Waycross City Commissioners joined their Ware County colleagues in requesting a Floating Local Option Sales Tax be placed on the Municipal Election ballot in November.
The four commissioners unanimously approved the resolution to seek a one-cent tax with proceeds split between the governments for the purpose of reducing property taxes. The passage came during the commission’s bimonthly meting Tuesday, July 1 in City Hall.
An accompanying Memorandum of Understanding with the county affirming a 58-42, county-city split of the tax’s revenue should the referendum pass November 4. The division is based on population and follows what was used between the municipalities for their Local Option Sales Tax (LOST).
The Ware County Commission approved a resolution calling for the ballot item and and MOU for the 58-42 split at a meeting June 26. If passed, the tax will raise the city-county sales tax to nine percent, and generate a projected $55 million over its five-year life span.
The FLOST resolution was one of three the commissioners approved during the session conducted by Mayor Michael-Angelo James and attended by all four commissioners.
Commissioners approved a resolution last month calling for the FLOST to be placed on the ballot, but the split of proceeds had yet to be determined in the MOU. Also, that measure referred to the ballot entry as a Flexible Local Option Sales Tax.
Last week’s resolution corrected the wording to “floating” and defined the 58-42 division. The split of proceeds was not finalized without some debate by the county commissioners, who debated a 60-40 split proposal before settling on the same as for the LOST.
Should the measure be approved by voters, it would take affect January 1.
Another approval was the purchase of a traffic speed and volume collection data service by the Waycross Police Department. The other authorized the city to seek bids for a third-party service that would be offered to local food service businesses to help them comply with the city ordinance on grease interceptor and disposal.
The one-year contract with Urban SDK for the traffic data collection will allow the WPD to become more proactive in everything related to traffic. Police Chief Tommy Cox told commissioners data is upto- the minute for all roadways through a combination of GPS, Department of Transportation devices, cellphone towers and active bluetooth signals. The data is detailed to the point of road conditions, level of traffic, speed of the flow, time of day or night, etc., and available with a few keystrokes on the computer.
“The big thing is the predictive capability,” Chief Cox said. “It can tell us where the highest risk of accidents could occur from the data. We can be proactive in our enforcement and use of manpower.”
He said the software could also be beneficial to public works. Cost is $15,825 for an annual contract, which is in the department’s annual budget.
The final resolution arose from a study by City Manager Ulysses “Duke” Rayford on compliance by businesses with the city’s grease disposal ordinance. Grease is a major problem in the city’s water system from both residential and business customers.
Maintenance and disposal must take place at intervals from 30 to 120 days depending on the business. During the recent check, Rayford told commissioners more than 80 businesses weren’t in compliance with the ordinance at their scheduled disposal interval.
By the city seeking bids for the service, the city can offer the vendor’s service on a set schedule and at a reduced rate than if the business contracted for the service itself. Rayford said businesses would be under no obligation to use the city’s contractor, but they still must be in compliance with the ordinance if seeking their own service.
He said once a vendor is secured, the issue will be revisited and a new grease trap policy formulated by the commission for compliance going forward.
