Municipal Penny Sales Tax Bill Dead in House

A House bill that would have helped the City of Royston pay for a number of infrastructure improvements has died in this year’s State Legislative Session.

At their meeting this week, Mayor Keith Turman said HB146 could have helped the city pay for upcoming water and wastewater system improvements and other major projects but the bill never made it to the State Senate this session.

House Bill 146 would have allowed municipalities that sit in three or more counties to institute a Municipal Local Option Sales Tax.

At their February meeting, Turman said the extra penny on the City’s sales tax would go a long way toward making improvements on the water and wastewater system but also roll back the recent hike in utility fees.

“If we’re able to do this with a one-cent sales tax it will allow us to have the rollback on our wastewater and give that back to the citizens,” he explained. “This would allow Royston, because we sit in three counties here, to have a municipal option sales tax.”

State Rep. Alan Powell was one of the supporters of the bill.

The bill had a second read on February 2 but never made it any further than that.

It’s not known if it will be re-introduced next year.