Voters will have the opportunity to go to the polls to vote on the Education Local Option Sales Tax –ELOST on Tuesday, March 15. Among the projects to be funded with the one-cent sales tax would be an addition to the high school and construction of a new elementary school.
ELOST is an option for a local school system to call for a referendum approving a one percent sales tax for school construction and/or to retire bond debt.
The county currently has a seven percent sales tax in place. The referendum is to continue the current tax. If the ELOST passes, there will be no change to the existing seven cent sales tax in Banks County. The tax is a consumption tax. It is not a property tax.
The ELOST would generate a maximum of $19 million over a five-year period. If the ELOST is passed, the school system can immediately begin additions to the high school to address overcrowding, make necessary technology updates and transportation purchases, construct an addition to the agriculture facility and administrative offices, acquire future school sites, and begin construction of a new elementary school. All proposed projects should be completed by fall 2018.
The current high school facility is at capacity. High school additions and a new K-5 building are needed to meet the projected growth. In order to provide permanent, adequate classrooms and facilities, additional buildings are required. These decisions were based on the local facilities plan conducted by the facilities section of the Georgia Department of Education and supported by the local school system's strategic plan.
School Superintendent Chris Erwin said, “The penny sales tax spreads the responsibility of educating our children to all citizens and visitors of the community. Anyone who spends money in Banks County is funding the ELOST regardless of whether or not the person resides in the county,” he said.
All of the proceeds from the previous ELOST were used to construct the new Banks County Elementary School, the Banks County High School cafeteria addition, the Banks County High School athletic complex, and the Banks County Primary School additions.
There are strict guidelines that must be followed when constructing new school facilities using ELOST money. It does not allow to build based on projected growth.
Have you ever driven by the board of education office? Did you not notice the portable trailers that have been there for years? Those are not storage facilities; they are offices. Have you ever been inside the main building? Have you not noticed how crowded it is? Have you ever attended a school board meeting (they are open to the public)? Did you notice how small the board room is?
2nd - maybe the "ignorance of the Banks County public" is due to the fact that many of them were educated in Banks County schools?
3rd - We are all broke - if you think the school system needs more money, write a freakin' check. Stop asking the rest of us (many with NO children in the public schools)to subsidize mediocrity.