When people go to the next county over, or to Nashville to do their shopping, they’re supporting those counties’ school systems,” said Chamber president Lea Chrisawn.

But getting people to act on that is easier said than done, said Chamber member and McMinnville Ford owner Terry Kidd.

“People want the best deal,” he said. To get people to shop in Warren County “is a mindset you have to get people into. And it’s not going to happen overnight.”

But incentives in the short term might help foster such a mindset, said school system director of instruction Bobby Cox.

To that end, Project SOS was devised. The project, Shop Our Stores, Save Our Schools, is targeted at school system employees, whose salaries are paid in part by local option sales tax revenues. The idea coming out of Tuesday’s meeting was to provide these employees with cards, similar to “smart cards,” giving them discounts and special offers at local retailers. Such cards would benefit all parties involved, it was noted.

“It’s a start,” said Chrisawn.