The governments of Murray County and the cities of Chatsworth and Eton have reached an agreement on how they will split their Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenue over the next 10 years.
Murray County Sole Commissioner Greg Hogan, Chatsworth Mayor Dan Penland and Eton Mayor Bill Cantrell signed an agreement on Tuesday that will send 84.1 percent of LOST funds to the county, 13.6 percent to Chatsworth and 2.3 percent to Eton. The LOST currently brings in just under $4 million a year.
By law, the LOST agreement must be renegotiated every 10 years, after the results of the latest census come back. The current agreement provides 84.48 percent of revenue to the county, 14 percent to Chatsworth and 1.52 percent to Eton. The agreement signed on Tuesday will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
Hogan said the revenue split was primarily based on each area’s share of the total county population.
“We went down a little bit. The city of Chatsworth went down a little, and the city of Eton went up a little,” Hogan said.
Chatsworth will lose a little under $20,000 a year under the new agreement.
“The change is so small we don’t see it having a marked effect,” said Penland.
If the three governments had not reached an agreement, state law would have required them to go to non-binding arbitration. That is where Whitfield County and its cities are now. If the Murray governments still hadn’t reached an agreement after 60 days of arbitration, a Superior Court judge from outside the area would have been brought in to determine the LOST split.
All three officials said they were glad they were able to reach an agreement without going to arbitration or having to bring in a judge.
“We tried to work things out. I want what’s best for the entire county, and of course, the mayors want what’s best for their cities. But we also really wanted to work this out. When you go to non-binding arbitration, that’s just an extra expense for the taxpayers,” Hogan said.
Local News
September 19, 2012
Murray, Chatsworth and Eton reach tax deal
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