Atlanta Public Schools board members, despite likely opposition from Mayor Kasim Reed, will ask voters to renew a penny-on-a-dollar sales tax to continue paying for school construction and other capital needs.
The decision, made Monday by board members as part of two unanimous votes, will require voters in November to determine whether to extend the sales tax for another five years. The board's stance puts it at odds with Reed, who has said the system should drop or greatly reduce its use of the sales tax when it expires next year.
School officials hope the tax will fund $519 million worth of construction needs, including a new Buckhead elementary school and a new Midtown middle school.
Reed has told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the penny tax -- which over 15 years has helped build or renovate 84 city schools or buildings, among other projects -- needed to be redirected to a regional transportation plan expected to go in front of voters next year.
The mayor did not want the city school system to pursue the tax while voters consider the transportation tax. If both passed, the city would have the state's highest sales tax at 9 percent and be at a competitive disadvantage, he said.
Reed's solution for the Atlanta school system was to pursue a "fractional tax" that, when combined with a presumed penny transportation tax, would keep the city's overall sales tax rate competitive with Charlotte's 8.46 percent.
The sales tax, called SPLOST for special-purpose local option sales tax, began in 1997 and has been renewed twice.
Fulton County, DeKalb County and the city of Decatur all want a tax continuation. The three systems can't seek a referendum without Atlanta schools' participation. The referendum will be put to voters Nov. 8.
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