BY KRISTI REED
Sales tax income to Barrow County fell in FY2007 by $143,000 over the previous year. Local option sales taxes also fell short of budget for FY2007 by $350,000.
That stagnation of local sales tax income has continued into the current fiscal year as well. For the first four months of FY2008 (Oct.-Jan.), local option sales taxes totaled $1.8 million in Barrow County, slightly less than collections from a year ago.
At the current rate, Barrow County could see a LOST shortfall of over $400,000 by year’s end.
SPLOST
While special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) funds are not budgeted by the county on a yearly basis, the current trend indicates collections could be less than the previous year. For the first four months of FY2008, SPLOST funds were flat, dropping slightly from $2.999 million to $2.992 million.
Unlike regular sales taxes, SPLOST funds are limited to capital projects. Barrow voters approved SPLOST in 2001 and 2005 for a number of large projects, including: The new criminal justice center, an animal control building, a cultural arts center, a new E911 center, several fire stations and training centers, and various road, recreation, water and sewer projects.
At the end of 2007, the overall SPLOST fund had a balance of $65.2 million of which $9.2 million was collected in FY2007.
