Commissioner Steve Henry speaks during a Catoosa County Commission meeting at the Catoosa County administrative building on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in Ringgold, Ga. Commissioners voted unanimously to donate about 5 acres of land to the Catoosa County Board of Education.In step with Walker County, Georgia, officials in Catoosa County are considering a new sales tax to pay for road pavings and other transportation projects.
Catoosa County Commission Chairman Steven Henry, an advocate for the tax, said the local government could cut some money from its general fund if customers paid the extra burden at the cash register. He didn’t make any specific promises, but Henry believes the move could lighten property tax bills a bit.
The county would need to put the item on a referendum during an election, and Henry wants voters to decide the issue next year. Elected officials with Catoosa County and the cities of Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe will discuss the levy, called the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, at a noon meeting Monday.
“I honestly think it’s a great thing,” Henry said. “We have some much-needed road work that needs to be done in this county.”
In the current general fund budget, the county projects to spend about $2.4 million this year on roads and bridges. At the same time, in a five-year plan for spending out of a separate sales tax fund, the county expects to use about $11.4 million for the same reason.