The Liberty County Board of Education’s call for an election in March will be paid for by the school system, county commissioners determined.
The school system has called for a special purpose local option sales tax renewal and in the past, the schools and the county commissioners have split the cost. They divided the cost of the last ESPLOST proposal vote in March 2021, which was a total of $95,000 to conduct.
But commissioners voted 7-0 to have the burden of the upcoming ESPLOST vote fall completely on the school system.
County officials said they were notified in November of the school board’s intent to put an ESPLOST renewal on a ballot.
“We don’t have that money set aside in our budget,” Assistant County Administrator Joseph Mosley said.
The cost of the most recent general election, held in November, was over $200,000.
The school system’s ESPLOST renewal will go before voters March 18 and it will be capped at $112 million over its five-year duration. If approved, the ESPLOST’s proceeds will go toward building and equipping new buildings and facilities, renovating current buildings — such as replacing roofs, HVAC systems, playgrounds and adding athletic facilities — acquiring technology and safety upgrades, along with new band instruments, text books, computers and school buses.
Commissioners couldn’t come to an agreement at their December meeting on the proposal. A motion to have the school board carry the full cost got a 3-3 vote, and a motion to split the cost between the school system and the county died without a second.
County attorney Kelly Davis told commissioners it is a common position of local boards of education that they are limited in spending their money on educational purposes alone, and an election is not an educational purpose. But the state attorney general’s office said they can spend their money on an election such as an ESPLOST renewal.
“Historically, we have shared that burden,” he said.
Board of Elections chairman John McIver also urged the commissioners to sign an intergovernmental agreement so the election process can move ahead. Commissioners approved giving Chairman Donald Lovette the authority to sign an intergovernmental agreement with the board of education that places the election cost on the school system.