Barrow Journal

The Barrow County Board of Education will consider a resolution at its Tuesday meeting that calls for a March 19 referendum to extend the current 1-percent sales tax.
The ESPLOST VI would last for five years, beginning Oct. 1, 2021. The current ESPLOST is through September 2021.
The resolution also would allow for the sale of up to $40 million in bonds that would provide money for capital projects — largely, school buildings or renovations.
The vote in March would extend the current sales tax. It would not increase the sales tax.
Tom Owens, senior vice president with Raymond James in Atlanta, said the current sales tax has produced $11.2 million in the last 12 months. Collections are about 8 percent higher than one year ago.
Ten of the past 12 months have been the highest sales collection for those months.
He emphasized the projections for debt are conservative and should remain under the annual sales tax generated.
The school district is paying about $8.3 million each year in debt service, including principal and interest. The resolution says the ESPLOST would raise up to $75 million in sales tax collections.
Four of the six bond sales now owed by the county would be paid off by Feb. 1, 2027, and would require nearly $42 million. The other two would not be paid off until Feb. 1, 2032.
With no growth in sales tax collections, a new SPLOST would generate about $56.2 million for the schools, according to Owens’ calculations.
Owens said the sales tax has provided a total of $167.5 million since it started.
See more in the Jan. 9 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.