Fayette BoE seeks renewal of sales tax in Nov. vote

The Fayette County Board of Education adopted a resolution Monday night that will let Fayette voters in November have their say on continuing the sales tax for education (ESPLOST).

If approved by voters in November the five-year ESPLOST extension would carry a maximum collection ceiling of $107 million.

The current one-cent education sales tax expires in April 2014 and carries a $115 million collection ceiling, though actual collections are expected to come in considerably lower than initial projections — approximately $95 million — due to the recession.

Uses for the continued ESPLOST include payments of $10 million on bond indebtedness. Per requirement, the maximum bond debt must be stated when the resolution to establish the ESPLOST is adopted.

As for other items covered in the collection, those categories will be announced later. Stated generally in the resolution, those unspecified amounts will be used for areas such as renovating, repairing, improving or equipping schools or school system facilities, equipment and technology, textbooks and instructional material and school buses and maintenance equipment.