FLOST put to a vote

The Floating Local Option Sales Tax, or FLOST, passed during the Nov. 3 election. The proceeds will be split between the City and the County, with Crisp County receiving 67.5% and Cordele 32.5%. The one-penny tax would raise Crisp sales taxes from 8% to 9%. However, the proceeds would be used solely to reduce property taxes. The tax will run for five years.

County Administrator Mickey Dunnavant commented during a County Commission meeting after the passage of FLOST. “What we do have to make sure of is that our business owners are aware that they’ve got to increase that sales tax on that register by a penny. When this first started last year, there were some business owners in communities that passed FLOST that had to come up with the penny out of their . . .profits because they had not set that cash register.”

Money from FLOST will reduce property taxes for both personal and commercial properties. The tax will result in six months of sales tax collection to pay down next year’s property tax bill. Next year, the full 12 months will be collected. The County predicts that, with interstate traffic, non-residents will pay around 44% of the tax.

Clark Harrell, with the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), gave a presentation on the tax prior to its passage. Harrell presented an estimate showing that during the first full year FLOST was implemented, the County’s millage rate would be reduced by 3.958. During the first full year of implementation, Cordele would see a 4.171 mill reduction.