Hall County and Gainesville school chiefs went on the defensive Thursday on a couple of key sticking points involving the 1-cent special purpose local option sales tax for schools.

Superintendents Will Schofield of Hall County Schools and Merrianne Dyer of Gainesville City Schools talked about Tuesday's vote before the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce's South Hall Business Coalition meeting at The Oaks at Lanier Charter Career Academy in South Hall.

The school systems hope to raise $130 million over five years, with $3.8 million of that going to the Buford school system.

"To call for a referendum for our schools, we have to include every school system that is in Hall County," Dyer said. "That is a legislative issue. That can only be changed by the legislature - it's out of our realm of control.

"Frankly, it's not likely to be changed, though people have tried."

Hall County and Gainesville systems divide the money according to student numbers, while Buford gets a flat amount that's negotiated among the three systems.
Dyer said she has grown to see Buford's position in the matter.

The school system sets a tax rate, with proceeds going to the district, "but the facilities and a lot of the upkeep ... are paid for by the city," she said.

Buford wants "to negotiate a return on their investment of water and sewer" along Lanier Islands Parkway, Dyer added.

Schofield particularly talked about SPLOST proceeds being used to retire old bond debt.

"Those payments come due in 2013 and 2014, whether we pass (the sales tax) or don't," he said. "We can't call up the (banks) ... and say, ‘Sorry guys, we didn't pass our SPLOST, so were not going to be able to make our $7 million bond payment this year.'

"We will pay them one way or another and if we can't pay them with the 1-cent sales tax, we will have to pay them out of the general fund - and, in fact, that is about 2 mills of taxes. If somebody sees that as a threat, I apologize."

A 2 mill tax increase would mean the owner of an average-priced home in the county - $127,500, according to online real estate database Zillow.com - would pay another $255 in property taxes.

If the tax passes, collection would begin Sept. 30, 2012, when the current SPLOST ends.

Hall County plans to spend $50 million on renovations; $20 million, classroom additions; $15 million, technology; $9.7 million, bond debt; and $3 million, school buses and library books.

Schofield talked about the need to upgrade technology in the schools. He said school systems are having trouble keeping up with digital advances.

"We power (students) down when they walk in the door," he said.

Dyer discussed the need to tear down and rebuild the aging and deteriorating Fair Street International Baccalaureate World School.

That project would cost $19 million, the lion's share of the city system's SPLOST proceeds.

Another $5.1 million would go toward bond debt, $3 million for renovations and $300,000 for school buses and/or textbooks.

At Thursday's meeting, Lee Hemmer, co-chairman of Citizens for Better Education 2011, pushed for the tax's passage.

"If you don't vote for any SPLOST at all, the education SPLOST is the one you need to vote for," he said. "The children ... are our future and that is what's going to set us apart long term."