County-cities can’t agree on sales tax allocation

County and city leaders failed to reach an agreement Friday on how the local option sales tax should be divided up and they are now headed to court for a ruling on the issue.

County leaders met in one room of the county annex in Homer to go over their proposal, while representatives from the towns met in another room to go over their proposal. A moderator, Chris Huskins, went back and forth between the two groups presenting the proposal from each side. After negotiating for more than three hours, the two groups hit an impasse and could not agree on an allocation.

The final offer from the cities was that the county receive 80.5 percent of the sales tax. The final offer from the county was that the county receive 84.5 percent of the sales tax.

The sales tax allocation is negotiated ever 10 years. The current split is Banks County receiving 82.5 percent of the sales tax — based on unincorporated population only.

The county believes that having the central business district and point of sale are their strengths. The city leaders believe their strength is the shift in population. The county population numbers came down a little.