Constitutional Amendment 5

Authorizes fair allocation of sales tax proceeds to county and city school districts.

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize a referendum for a sales and use tax for education by a county school district or an independent school district or districts within the county having a majority of the students enrolled within the county and to provide that the proceeds are distributed on a per student basis among all the school systems unless an agreement is reached among such school systems for a different distribution?”

What voting “yes” or “no” means:

YES

Voting “yes” means allowing a school district or a group of districts to call for a vote to raise a 1% sales tax for education purposes.

NO

Voting “no” means all schools in a county will have to agree to call a vote to raise a 1% sales tax for education purposes.

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Supporters say some school districts are being “held hostage” by school districts to support ESPLOST.

 

Opponents say some school districts need leverage to negotiate better terms.

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Summary:
This proposal authorizes a county school district or an independent school district or districts within the county having a majority of the students enrolled within the county to call for a referendum for a sales and use tax for education and provides that the proceeds are distributed on a per student basis among all the school systems unless an agreement is reached among such school systems for a different distribution.

More info:

Some counties in Georgia have independent municipal school districts – e.g. Atlanta Public Schools is separate from Fulton County Schools. Currently, all school districts in a county have to agree to an ESPLOST (Education Special Local Option Sales Tax) referendum.

This Constitutional Amendment enables a school district or group of school districts within a county with more than one school district, if that one or group of school districts enrolls a majority of the students within the county, to call for a local sales tax referendum for educational purposes. The tax would be limited to five years and would be one percent. The revenue is intended to be divided between the county school system and independent (municipal) school systems by agreement. This would allow school renovation and capital needs to be funded by a sales tax in addition to the present funding mechanisms of general obligation bonds and ad valorem taxes.

Since ESPLOST is already approved in Fulton and DeKalb counties – including the City of Atlanta - this legislation would have no impact at this time.

How did the General Assembly (state legislature) vote on this?

 

Who gets to vote now?

All voters in the state of Georgia get to vote on this question.

Additional resources: