With less than

two weeks to go until election day, many of Fulton County's leaders are

still divided on supporting the extension of a special sales tax for the

Fulton County School System.

Earlier this

year, the Fulton County Commission approved a resolution supporting the

extension of a 1 percent tax to help improve Fulton County and Atlanta

public schools.

The board is

urging the county's 10 cities to pass similar legislation. County and

city of Atlanta voters will decide in a March 19 referendum whether to

extend the five-year-old educational purpose tax, which would otherwise

expire this year.

Sponsored by

Chairman Mike Kenn and Vice Chairman Karen Elaine Webster at the Wednesday,

Jan. 16 meeting, the resolution received a unanimous vote.

The extended

1 percent sales tax would raise an estimated $1.2 billion to renovate

existing schools and construct new buildings to meet projected growth

of student populations in both school systems.

Of that total,

the Fulton County School System would receive approximately $670 million

and the Atlanta School System would receive about $521 million.

Some municipalities

such as Alpharetta have signed on to the resolution, but in South Fulton,

the Fairburn City Council decided last month not to support the proposal.

Mayor Betty

Hannah said she had received four requests for the council from the Fulton

County Commission to pass a resolution in favor of the proposal to bring

more than $800 million to the school system's coffers through a special

purpose local option sales tax.

"I would

rather everybody pay for this than just the property owners," Hannah

said.

But Councilman

Harvey Melear said he planned to vote on the issue March 19, and a resolution

would reveal his position on the issue.

Councilman

Glenn Higgins also had difficulty supporting the idea.

"What's

the guarantee for these South Fulton projects?" he said.

Both City Administrator

Tony Cox and City Attorney Brad Sears said if projects were listed in

the SPLOST vote, they are required to be completed by law.

Councilman

Gene Wiggins brought another perspective to the table.

"I don't

think it takes a panel to tell people how to vote," he said.

Hannah said

some municipalities in north Fulton County had already passed resolutions

of support for the sales tax extension.

Voters head

to the polls March 19.