The Oconee County Board of Education on Monday night voted to ask the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration to put a referendum for a new Educational Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) on the November Ballot.
The referendum, if approved by voters, would begin as soon as the current ELOST reaches its cap of $48.5 million and continue the sales tax at the current 1 percent rate.
The current ELOST expires when that cap is reached or in December of 2027.
Peter Adams, Chief Financial Officer for Oconee County Schools, told the Board on Monday that he expects, based on current collection rates, that the cap will be reached a whole year early, at the end of 2026.
The referendum does not list specific projects, but Ryan White, Chief Operations Officer, told the Board on Monday that projects to be funded by the new ELOST are bus and other vehicle replacements, technology, and facility improvements.
White said that the funds will be used for renovations at North Oconee High School, replacement of the roofs at North Oconee High School and Oconee County High School, and “athletic improvements” at both high schools.
The referendum sets a cap of $86.8 million but does not list the costs of the individual projects. It does authorize the borrowing of $12.1 million and states that some of the money collected can be used to pay down the debt from the current ELOST.
In other action on Monday, the Board officially set the millage rate for the current year of 13.962, up from the 13.919 used to create the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget approved in June but at the rollback rate required to avoid what the state considers a tax increase.
No High School Additions
The project list presented by White on Monday did not include any additional classrooms at either of the county’s two high schools, and Interim Superintendent Debra Harden said in an interview on July 31 that none are planned.
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“This ELOST will focus on maintaining and correcting issues in our existing buildings,” she said.
“This will not have new school buildings,” she added.
Harden said that Oconee County School is “maintaining,” but not growing enrollments.
In March, the Board of approved a state-required five-year facilities plan that projected growing enrollment through the 2028-2029 school year and called for expanded high school instructional space to address that growth.
The total cost of the construction in the facilities plan is $67.1 million, with $16.2 million of that listed as eligible for state funding and the remaining $50.9 million coming from local sources.
Project Costs
Adams, who also sat in on that interview at Harden’s office on July 31, said the $12.1 million in borrowing in the referendum is a “planning amount.”
“You can sell up to that amount you put in there,” he said. “You don’t have to sell that amount.”
In an interview on Monday after the Board went into executive session, Adams said he didn’t “believe” there is a list of planned projects with estimated costs.
“These are so far out to know,” he said, “I think they just built it knowing what they want to do and we built the cap just based on the conservative.”
Next Step
In that July 31 meeting with Harden and Adams, and at the meeting on Monday, Adams and other were intent to note that what the Board is asking for is a continuation of the current 1 percent tax.
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| Referendum Screen Shot Courtesy Communications Director Steven Colquitt (Click To Enlarge) |
Harden was ill on Monday, and Chief Human Resources Officer Justin Cofer replaced her on the podium.
“On behalf of Dr. Harden,” Cofer said at the end of the meeting, “again it is the superintendent’s recommendation for the Board to approve the referendum resolution.”
“The referendum resolution allows the Board of Education to call for an election and to continue the already existing sales tax and to issue general obligation bonds,” he continued.
Sharon Gregg, Director of Elections and Registration for Oconee County, told the Board of Elections and Registration at its meeting on July 18 that she was anticipating the need for a called meeting of the Board to vote to put the request from the School Board on the ballot.
The only other items on the Nov. 5 ballot will be for the races for state Public Service Commission District 2 and 3 members and for any city elections where more than one candidate qualifies.
Qualification is Aug. 18 to 20.
Current ELOST
Voters approved the current ELOST, referred to as ELOST VI, in March of 2021 to take effect on Jan. 1 of 2023.
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The Board in June of 2021 borrowed just less than $42.97 million against the future revenue from the just approved ELOST to begin the massive construction program that included the new Dove Creek Middle School and the Instructional Support Center.
The referendum had authorized borrowing up to $42.95 million for listed projects and set the cap on collections of $48.5 million.
The referendum was to run for five years, or until the end of 2027, or until the cap was reached.
Adams, in the meeting on July 31, said ELOST VI has generated $31.2 million as of the end of July, and is averaging about $1 million in revenue each month.
Within the next 17 months–or by the end of 2026–the ELOST VI cap of $48.5 million is likely to be reached, causing the tax to expire, he said.
Voters have approved each of the ELOST referendums leading up to what will be ELOST VII.
On March 16 of 2021, only 1,924 Of County’s 30,516 voters cast a ballot for the current ELOST VI, but 83.6 percent approved the new tax.
Millage Rate
The Board approved a Fiscal Year 2026 Budget in June based on the 13.919 millage rate.
Adams said at the meeting on Monday that he had revised the budget to reflect the rate of 13.962. That new budget does not yet appear on the Board web site.
The 13.919 rate presumed a tax digest of $3.816 billion, rather than the $3.802 billion in the final calculation by Oconee County Tax Commissioner Jennifer Riddle.
Oconee County Schools calculates the actual revenue to be received based on 98 percent collection, and the adopted budget lists the expected property tax revenue at $52,053,865.
With the tax digest of $3.802 billion, the millage of 13.962 produces $52,034,263, based on 98 percent collection. That is $19,602 less than was budgeted.
Video
The video below is shot from the rear of the room, as required by the Board of Education.
Adams began his comments at 25:12 in the video.
White began his comments at 32:12 in the video.
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