Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming school tax vote in Muscogee County

Columbus has the potential to have one of the highest sales tax rates in the state, and it all depends on the outcome of two referendums this year, with the first coming up quickly in March.

Voters still have six chances to learn more about the Muscogee County School District’s proposed sales tax before they see it on the March 24 ballot.

Early voting started Monday, and citizens have until March 20 to cast their ballots ahead of time at the Muscogee County Board of Elections office.

If renewed, the tax would pay for 22 capital projects totaling an estimated $189 million.

The school district is hosting informational sessions through March 19 to provide citizens with details about the proposed 1% Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. All of the sessions start at 6 p.m.

• March 3: Northside High School, 2002 American Way #1749
• March 5: Mathews Elementary School, 7533 Lynch Road #4011
• March 10: Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road
• March 12: Fort Middle School, 2900 Woodruff Farm Road #6899
• March 17: Gentian Elementary School, 4201 Primrose Road #1156
• March 19: Shaw High School, 7579 Raider Way #1885

The school board in December voted to finalize the list of projects which includes the construction of a postponed sports complex, the replacement of a public library and the consolidation of two schools into one new building.

Technology improvements, vehicle replacements and security upgrades are also on the list, among other projects.

The referendum will be on the same ballot as the presidential primary. If approved, it would be a continuation of the ESPLOST that has been approved four consecutive times by Muscogee County voters, most recently in March 2015.

The current ESPLOST expires June 30 and will have raised over $190 million.

‘Yes for Kids’

A campaign created many years ago to support the tax for education projects has come together once again.

The campaign, “Vote Yes for Kids,” is led by co-chairs Cameron Bean and Ronzell Buckner, who are hoping to sway citizens to vote ‘yes’ on the sales tax referendum.

Bean is the assistant vice president for Development and Stewardship at Columbus State University. Ronzell owns Skippers Fresh Seafood Market and Deli on Buena Vista Road and is president of Turn Around Columbus, which has worked on projects such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Outdoor Learning Trail.

Having been involved in the last pro-ESPLOST campaign, they both saw a need for upgrading school buildings and equipment.

“I care very deeply about the future of this city, and I think that future is best represented by those 32,000 children,” Bean said. “And if we can’t give them the very best that we can possibly give them, then our future isn’t going to be as bright.”

Bean said that the promises made by the school district involving previous ESPLOST funds have been “promises kept.”

“Those funds have been used wisely and we have seen the impact,” Bean said. “All you have to do is drive around and go to these new schools or go to the schools where improvements were made.”

Buckner said he likes that the tax allows everyone who comes to the city to contribute to the projects, so the burden is not placed solely on people who live in Columbus and own property in Columbus.

“This is not raising anyone’s property tax,” he said. “If someone came to our city and spent $100, a dollar of it goes to the school taxes. If someone in our city goes to the store and spends $100: school taxes. So it’s fair for everyone.”

The school district’s annual operating budget supports 5,500 employees as well as the curriculum and technological resources they need to deliver education to 32,000 children, Bean said. That operational budget is also supposed to support maintenance and necessary upgrades for 56 different sites and schools, but is not sufficient to address all of the capital needs that ESPLOST funds address.

“Without the ESPLOST, we still would have to figure out how to replace school buses or keep our technology up to date,” he said. “The ESPLOST allows for not only excellence in learning environments and facilities, but it also allows for the operational budget to continue giving the teachers what they need to do their jobs to the best of their ability.”

Bean said advertising will pick up in the coming days, and that a volunteer coalition will be making phone calls, knocking on doors, putting out yard signs and being active on social media to encourage people to vote ‘yes’ on the ESPLOST.

The citizens of Columbus have never voted down an education-specific sales tax, but that doesn’t give the “Vote Yes for Kids” campaign organizers a sense of security.

“We don’t take it for granted,” Buckner said. “We appreciate what (voters) did in the past, and we’re asking them to continue to do it with this one.”

Another tax on horizon

The school board’s tax is not the only one voters will see on the ballot this year: Columbus Council is also working to promote its own 1% sales tax that would fund capital projects including a new government center building.

The council has yet to finalize a list of proposed projects, as a second and final round of public input meetings will likely take place this spring.

Once that list is finalized, the SPLOST referendum will be placed on the November 3 general election ballot, and if approved would raise an estimated $350 million over 10 years.

If the school board’s tax is approved, the current sales tax rate will stay the same at 8%. If the city’s tax is also approved, the sales tax rate would increase to 9% in April of 2021.

A regional 1% sales tax for transportation projects is set to expire at the end of 2022, and renewal depends on approval from a majority of voters living in a 16-county River Valley Region that includes Muscogee County. If that tax is not renewed, the sales tax in Columbus would drop back to 8% in 2023.

If both the school tax and the city tax are approved, Muscogee County would be one of only four entities in the state with a sales tax rate higher than 8%. According to the Georgia Department of Revenue’s website, the others are in Fulton and Dekalb counties within the city of Atlanta and Ware County in southeast Georgia.

Muscogee County’s 8% sales tax is broken down as follows:

• 4% is the state’s sales tax. It doesn’t expire.

• 1% is the city’s LOST (local option sales tax). It doesn’t expire. The revenue pays for services that otherwise would be funded through property taxes.

• 1% is the city’s OLOST (other local option sales tax). It doesn’t expire. The revenue funds expenses for public safety (70%) and infrastructure (30%).

• 1% is the school district’s ESPLOST. It expires June 30, 2020. The revenue funds capital projects for education.

• 1% is the regional TSPLOST. It expires Dec. 31, 2022. The revenue funds capital projects for transportation.

This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 11:20 AM.