Franklin County voters will soon decide whether to extend a one-cent sales tax that was originally approved in 2010.
The tax, which was in two-year increments, has been overwhelmingly approved by voters four times. In 2010 and 2012, the entire one-cent tax went to benefit Franklin County and Russellville City Schools.
In 2014, the Franklin County Commission requested local legislators to introduce a bill that provided for 75 percent of the proceeds to benefit schools and 25 percent to go to matching funds needed to secure Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP) grants.
Franklin County voters have twice approved the tax with the 75/25 split, in 2014 and 2016.
Commissioners voted to request a 30-year extension on the one-cent tax, and along with the support of RCS superintendent Heath Grimes and Franklin County superintendent Greg Hamilton, that amendment was introduced and approved in the Alabama legislature.
But on the June 5, 2018 ballot, Franklin County voters will consider only a two-year renewal of the tax, with a 75/25 split. The difference will be the 25 percent going to the county would be earmarked for road and bridge improvements and not specifically for ATRIP matching funds.
Probate judge Barry Moore said voters will consider the 30-year extension on the November 2018 general election ballot. The reason for that is an Alabama law that requires the legislative session to have ended at least 90 days before the election where an amendment passed during that session is scheduled to appear on a ballot.
That would require the legislature to end its session on or before March 5, which did not happen.
Voters will consider the two-year renewal in June in order to ensure that collection of the one-cent tax, which generates approximately $2 million annually, doesn’t end in June. Without a tax referendum on the June ballot, the current tax would expire.
“Although it may be a little confusing, we wanted to avoid that gap from the end of June through September,” Moore said, “and this will help avoid that so we can keep going [collecting the tax] without interruption.”
