Pell City Council raises sales tax

Pell City Council raises sales tax

PELL CITY, AL (WBRC) - Despite opposition from some business owners, Pell City Councilors voted to increase the city's sales tax from 9% to 10%.

Pell City's Mayor Bill Hereford, who presented the ordinance to the council, said the increase will bring two million dollars a year in additional revenue to the city.

Mayor Hereford said over the next four years, half of the revenue generated will go to schools, the other half to help pay the city's debts. After that period, all of the money will go to the city.

"The idea that we can help our schools over the next four years, and help them through proration just makes sense," said Mayor Hereford, "We hope by partnering with them for this 4-year period, we can make a real difference in our education system."

A large group of Pell City teachers and administrators attended the meeting to support the tax increase. They said this extra money will help local schools make it through tough financial times.
"All of us know what happened with funding for schools statewide the last few years," said Pell City Schools Superintendent Dr. Bobby Hathcock, "The bulk of our money is state money, so this helps us maintain what we already have really."

Many Pell City business owners have voiced their opposition to the increase, and were not happy with the decision.