Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5 issued the following announcement on Sept. 23.
On November 6, 2018 the voters of Sangamon County will be asked to vote on a proposal to provide funding to all county school districts through a 1-cent retail sales tax increase. The revenue from this Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax will be generated from Sangamon County residents and from the people who visit, stay in, and travel through Sangamon County. The revenue can only be used to maintain and improve school facilities, or to make payments on existing bond debt. The Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax is a shift from exclusively relying on local property taxes to fund school facilities.
The Ball-Chatham CUSD #5 Board of Education has passed a resolution publicly verifying the use of the revenue. The Sangamon County Schools Facility Sales Tax funding would allow the District to:
Enhance school security and safety
Reduce existing annual debt certificate payments
Fund Health Life Safety needs
Provide revenue to deferred maintenance on all District buildings
Fund District facility upgrades and future growth
This topic will be discussed at great length in the coming weeks. The information below will ensure you are fully informed about the topic.
The question on the ballot will appear as follows: “Shall a retailer’s occupation tax and service occupation tax (commonly referred to as a ‘Sales Tax’) be imposed in Sangamon County at a rate of 1% to be used exclusively for school facility purposes?”
The penny increase (or 1%) in the Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax will annually generate approximately $3,248,000 for the Ball-Chatham School District.
The Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax revenues can be used for:
Safety and security improvements
Paying of building bonds or existing facility debt
New or remodeled school facilities
Land acquisitions, and architectural planning and engineering
Energy efficiency
Durable equipment
The Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax revenues cannot be used for operating costs such as:
Salaries and benefits
Instructional costs
Textbooks and computers
Moveable equipment
School buses
Operating costs
Unlike many types of sales tax, this specific tax does not apply to items that many people think to be essential to families, and especially, senior citizens.
The increased sales tax does not apply to:
Cars, trucks, ATVs, boats, and RV or mobile homes
Unprepared food (groceries)
Medicine including prescriptions drugs and over the counter drugs
Farm equipment, parts and farm inputs
If it is not currently taxed, it will not be taxed
How much more would I be paying if the Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax passed?
$100.00 of grocery food = no increase
$50.00 of gas = 50 cents
$35,000 car/truck = no increase
$10.00 of fast food = 10 cents
$450.00 TV = $4.50
$40.00 of medicine = no increase
The 1-cent Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax would allow the school district to reduce debt certificate payments, continue needed improvements, and ensure our facilities provide a safe, secure, and comfortable learning environment for generations to come.
The Ball-Chatham CUSD #5 Board of Education wants its citizens to have accurate information about the Sangamon County School Facility Sales Tax and how it will impact our schools. Please feel free to contact Dr. Douglas Wood, School Superintendent, with any questions at (217) 483-2416 or at dwood@bcsd5.org.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5
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