You may have seen them around Chattooga County, signs that say “Vote No On New Sales Tax”.  The signs are referencing the Education Special Local Option Sales Tax that voters will be voting on coming up in the June 9th Primary.  But some people are concerned that the signs are misleading for voters.

WZQZ News has heard from several Chattooga County residents who say that they are confused why people opposed to the Education SPLOST would use the slogan “No New Sales Tax”, when the county has been paying the one-cent sales tax for well over a decade.  They say that the tax is not new at all and that the signs are misleading people into believing that there will be an extra tax, which isn’t the case.

The one-cent tax brings in around $13 million a year for both the Chattooga County School System and the Trion City School System.

Both systems owe millions of dollars on building improvements at Trion, Leroy Massey Elementary, Lyerly Elementary and Chattooga High School.  The penny sales-tax goes to retiring those bonds that were used to build the facilities.  Without the Education SPLOST, the school systems in Chattooga County would be forced to look at the possibility of drastically increasing property taxes in order to pay existing debt.

WZQZ News sat down with Chattooga County School Superintendent Jared Hosmer and Trion City School Superintendent Phil Williams for a joint-interview about the upcoming SPLOST vote.  We will have more details on that interview in the upcoming days.