The outcome of recent voter questions in Polk County is an indication the public lost its appetite for special taxes and tax allocation districts (TADs) to fund projects and spur the economy.
The vote to oppose adding 1 mill to property taxes to pay for school projects in Polk County was more than 10 times those who supported it. Results show that 3,693 voted no to the 328 who voted yes in the special election ending March 18.
The vote for the City of Cedartown to gain powers to create a TAD also failed, but the numbers were closer. Results for the citywide vote ended with 306 voting in opposition and 292 voting in favor.
The Polk County vote comes after many voters around Georgia were upset at local municipalities and school boards opting out of a property tax cap approved by voters statewide last November. The Bartow County Board of Education and the Carterville Board of Education opted out of the tax limiting cap.
Bartow County and Cartersville will likely have a second chance to stop local municipalities from exempting themselves from the referendum, which received enormous local support during the election.
Separate versions of state Senate Bill (SB) 83 relating to Bartow County and SB 77 relating to Cartersville were approved in early March. They are in conference. Final passage of the bills would mean the questions will return to ballots in Bartow County and Cartersville this November but without an opt-out option. Read more about those proposals here.
State Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, a sponsor of the revised bills, was in favor of the referendum limiting property tax increases when the first bill passed last year calling it a “tremendous piece of tax legislation to relieve taxpayers in the short term, and over the cap, in the long term, keep their taxes down.”
“My feeling was that in areas like mine, in Floyd County, where over 70% of the voters said they wanted it, that would convince the schools that they needed to do this,” Hufstetler said in an article in The Rome News Tribune. “That’s not necessarily going to happen, in which case there’s going to be a second vote that says it will be mandatory.”
The Polk County and Cedartown votes made the direction clear. Approval of the school referendum would have repaid a $34 million bond sought by the Polk School District. The 1 mill tax increase would be tacked onto property taxes throughout the county for 20 years.
The school system wanted to use the bond to pay for improvements at Cedartown High, Rockmart High, Cedartown Middle, Cherokee Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Westside Elementary Schools.
Improvements included gyms, athletic fields, cafeteria modernization, heating and air improvements, and roof replacement. It also includes the expansion of fine arts rooms, additional classrooms, and adding CAE labs.
A TAD allows cities or boards to agree to different taxation rates while a development is being constructed. The idea is to help developers save on paying property taxes during early development construction stages. Developers use the break to fund the project more easily.
Municipalities collect full taxes after the property is fully developed. Taxes on developed property are considerably more than they would be during construction.
The Cedartown TAD was meant to lure Publix and other businesses to Cedartown with property development on Davis Road at the Highway 27 bypass.
Bartow County recently approved a TAD project for the White area over objections of many county and City of White residents. That project will include homes, retail, and a school. The project had controversy with many opposing Bartow County and the Bartow County School System agreeing to the contract.
Melody Dareing is a freelance journalist writing for publications in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. She is the former news director at Adelphia Channel 4 and WBHF radio.